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Building Codes.and Standards Division .408 Metro Square Building 121 East 7th Place' St. Paul, MN 55101 -2181 . 651.296.4639 TTY: 800.627.3529 Fax: 651.297.1973 codes. ac80.G101210-04 f6m 5� 4, IBU of d Thousands of fires occur in residences each year. Many of these fires occur at night when the occupants are asleep. Severe injuries or death can be the result of these fires if the occupants are asleep and unaware the fire is in progress.,Death usually results from asphyxiation long before the fire reaches the occupants. In order to prevent the tragic loss of life the Minnesota State Building Code requires smoke alarm to be installed in . dwellings to alert the occupants of a fire. The code also requires that sleeping rooms and habitable space in basement dwelling units have windows or doors,' which may be used for emergency escape or rescue If the fire has blocked the normal, escape routes in the home. Basements pose a special danger since they usually have only one stairway to act as a means of escape. This stairway can be easily.blocked by fire making escape from the basement impossible. For this reason the Minnesota Building Code requires that if a'portion of the basement is habitable space, at least one emergency egress window or door is provided, The size of windows and doors required In the code are based on extensive research to determine the proper relationships of height and width of window openings to adequately serve for both rescue and escape. People come in all sizes and windows . come in all shapes. Afireman attempting a rescue will likely be wearing full rescue gear, which may include a breathing apparatus. . The size determined as a minimum for escape and rescue is 5.7 square feet of clear openable area or 5.0 square feet for grade floor openings (see Code for detailed informaton). Since windows come all shapes, a minimum width dimension was needed to accommodate tati.•window shapes and a minimum height dimension for wide window shapes. Studies have determined the minimum net clear.width needed is 20 inches, These dimensions are part of the code requirements and assure the window or door will provide for a safe exit or rescue. Emergency escape windows and doors must be located on the exterior of the building and open directly to a.yard, street or alley so that the occupants may escape or be rescued directly from the room to the outside without having to travel through the building itself. In a fire, time is critical to survival. You may not have time to instruct family members and guests on the proper window operation or to perform complex operations to get the window open. The code requires windows and doors used for emergency escape of rescue to be readily openable without any special knowledge or effort. The intent is that windows be of the common double -hung, horizontal sliding or casement type. Your local building Inspector will need to be consulted to assist you in evaluating special types of windows. Special windows need to be evaluated based on the difficulty and knowledge needed for operating or removing the windows.