General
bail-out
What does bail-out mean?
A last-resort emergency exit from an upper floor of a burning building — out a window onto a ladder, down a personal escape rope and hook, or in the worst case a head-first dive to a waiting ladder. Drilled relentlessly after the Black Sunday fire in the Bronx (2005), where six FDNY members had to jump from a fourth-floor apartment and two died. Most modern departments now issue every member a personal bail-out kit.
"Conditions went from bad to bail-out in about ten seconds when the wind shifted on us."
Origin
Borrowed from aviation ("bail out" of an aircraft); entered firefighting vocabulary mid-20th century, formalised after the FDNY Black Sunday fire of January 23, 2005.
Frequently asked questions
What does "bail-out" mean?
It's an emergency escape out a window when a room turns dangerous.
How do you use "bail-out" in a sentence?
"The fire cut off the stairs, so it was a bail-out from the second-floor window."
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