If a fire was reported while you were on an upper floor of a high-rise, what would you do?
For one West Philadelphia man, the answer was: Get to the outside of the building and scramble down more than a dozen floors.
The breathtaking feat was captured in detail by multiple local television stations, bringing us several views of the man descending at least 14 floors of the tall building with apparent ease.
In footage captured by NBC10 Philadelphia, the man makes his way down with astonishing speed. He's within one floor of the ground within about three minutes.
"He climbed about 200 feet down on what looked like basically chain-link fencing and then the railings of each apartment building," NBC10 Philadelphia helicopter pilot Jeremy Haas told the station.
"Once the man reached the ground he was greeted by waiting police officers before walking away," the NBC station said, adding that the man appeared unharmed. He has not been identified.
It's not clear why the man opted to evacuate this way. Smoke or flames were not clearly visible as he made his way down. Here's another view of the climb, from 6abc:
HIGH-RISE FIRE: A man is seen scaling down a 19-story apartment building after a fire in West Philadelphia.https://t.co/Rmujuv7vsb pic.twitter.com/2NsXXYgJVL
— Action News on 6abc (@6abc) July 19, 2019
According to The Philadelphia Inquirer, the reported fire in West Philadelphia hit a city housing development called the Westpark Apartments. The city says the development "features a mixture of families and older adults."
The amount of damage from the reported fire was not immediately clear, though according to CBS Philly, three police officers and two other people were hospitalized for smoke inhalation.
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