LETTER: Downtown fire should be warning to many Las Vegans

The recent deadly fire downtown should be a warning to many Las Vegans. Emergency fire escape ladders, rolled up and portable, are sold online. The least expensive and the shortest costs $27. The ladders roll up like a sleeping bag when not in use.

When the black smoke or flames keep you from getting out of your room, you break out a window, place the metal frame on the window sill and drop the rolled-up ladder out the window. Those who live on the second floor or higher should all have one and should teach their children how to use it.

Give the ladders away as gifts to anyone who sleeps above the first floor. Scouting programs, schools, churches and service groups can develop their own ideas for financing and distributing the ladders.

Keep a baseball bat rolled up with the ladder for breaking out the window and clearing the glass. If there are flames under the window outside of the building, the fire may destroy a rope ladder before you can shimmy down. If there’s a store in Las Vegas that sells these ladders, why don’t I see them advertised? They should be priced at low cost or no cost.