Reply To: Gating the city

Yes the trend to gates in private developments seems to be creeping out.

Having looked at some of the entryphone / electric PIN type lock arrangements on some of the private gates, it seems to me that these may be a serious emergency hazard. In some of the very dense apartment developments one does not need a lot of imagination to see Stardust style scenarios, with minor gas or fire emergencies turning more serious.

It does not seem that, unlike building safety systems that are are designed to “fail to open lock” or “push to open”, in a power or fire crisis these gates apparently stay shut.

Outsiders will not know the PIN, the entryphone may fail, so insiders cannot communicate. Anyone know if the fire service holds these codes? (I doubt it)