The information you have been given is correct. You may already know this: The Fire Marshall designates what they call the “ Egress Floor “.
This is the floor that the elevator goes to when there is a fire alarm activates. It is the floor deemed most escapable in an emergency. In almost all cases it is the ground floor. If the fire alarm goes off at the egress floor the elevator goes to an alternate floor designated by the Fire Alarm Control Panel. There are two Fireman Switches. One at the egress floor, outside the elevator on or near the hall cutoff switches ( elevator buttons ). Key activated ( Fire Service Key ). When this switch is activated the elevator comes directly to he egress floor. No button inside or outside the elevator functions. The second Fireman’s Switch is inside the elevator, usually behind a locked panel, that is opened with the same Fireman’s Service Key.
This switch, when activated, allows a fireman to manually control the elevator. Close the door, chose a floor and manually open and close the door. The Texas State Elevator Inspector I worked with not only wanted the doors to open and close manually, he want the doors to be able to be bumped slighly open and closed quickly in case of a danger on the other side of the door.
