The Herald-Zeitung

Like many custom home builders, Mike Robare, president of Robare Custom Homes, includes various special design features in his custom-built homes. However, he hopes no one will ever have to use his newest standard feature, he said recently.

“Robare Custom Homes is the first builder in the area to install the Permanent Escape and Rescue Ladder in our new homes,” Robare said. “To me, it’s kinda like when seatbelts came along in the 1950s. Once you saw the benefits of wearing a seatbelt, how can you ever consider driving without buckling up?”

He said each PEARL ladder is made from high-quality aluminum that can be quickly and easily deployed in the event of a residential fire or other emergency. When not in use, it folds up onto itself and is very non-obtrusive, he said.

“PEARL is installed into the wall space beneath second or third-story windows and features a paint-grade access door, which means the device blends well with existing decorating styles and colors,” Robare said.

The decision to include escape ladders as a standard feature in his homes comes on the heels of a house fire that killed former Texas State Senator and San Antonio native Frank Madla at the end of this past year, he said.

“This tragedy made me rethink what I needed to do to protect my own family from fire,” said Robare, who lives in Helotes. “As soon as I discovered PEARL Protected and their amazing product, I knew I wanted one in my own kids' upstairs bedrooms. And, as a homebuilder, I feel obligated to provide the same level of fire safety in the homes we build.”

Robare Custom Homes is introducing the safety device in its Rockwall Ranch, a sprawling luxury residential community of secluded homes on 1,200 acres in the southern part of Comal County.

He said every two-story home will include one PEARL in a centrally-located upstairs bedroom, with the option for homebuyers to install additional ladders at a minimal cost.

In a recent study conducted by the National Fire Protection Association, officials found that nearly 75 percent of the nation’s fire departments do not have enough fire stations, or the firefighters to staff them, to achieve the widely recognized response-time guidelines.

“In effect, it is extremely critical for residents to have a safe and readily-available alternative means of escape from upstairs rooms in case fire rescue personnel are not able to arrive in time,” Robare said.

PEARL meets these requirements, he said, because it can be permanently installed into the interior wall space below second and third-story windows, so homeowners have peace of mind knowing they have an easy-to-use means of escape right where they need it, when they need it.

Since its October 2005 debut, PEARL has become one of the most recognized home safety products in the marketplace, said company officials at Atlanta-based PEARL Protected.

PEARL received the 2006 Product Innovation Award from the Home Safety Council and the product has been featured in two different episodes of ABC's “Extreme Makeover: Home Edition.”

“We also have the capability to retrofit them into existing homes,” Robare said. “And with a price range of about $500, a PEARL escape ladder is, well, I consider it to be priceless.”

For information about PEARL Protected, call 210-372-9880, or visit pearlprotected.com

Mark Koopmans can be reached at mkoopmans(at)herald-zeitung.com.