Fire Escape Brick Block

Fire Escape Brick Block is an original illustration set in Northeastern US City. It lies in mid-latitudes, where the climate is humid subtropical — hot summers, no dry season.

Brick facades carry zigzag black iron fire escapes down their fronts. A column of white steam rises from a manhole in the road. A squat hydrant stands at the kerb beside a kiosk, and the summer morning light is already warm.

Why are iron stairs bolted to the outside of the building?

External iron stairs were retrofitted by law after tenement fires, which dates the buildings and the regulation together — they are not part of the original design. Steam rising from the street means a district heating network running under the pavement, a system only worth building where winters are cold and buildings are dense. Both are marks of a nineteenth-century industrial city.

Terpano is a free daily geography puzzle. You study one original illustration, place a pin on a borderless terrain map, and see how close you were. There is no account and no sign-up; progress stays in your own browser. It plays in 11 languages.