firetrap

American  

[fahyuhr-trap] / ˈfaɪərˌtræp /

noun

1. a building that, because of its age, material, structure, or the like, is especially dangerous in case of fire.

2. (in a building) any arrangement of structural, flooring, and finish members creating concealed passages through which fire can spread to other parts of the building.

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firetrap British  

/ ˈfaɪəˌtræp /

noun

1. a building that would burn easily or one without fire escapes

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Etymology

Origin of firetrap

First recorded in 1880–85; fire + trap ¹

Example Sentences

While a resident in the building later confessed to setting the fire, the report found that city officials knew about the “distressing conditions” and had allowed the building to become a firetrap.

From New York Times

That unrest helped prompt the construction of another jail; it was eventually condemned in part because the shortage of emergency exits made it a firetrap.

From Los Angeles Times

Within a few decades, that facility had also become overcrowded, and in 1957 city officials ordered it condemned because the surplus of people and shortage of emergency exits made it a firetrap.

From Los Angeles Times

Johannesburg, with a severe shortage of affordable housing, has hundreds of illegally occupied derelict buildings that officials and housing advocates say have become firetraps.

From New York Times

Such jobs, without guaranteed health insurance, social security or pensions, range from the treacherous — construction work without hard hats or other protective gear, or assembly-line labor in illegal firetrap factories — to the merely miserable.

From New York Times