When Ray Tannatta first introduced the Highrise Lifeline in the early 1990s, it seemed to be all the rage, being repeatedly featured on national TV.
“I got a lot of attention. I had people calling me from all over the country, all over the world,” Tannatta said. “At the time, I thought my product was working and the message is getting out there and people should be buying it. I had a company buy it but they never put it on the market.”
Thirty years after its initial flash in the pan, the device is finally for sale. Tannatta is now marketing it himself online.
“It should be out there, it will save lives,” he said. “We lose 2,000 to 3,000 people every year in fires.”
A former Schenectady firefighter for more than two decades, Tannatta invented the device after a local man died from smoke inhalation before help could arrive.