Why do stairwells have gates to the bottom floor?

Question

My parking garage at work has a stairwell. If you started at the top floor of the garage and walked down the stairwell, you'd have to go through a simple swing gate before going down the last set of stairs to the bottom floor.

The gate doesn't look like it locks or anything.  It's just a gate.  It seems like many other commercial buildings I've seen have gates to the bottom set of stairs.  

The only reason I can think of for the gate's existence is that it would serve to discourage people from going below grade during a fire emergency or something. 

Any other ideas?

Dash · Accepted Answer

You are right it is there to keep people from inadvertantly going down to the basement during a fire.  It is required by the building code.

Paul in San Diego · Answer

Maybe so if you drop something it won't continue to roll out past the stairwell. Or, if you start stumbling down the stairs, the gate at the bottom will stop you from falling all the way to the ground when you hit flat ground.

I was at a theater a couple weeks ago and noticed that there was a rail at the bottom of the stairs leading to the front of the balcony. This rail apparently would stop someone who stumbled on the stairs from continuing all the way over the balcony facade. 

I've seen the same thing at Petco Park (baseball stadium). There's a raised area along the front railing at the bottom of each stairway. And, this is presumably to prevent someone from going over the wall if they pick up too much speed going down the stairs.

Why do stairwells have gates to the bottom floor?

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