U.S. patent application Ser. No. 08/768,269 discloses a fire escape device for lowering people from a high-rise. This structure of fire escape device is function, however it still has drawbacks as outlined hereinafter: (1) The damping devices 6 are designed to be mounted in the seats 213;214 at the casing 2, however it is difficult to accurately install the damping devices 6 in a narrow space; (2) The damping devices 6 are respectively forced into contact with the concave surface portions and convex surface portions of the circular track of the friction disk 50, however the damping effect of the damping devices 6 cannot be fully carried out because the friction disk 50 cannot be stably turned in a fixed direction when the user pulls the cable 7.