By ABC-7's Abe Lubetkin

Dona Ana County investigators say bars on the windows of a Chaparral mobile home where three people died in a fire kept the victims from escaping.

In El Paso, an ordinance is on the books to keep that from happening.

The ordinance says all window bars must be quick-release - the kind people remove by flipping a lever or pushing a button from the inside.

The ordinance also says every sleeping room must have windows that leave 5.7 square feet of space when they're open, so an adult could crawl out in an emergency.

"It's not uncommon for us to find injuries or fatalities at houses where they have these wrought-iron windows," said El Paso Fire Department Lt. Mario Hernandez.

"You're using (bars) to protect your home, but you also need to protect yourself."

The quick-release bars cost about $250 at one store we contacted, Best Iron Works in Central El Paso.

And Jay Butler said he plans to get some for his parents, whose home in the Kern Place neighborhood has locks on the windows that require a key to release.

"I can't see them getting out," he said.

"If they don't have the quick-release locks - they're not as agile as they used to be. You figure - if they've got to break the window, they could hurt themselves."