Abstract: A fire curtain system comprises a fire-resistant fabric curtain (1) adapted, in use, to be stored as a roll and installed at an elevated location; means to retain the curtain (1) in its rolled, non-active condition in a non-fire or non-test situation; means to activate, or deactivate, the retention means in a fire or test situation, whereby the curtain is deployed by unrolling in a failsafe, gravity fall mode at a relatively low descent speed of about 100 to 150 mm/sec; an electric motor (9) to rewind the curtain following a test deployment or an emergency deployment; and a control system for controlling the various functions of the curtain (1) including at least one override push button or switch (19) provided at a location(s) on the “fire” side of the curtain and manually operable by any person trapped on the “fire” side to retract/rewind and raise the curtain (1) temporarily for escape purposes at a relatively high lift speed of about 400 to 500 mm/sec.