NEW YORK (AP) – A set of 354 narrow steps spirals all the way up to the Statue of Liberty’s crown, and it’s the only escape route for tourists in an emergency. On a recent summer day, one tourist put his hands on his knees and gasped for air as a few others funneled down the tightly twisting staircase to the statue’s pedestal. They were covered in sweat. “It was hot up there,” said Lucie Munier, visiting from France. “I think I would be scared in an emergency, but it is already pretty scary even when it is calm.”When a smoke alarm tripped inside the statue last month, hundreds of tourists were rushed down the equivalent of about 15 flights of stairs in a matter of minutes – the same ones that firefighters would need to trudge up if the 125-year-old landmark catches fire. National Park Service officials have closed the statue in recent years for a $20 million security upgrade, and kept the crown shut since the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks until last year to improve its fire safety. Next year, the statue will close again, for nine months to a year, so workers can build a more up-to-date set of stairwells at Lady Liberty’s pedestal, said National Parks Service spokesman Darren Boch.