A laser type initiator device for activating air crew emergency escape systems and the like comprising a housing having a generally cylindrical chamber and defining a trough opening at one end of same, with the chamber and opening being coaxially oriented, a laser rod extending centrally of the chamber and frictionally retained in the housing through opening and equipped for optical pumping for directing a laser beam through the housing through opening, as into a fiber optic cable that is releasably secured to the housing in alignment with the trough opening, a flash bulb assembly received about the laser rod including a pyrex glass tube that receives and protects the laser rod and a plurality of percussion type flash bulbs received about the tube, which flash bulbs are disposed to have their primed ends all positioned crosswise of a common plane that is transverse of the axis of the laser rod, a striker assembly mounted adjacent the primed ends of the flash bulbs and having for each of the flash bulb primed ends a separate resilient swing arm that acts in the indicated transverse plane for resiliently striking the respective flash bulb primed ends to ignite the flash bulbs, an actuator assembly received over the stroker assembly and mounted for movement axially of the laser rod and including a camming arrangement for stroking the respective swing arms to resiliently stress same rotationally of the laser rod axis in one direction of movement of the actuator assembly, and an actuator assembly movement inducing device for effecting a rotatably connected purchase on the actuator assembly for moving to in effect cock the respective swing arms for striking of the respective flash bulbs on release of the actuator assembly movement inducer.