How to Survive a Hotel Fire.
#122
Join Date: Sep 2016
Location: Middle of Nowhere
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Posts: 231
As the fire raged in Grenfell Tower in London yesterday, I couldn't help think about this thread, and share some of the tips with my colleagues as we spoke about it. It wasn't a hotel fire, but the principles remain. Unfortunately it seems the residents of Grenfell had little chance, given a horrific set of circumstances. Horrifying. And thanks for sharing the tips in here. It genuinely could save lives.
#123
Join Date: Jan 2015
Posts: 193
As the fire raged in Grenfell Tower in London yesterday, I couldn't help think about this thread, and share some of the tips with my colleagues as we spoke about it. It wasn't a hotel fire, but the principles remain. Unfortunately it seems the residents of Grenfell had little chance, given a horrific set of circumstances. Horrifying. And thanks for sharing the tips in here. It genuinely could save lives.
Those same standards are obviously not in place in all other countries so your plan of action needs to account for that.
Here's some information provided directly by the Fire Chief in Toronto
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toront...vice-1.4161078
#124
Moderator: American AAdvantage
Join Date: May 2000
Location: NorCal - SMF area
Programs: AA LT Plat; HH LT Diamond, Matre-plongeur des Muccis
Posts: 62,948
Another thing that may not have been mentioned in this thread is the differing fire protection standards across the globe. Are you in a high rise in Canada or the US? If so, you can safely assume that there are working fire alarms and fire suppression systems in place. It will also be constructed of very slow burning material. 99.9% of the time, you are safer staying in your room if there is a fire in another part of the building.
Those same standards are obviously not in place in all other countries so your plan of action needs to account for that.
Here's some information provided directly by the Fire Chief in Toronto
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toront...vice-1.4161078
Those same standards are obviously not in place in all other countries so your plan of action needs to account for that.
Here's some information provided directly by the Fire Chief in Toronto
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toront...vice-1.4161078
The property shown here was the Hilton Sonoma Wine Country hotel.
#125
Join Date: Apr 2005
Location: Boston Suburbrs
Programs: AA ExPlat, IHG Spire Amb
Posts: 1,204
October 9, 2017, two hotels near each other pretty much burnt to the ground near Ssnta Rosa, Sonoma County, California, when winds up to 70 MPH / 110 mph caused flames to jump US Highway 101. Staying in one's room in either location would have been a death sentence.
The property shown here was the Hilton Sonoma Wine Country hotel.
The property shown here was the Hilton Sonoma Wine Country hotel.
#126
Join Date: Jan 2005
Location: Sydney, Australia
Programs: QF Gold LTG (ow Saph), HHon Silver, Marriot Gold
Posts: 2,927
Rooms were emptied at 2am by staff banging on doors - but seemingly in trying circumstances with no alarms or emergency lighting.
https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/hilt...as-burned.html
Fire crews were stretched and focused on saving lives rather than saving property, moving on if a property was ablaze (eg. the two photos above of the same location the next morning)
https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/hilt...as-burned.html
Fire crews were stretched and focused on saving lives rather than saving property, moving on if a property was ablaze (eg. the two photos above of the same location the next morning)
#127
Join Date: Jun 2010
Location: Lubbock, TX
Programs: AAPlatinum, UA
Posts: 250
October 9, 2017, two hotels near each other pretty much burnt to the ground near Ssnta Rosa, Sonoma County, California, when winds up to 70 MPH / 110 mph caused flames to jump US Highway 101. Staying in one's room in either location would have been a death sentence.
The property shown here was the Hilton Sonoma Wine Country hotel.
The property shown here was the Hilton Sonoma Wine Country hotel.
#129
Join Date: Jul 2017
Programs: DL
Posts: 196
A quick note on exit stairways: not all of them terminate at the ground level, some go beyond to underground floors, or the exit is at an intermediate floor, like on a terrace. The exit sign pointing to the right door to EXIT the stairway to the outside may not be easily identifiable.
A few years back I stayed at a nice hotel in DC for a conference. Since my room was on the 3rd floor, and I generally dislike elevators, I decided to take the stairs down. I went all the way to the bottom, only to find a locked door to the parking garage. So I went back up two floors, and on the landing, behind a couple of mattresses and a housekeeping card, was the exit door! The hotel did not seem concerned when I reported this and insisted that that stairway wasn't an emergency exit (despite the signage). I let the fire department know of the situation after checking out. Storing 'stuff' in the exit stairway seems to be a common phenomenon. Staff might think it's OK, b/c it's out of sight, and surely no guest would ever want to take the ugly stairs over the nice elevator, right?
A few years back I stayed at a nice hotel in DC for a conference. Since my room was on the 3rd floor, and I generally dislike elevators, I decided to take the stairs down. I went all the way to the bottom, only to find a locked door to the parking garage. So I went back up two floors, and on the landing, behind a couple of mattresses and a housekeeping card, was the exit door! The hotel did not seem concerned when I reported this and insisted that that stairway wasn't an emergency exit (despite the signage). I let the fire department know of the situation after checking out. Storing 'stuff' in the exit stairway seems to be a common phenomenon. Staff might think it's OK, b/c it's out of sight, and surely no guest would ever want to take the ugly stairs over the nice elevator, right?
#130
Join Date: May 2016
Location: HK
Programs: IHG Spire Elite Ambassador, Hilton Diamond, Aegan Gold, British Airways Bronze
Posts: 182
That's a very informative post. Definitely something to keep in mind in the future.
A couple of points though:
- I often see hotels where the windows do not open. This is especially annoying and frustrating since in case of a fire, it's sometimes counter productive to open the window. In that case, the only solution would be to destroy the window but that can be an issue if there's a lot of smoke coming from outside. I'm not sure what the best course of action is
- Like altabello, I don't like elevators and will often take the stairs down (plus it's good exercise ) and I often notice that hotels store stuff in the exit stairway. I've never thought about reporting it to the fire department but that's a good idea because hotel staff usually just think it's ok...
A couple of points though:
- I often see hotels where the windows do not open. This is especially annoying and frustrating since in case of a fire, it's sometimes counter productive to open the window. In that case, the only solution would be to destroy the window but that can be an issue if there's a lot of smoke coming from outside. I'm not sure what the best course of action is
- Like altabello, I don't like elevators and will often take the stairs down (plus it's good exercise ) and I often notice that hotels store stuff in the exit stairway. I've never thought about reporting it to the fire department but that's a good idea because hotel staff usually just think it's ok...
#132
Join Date: Jan 2018
Location: India
Posts: 9
I found this, its well worth reading, some really usefull advice that hopefully none of us will need.
WARNING: HOTELS COULD BE HAZARDOUS TO YOUR HEALTH...
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
By Captain RH Kauffman, Los Angeles County Fire Department
To all my friends who travel, please read this and be safe.
<snip>
Well, the rest is up to you. Only you can condition yourself to react in a hotel emergency. You can be well prepared by developing the habits we've talked about.
[This message has been edited by SCMM (edited 02-08-2001).]
WARNING: HOTELS COULD BE HAZARDOUS TO YOUR HEALTH...
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
By Captain RH Kauffman, Los Angeles County Fire Department
To all my friends who travel, please read this and be safe.
<snip>
Well, the rest is up to you. Only you can condition yourself to react in a hotel emergency. You can be well prepared by developing the habits we've talked about.
[This message has been edited by SCMM (edited 02-08-2001).]
Last edited by StartinSanDiego; Jan 17, 2018 at 8:16 pm Reason: Don't quote huge blocks of text
#133
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: May 2012
Location: Sydney Australia
Programs: No programs & No Points!!!
Posts: 14,203
I'm staying at a Hyatt Regency in Sydney and noticed that there was no emergency exit plan on the door. As I've seen that in every Hotel I've been in I would have thought if that that is a legal requirement. Is that so?
#134
Join Date: Aug 2000
Location: Newton Centre, MA, USA
Programs: DL 2MM Gold, AA Plat Pro; Hilton Lifetime Diamond, Bonvoy Lifetime Titanium (via SPG), IHG Plat
Posts: 2,192
Even if it isn't a legal requirement, I would hope it would be "minimum standards" requirement of all the major chains. I suggest you contact Hyatt.
#135
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: May 2012
Location: Sydney Australia
Programs: No programs & No Points!!!
Posts: 14,203
I might just contact them because you just never know if someone is in a situation that they need to know how to get out. I was at one end of the hotel and it was like a rabbit warren down there with a few ways to get to the lifts.