Hotel Evacuations
May 15, 2023, 8:37 pm
#31
Join Date: Nov 2000
Location: ATL/TLV/SDF
Programs: AA EXP, UA LT Ag, Marriott LT Ti, Hyatt Glob, Avis PC, Busted-Knuckles Club Grand Poobah.
Posts: 2,589
A burning clothes dryer at a new Springhill outside of Charlotte set off the alarm at OMFG-o'clock. Poked my head out the door (yes I felt it first!) and saw/smelled smoke, so knew it was for reals. Put pants on, grabbed wallet, keys, backpack, hoodie as it was cold out and headed to the rental car. Sat there with the engine/heat running for awhile while the fire dept showed up and did their thing. They let us back in eventually but by then it was already dawn and I had to be at my work site at 7 so very little sleep.
May 16, 2023, 2:41 pm
#32
Company Representative, Marriott Bonvoy
Join Date: Feb 2019
Programs: Marriott Bonvoy
Posts: 686
A burning clothes dryer at a new Springhill outside of Charlotte set off the alarm at OMFG-o'clock. Poked my head out the door (yes I felt it first!) and saw/smelled smoke, so knew it was for reals. Put pants on, grabbed wallet, keys, backpack, hoodie as it was cold out and headed to the rental car. Sat there with the engine/heat running for awhile while the fire dept showed up and did their thing. They let us back in eventually but by then it was already dawn and I had to be at my work site at 7 so very little sleep.
May 17, 2023, 11:18 am
#33
Join Date: Jan 2008
Location: The Airport
Programs: Delta PM
Posts: 183
While not an evacuation, a "you can't leave the hotel" story. In Scotsdale, AZ a haboob (Haboobs are most commonly found in Arizona. During “haboob season” these dust storms can occur several times each year. According to NOAA, about 100 haboobs were recorded in Arizona over a ten-year period) hit and an announcement was made that we could not leave, not that anyone in their right mind would.
May 17, 2023, 11:28 am
#34
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Jul 2010
Programs: AA
Posts: 14,713
The "anyone in their right mind" part becomes very iffy in an emergency situation. I help run a weekly event for a large group of people and part of my duties include helping in case of an emergency. When we are going through our training every year, they always have to emphasize that if someone tries to leave when they shouldn't, that other than letting them know it's not advisable, you can't stop them. For example, there was a tornado in our area about 6 weeks ago, and several people put themselves in harms way by leaving where they were to try to beat the tornado.
May 19, 2023, 9:07 pm
#35
Join Date: Nov 2000
Location: ATL/TLV/SDF
Programs: AA EXP, UA LT Ag, Marriott LT Ti, Hyatt Glob, Avis PC, Busted-Knuckles Club Grand Poobah.
Posts: 2,589
Thanks but this was at least five years ago!
May 20, 2023, 3:06 pm
#36
Join Date: Apr 2022
Posts: 392
Been pretty lucky with hotels actually. Only had a couple of alarms. One at about 5am at a cheap hotel in Paris donkeys years ago which I think was kitchen related and one at an apart-hotel in Copenhagen about 2am caused by someone smoking something dodgy in their bathroom.
The worst places for fire alarms are university halls. I lived in one for 3 years as a student and guaranteed at least twice a week some numpty would come in smashed out of their skull and set off the alarm.
The worst places for fire alarms are university halls. I lived in one for 3 years as a student and guaranteed at least twice a week some numpty would come in smashed out of their skull and set off the alarm.
May 22, 2023, 2:08 pm
#37
A FlyerTalk Posting Legend
Join Date: Jul 2002
Location: MCI
Programs: AA Gold 1MM, AS MVP, UA Silver, WN A-List, Marriott LT Titanium, HH Diamond
Posts: 52,546
It's always some yahoo who thinks Popcorn needs to go into the microwave for 22 minutes.
May 22, 2023, 2:13 pm
#38
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Jul 2010
Programs: AA
Posts: 14,713
some people tossing a football up and down the hall took out an exit sign setting off the alarm.
Somebody cooking mac and cheese in a electric kettle.
Somebody who didn't realize they couldn't microwave metal utensils.
May 23, 2023, 6:31 pm
#40
Join Date: Jun 2015
Location: DTW
Programs: Alaska, Delta, Southwest
Posts: 1,663
That reminds me of my neighbor in the dorm my freshman year falling asleep while cooking something on the stove in the middle of the night. We all evacuated for about an hour over that one. I can only imagine what he must have thought when he woke up to the fire alarm and realized he was the cause of it...
The only time I've had to evacuate a hotel room was my class trip to Washington DC in 8th grade, when some of my fellow classmates set off the sprinklers by hanging a blanket from one.
The only time I've had to evacuate a hotel room was my class trip to Washington DC in 8th grade, when some of my fellow classmates set off the sprinklers by hanging a blanket from one.
