I found reference to this thread from another thread....this is all great advice that I will certainly heed! Eerily, my office building fire alarm went off as I was about half way through. Needless to say I bolted from my chair and was out of the building before nearly everyone else.

How to Survive a Hotel Fire.
 

Brilliant info. Should be a sticky

I think one of the most important sentences in the article is easy to miss and oddly written:

" If there is smoke outside and you have no window to close, it will enter your room and you will be trapped. "

Many people think to open the window, however, if there is smoke outside, keep the window closed as the smoke will enter your room and suffocate you.

My father was one of (the MANY) attorneys who worked on the infamous MGM hotel fire in Vegas and people opening the window cost many lives.

I found this thread by reference from another one... After all my years on FT, I've never read this before. So I hope nobody minds that I'm bumping it.

Wow...not sure how I never read this earlier. Yes, it's absolutely worthy of a bump.

Sticky!!! Sticky!!!

I also had never seen this before. Very serious info to read and remember.

My paramedic son has told me to never stay above the eighth floor since ladder trucks can't go higher.

Good advice and worth bumping a 15 year old thread!

+1 for bumping thread and sticky.

Reading this thread years ago changed my hotel entry procedures.

I'm thinking it is well worth and takes almost no time to do the "low hanging fruit", i.e. get the most benefits with the least effort.

• Hotels: after checking for bed bugs I now walk to nearest fire exit door to learn the route and organize clothing, phone and wallet so it is quick to put on. I like high floors for the views so feel this helps a lot.
• Bags: Put small flashlight in every bag side pocket after reading this thread.
• Planes: Count rows to nearest exit in front and back, play out door opening moves when in exit row.
• Home: Keep 2 weeks of emergency food at home.
• Car: Bag of key tools and some dry food in car trunk/boot.

PS. Thanks to everyone who told their personal experiences in this thread, those were really eye opening and thought provoking. Best of FT.

Maybe I really should revise my policy of dealing with fire alarms with ear plugs under the noise cancelling headphones :eek: ...

This thread is an excellent read from years ago. Seeing it revived reminded me of two simple things I started doing years ago that I am astonished so few of my fellow travelers do:

1. Determine where the stairs are. They're not always next to the elevator, or at both ends of the hall. On airplanes we hear the FAA safety briefing "Locate the exits nearest you..." so often it we can recite it in our sleep. Well, the same rule applies to hotels. Don't count on being able to read a diagram, see an "EXIT" light, or have time to check both ends of the hall if/when an emergency occurs.

2. When you hear the fire alarm, Get out! It's unbelievable to me how many people just stare, dumbfounded, at the alarm box when the warning sounds. It's like, "LOL. What's that loud noise mean?" Don't wait for someone to give you permission to leave, don't "give it a minute to see if it's a false alarm", just stop whatever you're doing and make an orderly exit.

I once stayed at a Grand Hyatt once(in a touristy city) My room was on the 22nd
floor. I was sound asleep when the alarm went off. A voice message told everybody
to exit the hotel via stairs. I put on a robe and got out. It was no fun walking down
22 floors of stairs.

When I reached the outside of the hotel, there were almost a dozen fire trucks. Most
guests were like me and dressed only in robes and pajamas. Fortunately, it was a
warm September night. Apparently the kitchen in the hotel restaurant had caught
fire. About an hour later, the fire department left and we were allowed to go back to
our rooms.

I used to get rooms as high as possible... but after that incident, I always request
lower floors. (or even ground floor rooms, if available) I just never felt safe in higher
floors anymore.

How to Survive a Hotel Fire.
 

The advice I give folks is:

1. When selecting a hotel - before you worry about upgrades and points and free breakfast - make sure the hotel has fire sprinklers. Many hotels do - but not all of them. If you have a choice always choose a sprinklered property.

2. When traveling to foreign destinations in less regulated parts of the world consider a travel sized smoke/CO detector.

3. Carry a pack of post it notes in your bag. I put one over the peephole when I arrive. I also write the evacuation route on one and stick it to the bottom of the door (turn left, stairs are fourth door on left). When you stay a lot of nights at different properties it is easy to get confused.

And if you are headed to a high risk destination consider a portable smoke hood. They are cheap and compact and will give you maybe 10 minutes of protection. In places where there is likely to be no effective fire department response that can make the difference.

Bump. An urgent read.

dh

Sticky! Sticky!