How To Increase Your Survival In A Hotel Fire…and A Sinking Car

From An ABC News Report

Nov. 25, 2002 — On average, a fire breaks out somewhere in the United States every 18 seconds.

When people are caught in a hotel fire, it can be even more disorienting than at home, because they are in unfamiliar surroundings, often asleep. In 1980, a fire at the 26-story MGM Grand Hotel in Las Vegas killed 85 people. A few months later, a fire at the Las Vegas Hilton killed eight more. A 1993 fire at Chicago’s residential Paxton Hotel killed 20 people.

As a test – a live fire was set at an abandoned hotel, a trash can fire caused by a discarded cigarette took just seconds to engulf the bed, then the desk and soon the ceiling. Within 30 seconds, thick black smoke had filled the room and started seeping into the hallway. A minute later, the smoke had covered the ceiling of the hallway and begun to descend, extinguishing the remaining light and oxygen. By that point, the heat inside the room was reaching temperatures as high as 950 degrees, shattering mirrors and the TV screen. The oxygen level, at a normal 21 percent of the air before the fire, had decreased to 12 percent, low enough to kill.

With the difference between life and death often a matter of seconds, not minutes, fire safety officers suggest the following tips:

*Check the hallway when you arrive. As soon as you arrive in your room, check the floor plan on the back of the door that shows the location of the fire exits. Go out into the hallway and count the doors to the closest exits so you will be able to find them in the dark and smoke of a fire.

*Leave your room key where you can find it. When you go to sleep, leave your room key on the bedside table so you can find it quickly.

*If you hear an alarm, check the door for heat. If the fire alarm goes off, test the room door with the back of your hand to see if it is hot, which could indicate there is fire in the hallway.

*If the door is not hot, open it. If the door is not hot, open it cautiously and if you have visibility — at least near the floor — make your way to the nearest exit. Do not use the elevator.

*If you leave, take your key but leave your belongings. If you leave the room, take your room key in case you have to return. Leave your belongings — every second counts. Many people often waste valuable time leaving, wasting precious time as they debate what valuables to take or gathered up watches, fanny packs and so on.

*Stay low! If there is smoke in the corridor, stay low. In the live fire at the abandoned hotel, temperature checks showed that just outside the room where the fire was burning, the hallway was a safe 87 degrees near the floor. But at the top of the hallway it was 137 degrees — hot enough to induce third-degree burns, down to the bone, in just five seconds.

*If there is too much smoke, stay in your room. If you can’t see your way to the exit, put wet towels under the door and call 9-11 to report your location. Stay near the window but don’t open it, and wait for help.

*If blocked, return to your room. If you try to get to the exit but find that it is blocked or the smoke and heat are too much, return to your room, seal the doors with wet towels and call 911 to report your location. It is safer to wait inside your room than inside a smoke-filled hallway.