Survive a Hotel Fire

While hotel fires account for only a very small percentage of fire-related deaths, the potential for massive loss of life exists whenever such a blaze erupts. Hotels present a unique fire risk because they are densely packed with people, who may be sleeping and are likely unfamiliar with their surroundings. Fire can quickly spread through hotel corridors and escaping through a window can be deadly on high floors. Safety measures, such as sprinklers and firewalls, are required of hotels in many parts of the world and have saved thousands of lives. But, knowledge can also save lives. The more you know about dealing with a hotel fire, the better your chance of survival.

Steps

Increasing Your Odds of Survival Through Preparation

  1. Pack for survival. Bring a flashlight and potentially a battery-operated smoke detector. These may seem like overkill, but they don't cost much or take up much room in your luggage. Organize, don't agonize. The flashlight could save your life if you have to quickly navigate a dark hallway or stairwell, and the smoke detector can alert you to fires while you're sleeping.
    • Check the batteries on each of these before you leave. In most parts of the world, smoke detectors are mandatory in hotel rooms, but when was the last time you tested one?
    • If you don't bring a smoke detector with you, at least make sure the one in your room works.
  2. Get a room in the lower levels of the hotel. If a fire starts, you'll want to get out of the building as quickly as possible. This can be difficult if your room is in the upper floors of a high-rise hotel. When you make your reservations, ask for a room on the ground floor or close to it. If you're not able to do this in the reservation process, request it when you check in. If you're in an earthquake area, taking this measure could be helpful.
  3. Learn your escape routes when you arrive at the hotel. If a fire started in your home, you'd probably know the best way to get out and you'd probably be able to find your way there even in complete darkness. If you can't do this in your hotel, you're risking your life.
    • Ask for a map of the hotel at the front desk. If you can't get a map at the front desk, you may be able to find one on the inside of your room's door, depending on where you're traveling.
    • As soon as you get to your room, study the map and find the nearest exit. Then find the alternate exits. Walk the potential escape routes from your room all the way to the outside of the building, counting the number of doors between your room and the exits and noting any unusual features that may help you find your way. Check for potential hazards or obstructions along the way and try to make sure the exit doors open. Don't plan on using the elevator.
  4. Check some essential features of the hallway and of your room. If a blaze were to suddenly erupt, you can't leisurely test certain features of the building. Doing this ahead of time saves you time and reduces your action plan to instinct instead of analysis in the event of a fire.
    • Find out if stairwell doors lock behind you. If they do, you could be trapped in the stairwell if it's filled with smoke, so you'll want to exercise extra caution before committing to that option.
    • Make sure to keep the windows in your room open. If they do not, locate something in your room that you could throw through the window. Visualize how you would make your escape through the window, and make note of ledges or fire escapes that might assist you. Two stories is typically a reasonably safe jump — although there is still a good chance of injury — but if the window were your only possible escape route and you were in imminent danger you might need to risk jumping from a greater height. You can learn how to survive a fall from heights here.
    • Locate fire extinguishers and fire alarms and make sure you know how to use them.
  5. Put your room keys and flashlight in your shoes before you go to bed. If you need to leave your room during a fire, you want to be sure to bring your keys and flashlight, and while you don't want to waste time dressing, shoes can make your escape easier. Keep them together, and hopefully you'll remember them.
    • If your hotel has multiple keys for different doors, make sure you know which keys open which doors, and label them if necessary.
    • Bring all keys with you if you have to leave your room, because you may not be able to exit some doors without them. You may find that your room is the safest place to be and you'll need your key to get back in.

Diagnosing the Situation

  1. Leave everything behind if you detect smoke or fire. If you need to get out of the hotel, don't worry about your personal belongings. If you have your hotel keys and flashlight, you've got everything you need. Nothing else is important. Material possessions are not worth sacrificing life and limb for.
    • If no alarm has sounded, look for a fire alarm and sound it. If your room does not contain a fire alarm, don't move to the hallway just yet simply in order to sound it.
  2. Stay low to the ground as you move. As soon as you notice signs of fire (including the sound of your smoke detector or a fire alarm), try to stay low. You may not immediately notice smoke, but even a small amount of toxic smoke can incapacitate you. It's best to stay low — smoke and heat rises, meaning it will be thicker further from the ground.
  3. Feel the door with the back of your hand. Don't open the door without first feeling it. The back of your hand is very sensitive to heat, and by using it you also won't risk burning your palm or finger tips. If the door or doorknob is hot, the fire is probably right outside. If that's the case, don't open the door.
    • Even if the door isn't hot, get ready to slam the door quickly shut if you need to. Open the door slowly, just a crack, with a steady hand. The pressure from the fire can force the door open if proper care isn't taken.
  4. Check the phone. If you are able to make a call, notify the front desk of your whereabouts. If you can't reach the front desk, try to call the fire department or call the local emergency number to let them know where you are. Hang a sheet or article of clothing out the window as a beacon to rescuers.

Timing a Safe Escape

  1. Stay in your room if the fire is in the hall blocking the exits, or if the hall is filled with heavy smoke. Even if flames are not present, thick smoke can kill you, so unless your room is on fire or also filled with heavy smoke, you're probably better off staying inside.
    • If there is smoke present in the room, open the windows and turn on the bathroom vent if available.
    • Place wet towels at the bottom of the door and around any other cracks around the doorway. The wet towels will help keep smoke out of the room.
    • Fill the bathtub with water. Use an ice bucket, trashcan, or suitcase to throw water onto the door or any other hot surface or spot fire in the room. If you have a fire extinguisher in the room, or if you're able to safely get one from the hallway, keep it close at hand and be ready to use it.
    • Create a mask by wetting a towel or article of clothing and tying it around your nose and mouth. Remember, smoke inhalation is deadly and most fire fatalities are caused by smoke or toxic gas inhalation. Do all you can to minimize the amount of smoke you're exposed to.
  2. Climb out the window and jump if it is safe. If you have a ground-floor room, you can probably just climb out the window to safety. Remember you should not attempt to jump from higher than two stories unless your life is imminently threatened. You should also not jump if you can see dangerous obstructions below your window, or if there is fire outside your window. If the conditions are right, and you are certain that you can not easily or safely exit the building through the halls, do not hesitate to use the window. Otherwise, wait as long as possible for rescuers to come before jumping from a window.
    • If fire or smoke is present outside your window, close the window, tear down the curtains or drapes and move combustible objects away from the window.
  3. Head to the nearest exit if the hallway appears safe. Bring your key(s), flashlight and moist-cloth mask with you. Close your room door behind you. Closing the door will help to keep smoke out of the room, which could save your life if you need to return to the room.
    • Stay low. If even the slightest amount of smoke is present, or if it is dark and you can not tell if smoke is present, crawl in the hallway. It's important to understand that while the air may be reasonably safe to breathe near the floor, one breath of the toxic air that may be lurking higher up could incapacitate, and eventually kill, you. There can also be substantial temperature differences in just a few vertical feet. You may not be able to tell if the air above you is poisonous or superheated until you have already breathed it in. By then it could be too late. Stay low.
    • Stay near the wall as you make your way through the hall. The wall can be your guide down the hallway, so try to keep in contact with it. In addition, other hotel guests may be running down the hall and you're more likely to get trampled if you're in the middle of the path.
  4. Count the doors to the exit, and stay on the same side of the hall as the exit. If you've planned your escape route when you checked in, you should know how many doors you have to pass and you'll be able to find the exit even if you can't see a thing.
  5. Take the stairs to exit the building unless the stairwell is filled with smoke. Use the handrail to guide you and to help you keep your footing. If heavy smoke chokes the stairwell, you have no choice but to get to another exit or go back to your room. Do not try to rush through the smoke unless your return route is blocked. The smoke will probably be extremely toxic and you don't know what you will run into further down the stairs.
    • If egress is impossible, go back to your room or up to the rooftop exit. If you find that flames or heavy smoke blocks your way after you have traveled down the stairwell, you can either try to get back to your room or get to the rooftop exit, if one is available.
    • Not all stairwells have a rooftop exit, and even if you can get to the roof, be aware that the fire department may not have a ladder truck or helicopter readily available to reach you. What's more, the exit to the roof may be locked. If you checked it out earlier, you should know whether an exit is available.
    • If you're not sure, try to make it back to your room, where you can either wait for rescuers or attempt to jump from the window. If you are locked in the stairwell, or if the path to your room is unsafe, hope that you can get out on the roof. Once there, close the door behind you to avoid creating a chimney effect that will draw fire and smoke upward more rapidly.
    • Await rescuers on the windward side of the roof. Try to signal fire fighters and wait for help to come.
  6. Get medical attention promptly. Even if you feel fine once you escape, you could be injured or you may suffer complications from smoke inhalation or burns. After the adrenaline-pumping experience you've just been through, you may not even notice a potentially life-threatening injury.

Tips

  • If you catch on fire, remember to stop, drop, and roll. Don't panic. Drop to the ground and roll to extinguish the flames. If possible, cover your face with your hands to protect your nose, mouth, and eyes.
  • If you notice a fire alarm control system, such as a panel or a keypad (similar to a security system) make sure it is powered and nothing is wrong with it. If something is not right, notify the building staff.
  • Place your smoke detector on the inside of the door to your room, near the top (you can hang it on a hanger if it doesn't have a magnet or adhesive). Be careful not to put the detector near air-conditioning or ventilation ducts, as the air coming through these may prevent smoke from reaching the smoke detector.
  • If you know that the stairwell doors will lock behind you, essentially trapping you in the stairwell if you can't make it to the ground-floor exit, try to prop the door open. That way you'll at least have some chance to make it back to your room if you find that you can't make it down the stairs. Keep in mind, however, that other people will also be trying to exit and in the confusion there's no guarantee that the door will still be open when you get back to it.
  • Don't jump from a window. Hang and then drop, bending your knees. this should also be practiced in the home. Remember...try to get out in 30 seconds and call the fire brigade even if you think they have already been called. Stay in the vicinity of the building until firefighters arrive and you have notified them that you have evacuated safely. If you need first aid attention ask the fire service for help. Carrying a US approved smoke hood increases your chances of survival and can give you up to 30 minutes clean air.
  • Try to keep your stuff together. Buy a bag (not a huge one) and put your keys, wallet, cell phone, and anything else you think is important in it. Keep it next to the bed, either on a desk/nightstand or the floor. If there's a fire, all your important, can't-afford-to-lose things will be right next to you.
  • If the smoke detector in your room doesn't work, get it repaired or insist on another room, particularly if you haven't brought your own backup.
  • Every fire is different. While these guidelines can help you survive a fire in many cases, there may be situations where you need to do things differently and you may need to make difficult decisions. No amount of planning can guarantee your survival in a fire, but the more prepared you are, the better will be your ability to make life-and-death decisions.
  • Especially when traveling in countries that don't mandate fire prevention precautions, try to stay in modern, high-end chain hotels to minimize the risk of fire. That said, your chances of escaping a small one-story hotel are better than those if you're staying on the top floor of an ultramodern high rise.

Warnings

  • In a motel, you can try to get in the hallway and exit straight through the door. Don't leave it open!
  • Do not assume that all hotels will have the same safety features you may be accustomed to. In some parts of the world, even "standard" features such as smoke detectors and fire extinguishers may be absent and older hotels in particular may not have up-to-date safety features. Flame-resistant building materials are also not standard in many places, so fires may start especially easily or travel particularly quickly.
  • Don't break a window unless you can't open it. You may need to close it later to keep smoke out.
  • Some smoke detectors are connected to fire alarm systems. Ask the building staff about the detector before you do anything, and if necessary, they will test it for you.
  • If the exit doors are connected to an alarm, don't test them when you're just checking out the exits. If you set off a false alarm, the whole hotel may erupt in panic and you could be held responsible for any injuries or fire department costs that result.
  • Never use the elevators during a fire, unless you've been instructed by firefighters to use it or stairs are absolutely unsafe. Elevators may malfunction during a fire--e.g. elevator cables may melt, the elevator car may quickly heat up to lethal temperatures, the elevator doors may open onto a hallway engulfed in flames and smoke--and you'll have no way of knowing until the doors open. If you use a wheelchair or otherwise cannot climb stairs, insist on a ground-floor room.

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Sources and Citations

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