FIRE! FIRE! FIRE!

  

For our frequent travelers putting up in hotels and high-rise dwellers, these tips could be useful to come out alive from a fire. Is scary to be caught in a towering inferno and not knowing what to do. Knowing how to avoid SMOKE and PANIC are crucial for survival in any fire disaster.


SMOKE


Bearing in mind, smoking and matches cause 70% of the hotel fires. In a building, air conditioning and air exchange systems can pick up smoke from one room and travel to other rooms or floors.  In any case, your priority should be to leave at the first sign of smoke.

Smoke being warmer rises to the ceiling and works its way down. Once it gets to the eyes, it can be so irritating and keeping them wide open may be a problem, hindering movement at this crucial moment. Logically, you should lie low on the floor with your hands and knees to catch some fresh air and stay there as you make you way out. Those who do not probably would not get far as the eyes and lungs are affected.


PANIC

For most people, when terror overwhelms, the fight or flight instinct takes over and you no longer can act rationally and become disorientated instead. This feeling can only get worse and is almost irreversible if the condition does not improve. Given the urgency to save oneself, the possibility of harming others cannot be discounted.

BACK TO THE FIRE SPOT…..

ROOM

-  Having checked into your hotel room, look back into the hallway to check the Exit. Keep in mind the objects that are placed alongside. You have to imagine getting to the Exit with a blindfold on. Cultivate this habit in case tragedy strikes anytime.

-  Explore the room to find any avenue to dissipate smoke in an emergency. For instance, can windows be opened up? Check out first before the room turns dark and smoky then.

-  Once smoke is detected, you could choose to leave the room and close the door behind you. This way you help to keep out fire and minimize smoke damage to your belongings. As doors in hotels are usually of better quality and fireproof, it takes longer to burn through, thus allowing you ample time to escape. In order not to lock yourself out, place the key in a convenient spot to grab and go. You may find conditions in the hallway untenable and need to return to your room.

- Should you want to report a fire or smell of smoke, ask the hotel operator for an outside line for a local call. Call the Fire Department and tell them your room number in case you need to be rescued. Do not let hotel “policy” intimidate you into doing otherwise. Most hotels do not respond immediately by calling the Fire Department until verified and failed attempt to put out the fire themselves. The very reason is not to “disturb” their guests unnecessarily and fire engines in the streets are quite embarrassing and tend to draw crowds.

-  If there is fresh air outside, leave the window open, but keep an eye on it. At this point, most people would stay at the window waving frantically, whilst their room continues to fill with smoke. Be aggressive and fight back. How?

-  As water is very important. fill the bath to fight the fire and smoke.

–  Wet some sheets or towels, and stuff the cracks of your door to keep out incoming smoke.

–  With your ice bucket, bail the water from the bath onto the door to keep it cool.

–  If the walls are hot, splash on them too.

–  To prevent incoming smoke, place mattress up against the door followed by the dresser.

–  Attempt to keep everything wet.

–  A wet towel tied around your nose and mouth in a triangular shape to filter smoke.

–  Swinging a wet towel around the room helps to clear the smoke.

–  If there is a fire outside the window, pull down the curtains and move everything combustible away from the window. Bail water all around the window.

Do what you can till reinforcements arrive.

EXITS

-  Now before opening the door, feel it with the palm of your hand. If the door or knob is quite hot, do not open it. The fire could be just outside. Otherwise, slowly open the door and peek into the hallway to assess outside conditions.

-  As you make your way to the Exit, stay against the wall on the side where the Exit is. It is very easy to get lost or disorientated in a smoky atmosphere. If you are on the wrong side of the hallway, you might crawl right on by the Exit. If you are in the middle of the hall, people who are running will trip over you.

On the way down, walk steadily and hang onto the handrail. This is to avoid running down by fearful people and not being able to get up.  All you have to do now is leave the building, cross the street and watch the action. When the fire is out and the smoke clears, permission is granted to re-enter the building. If you closed your room door when you left, your belongings may in pretty good shape.

-  Another alternative route is the roof top access. A good reason is that smoke does not rise very high before it cools and gets dense. Hence encountering “stacking” is less likely. However, as you are moving in opposite direction from others, hang onto the handrail to avoid being knocked down. 

As Exit stairwells are designed to bar entry from the street or roof, access at different level is made impossible for security purposes. Thus, roof top is the ultimate destination to aim for. Force open the door if necessary and leave it open. Any smoke in the stairwell may now vent itself to the atmosphere. Stay at a corner away from the smoke and await rescue.

LIFTS

Most people think the elevator is a “safe” escape route when it is not really so. In any building it extends through all floors and is the fastest mean to get out. However, with the shaft filling with smoke, and everyone trying to get it, fights can break out and people get seriously injured. Overloading and frantic actions over the control buttons can cause a breakdown to occur.

JUMPING OUT?

Another desperate act is to jump from high floors. Unfortunately, most are met with death or injury. Statistics showed those with jumped from the 2nd floor could probably make it with a sprained ankle, and any higher than the 3rd floor, the chance of surviving is low or seriously injured. This is especially so for those who jump out not far enough to clear the building may hit windowsills and ledges on the way down, or land on their head.