22-10-2010, 01:43 PM
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HOTEL FIRE SAFETY
HOTEL FIRE SAFETY
This page is a resource for the traveling public and meeting planners who have questions about hotel and motel fire safety. This type of information is not routinely available, and what is available may not be that reliable. To help you inquire about the fire safety features of a hotel or motel, the following information will show you what to look for and the right questions to ask.
Hotels don't highlight fire safety like they do dining facilities and similar features. Apparently, this is out of concern that references to fire safety will accentuate the negative - the possibility of a fire. But fire safety is a bona fide concern. For one thing, individual travelers have concerns about their fire safety. For another, people who arrange travel and meetings for employees or organizations may take on a liability if they neglect to confirm the level of fire safety equipment. This page attempts to address those needs. An overview of hotel fire safety.
The amount and type of fire safety equipment in a hotel varies by the size of the building, its height and age. Many high-rise hotels are protected with fire sprinklers, but one out of four still lack them. For all hotels and motels regardless of height, only 50 percent have fire sprinklers. Some hotel owners have corporate policies to retrofit older properties with fire sprinklers, but this is not the norm. And some hotels install state-of-the-art, well-maintained fire alarm systems that render false alarm problems nil, but other owners continue to tolerate the problem. As a result, many hotel guests ignore fire alarms.
The quality of fire protection also varies by region. In some areas, building and fire officials keep their safety codes current and diligently enforce them. But code advancement and enforcement are not uniform around the U. S. If these codes are not kept up to date and enforced by competent personnel, the quality of fire safety can suffer a great deal.