Fire Safety Doesn’t Take a Vacation!

Vacations make hotels and motels our homes away from home. It is just as important to be prepared and know what to do in a hotel or motel emergency as it is in your own home.

Before You Leave On Vacation

• Check to make sure that all stoves and electrical appliances (coffee makers, toasters, etc.) have been turned off or disconnected. 
• Unplug all Electronics (televisions, computers, radios, etc.), severe weather with lightning or power surges could cause a fire in this equipment while you're away. 
• Check your smoke detector and carbon monoxide detectors upon your return to make sure they are functioning. Batteries may have died while you were away. 

Fire Safety In Hotels & Motels

• Select a hotel or motel protected by both smoke alarms and a fire sprinkler system. 
• When you get to your room, review the posted escape plan and locate the two exits nearest your room. 
• Make sure the fire exit doors work and are unlocked. 
• Keep your room key and a flashlight next to the bed. 
• If you hear the fire alarm sound or suspect a fire in the hotel, investigate, don't go back to sleep. If you see fire or smoke, call the fire department immediately. Identify which room you are in. 
• If you hear the fire alarm, check the door with the back of your hand. If it is cool, slowly open the door and exit. Crawl low under smoke down the hallway to the fire exit. Use a wet cloth over your nose and mouth. 
• If the door is hot or warm, leave it closed and stay in the room. Shut of fans and air conditioners. Place wet towels or sheets into cracks around the door to keep smoke out. Call the fire department and tell them you are trapped in your room, and give them the room number. Wait at a window with a flashlight or light colored cloth. 
• If a fire starts in your room, leave immediately and close the door behind you to confine the fire and smoke to the room. Activate the fire alarm and call the fire department once you are safely out of danger. 
• Use the stairs, never use an elevator during a fire.

Facts:

• On average 1 out of every 13 hotels or motels report a fire each year.
• The majority of hotel fire deaths result from fires that start in the bedroom.
• Cooking equipment is the leading cause of hotel & motel fires.

If you are in need of a smoke detector or carbon monoxide detector, please call Seekonk Human Services at
508-336-8772.

Sources: NFPA & City of Phoenix