Fire safety in hotels and lodging: know your way out

In a fire the main danger is usually the smoke, not the fire itself. Smoke is hot, toxic and takes away your sight. Because hot gases rise, it first collects under the ceiling and then fills the room from top to bottom. Close to the floor the air therefore often stays clearer and cooler for longer – that is why you move low or crawl in smoke.

In thick smoke you can hardly see your own hand, and emergency lighting or signs may be hidden. Anyone who has walked the route consciously once and counted the doors can find it by touch along the wall. That is the core of the method: you move the thinking into a calm moment so that you no longer need it under stress.

Lifts are dangerous in a fire. Their shaft can fill with smoke, the power can fail, and the car can stop on a smoke-filled floor. Stairwells, on the other hand, are built as escape routes in many buildings and separated from smoke by doors – which is why you close those doors behind you.

After check-in, look at the escape plan on the room door or in the corridor: where is your room, and in which two directions can you get out? Then walk to the nearest and the second-nearest emergency exit. Check that the door opens and that the stairwell is clear. If an exit is locked or blocked, tell reception.

Count the doors between your room and the exit and remember which side it is on. Put your room key, phone, torch, glasses and shoes next to the bed so that you can grab them in the dark. You need the key in case you have to go back into your room because the route is blocked.

Take every alarm seriously. Many people first wait to see whether it is “just a test” and lose valuable time. Luggage stays in the room, and you do not go back to fetch anything.

Before opening the room door, test the door and the handle with the back of your hand. The back of the hand is sensitive to heat, and you do not burn the palm you need for feeling your way. If the door is hot or smoke is coming through, do not open it.

If it is cool, open it carefully, take the key, close the door behind you and leave the building by the stairs. Outside, report at the assembly point so that nobody searches for you inside.

If the route is blocked, stay in the room: seal the gaps around the door with wet towels, call the local emergency number (112 in the EU) and give your room number, and signal at the window. Do not jump from a great height – that is often more dangerous than waiting for the fire service in the sealed room.

Building regulations for hotels differ greatly between countries. In some regions smoke alarms, sprinklers or lit escape routes are missing. In mountain huts and simple lodging this is more common. There, a small personal smoke alarm and a headlamp by the bed can make sense.

The basic rules – know two escape routes, stay low in smoke, test doors for heat, do not use the lift – come from general fire safety advice from emergency management agencies, such as FEMA's “Are You Ready?” guide. Firefighting, on the other hand, is the fire service's job. Your goal is to get out quickly and safely.