Fire safety in a hotel or a guest house is very essential as it has a large number of occupants that can be exposed to danger.  Most people who frequent these rented accommodations will not think about anything about fire accidents as they are focused on their vacation.  It is very understandable because travelers like to unwind and not worry about anything when they go on vacation.  However, it would be impractical and unwise not to give it a thought as accidents do happen and fire can strike anywhere even if you stay on a top-notch hotel.

There are fire safety topics that you might not want to talk about during your trip but you might want to consider the following things when you stay at your chosen guest house or hotel.

Reserve a Room on a Lower Floor

Since booking or making room reservations can be done prior to the date of your vacation, make sure you choose a room that is located on lower floors.  The view on the higher floors or top level is sure to be breathtaking but when you think of the safety, it will not be a wise choice.  During fire, people are advised to take the stairs instead of the elevators and if you are just on, the lower floors chances are you can get out of the burning building quickly.  Most people staying on higher floors are in the danger of being trapped if they cannot get out it immediately.  Remember, that in emergencies like fire, you also must be aware that inhalation of smoke is as dangerous as being burned by the flames.  The quickly you can get out the better for you.

Know your Escape Route

This is a very important thing to do when you arrive to your destination.  A guest house or a hotel is required to provide different exits for the guests.  It is necessary that you check them out as it may literally save your life when a fire occurs.  You have heard many horrifying stories of people being trapped in their own homes.  Just imagine how bad it is to be caught at unfamiliar surroundings when a fire occurs.  If the fire preventive devices in the building are working efficiently, you will naturally hear an alarm alerting everyone of an accident, knowing what path to go will definitely make your escape easier.

Look Out for Fire Fighting Devices

It would be at your own great advantage if you know where the fire extinguisher is.  However, before you even try using this device, make sure you know how to use it.  If you do not have any idea at all, the best thing for you is to get out from the area.  It is also important that you know where the fire alarm is. A guest house will have a fire alarm installed on each floor.  Press it to alert everyone.

Discuss fire safety topics with your family

It is only but natural that you would not want to talk about something like this with your family, as it might ruin your vacation but there are some things in life that cannot be taken for granted and fire is one of them.  Share the information with them so that everyone will know what to do when it happens.

Most people will walk past a fire safety extinguisher and ignore it. For them it is merely a red cylinder with no real purpose. The majority of people have never used a fire safety extinguisher and many of them never will. That cylinder will forever be a mystery to them. However, a fire extinguisher is a life-saving device and learning how to use one should be the goal of every single person. There are about a dozen different types, so this article will concentrate on three of the main ones: water, foam and dry powder analysing what type of fires they should be used for, what their dangers are and how they should be utilised.

The water and water spray fire safety extinguishers are the cheapest available. This also makes them the most limited. When dealing with people’s lives, it is best to spare no expense, though water has its uses. Water spray is far more effective than water jets and is useful for fires involving wood, plastics and paper etc. The dry powder type is far superior to water and can be used on the same kind of materials as water. In addition, it can take care of oil based fires and is safe to use on live electrical equipment. Foam extinguishers are also ideal for fires involving solids.

The dangers with water extinguishers are manifold. They should not be used on oil fires because they simply won’t work and use on electrical fires could prove to be fatal. Although dry powder fire extinguishers are versatile, they don’t do a good job of cooling fires and great care must be taken to ensure that the fire does not flare up again. Foam should not be used in the home nor should it be used on liquid fires.

When using a water fire safety extinguisher, point and spray at the base of the fire. Water cools the fuel surfaces and a spray is effective because the water covers a greater surface area than a jet release. These extinguishers usually contain surfactants which help the water penetrate deep into the burning material. Use the dry powder to attack the fire and force it to the far edge until it is out. It works by acting as a thermal ballast which makes the flames too cool for chemical reactions to continue. They quickly knockdown the fire but they may not keep it out. For solid fires, point the foam extinguisher at the base and move it across the area of the fire. For liquid fires in a container, point the spray at the inside edge of the container. Foam is usually water based, with the foaming agent designed to float on top of the burning material, breaking the contact between the flames and its fuel.

The next time you see a fire safety extinguisher, you should know how important it is and how you should use it. Remember, although a water fire extinguisher is better than nothing, it is not nearly as effective as its foam or dry powder equivalent. Know what fires to use them on, find out how to use them and try and learn how they work for a greater understanding of how to deal with fires.

Fire safety regulations are not designed to be a thorn in the side of employees and companies alike. Their specific purpose is to ensure that every building is up to speed in terms of fire safety and that all employees know their role if a fire does take place. With fire safety regulations, you could turn a potentially catastrophic situation into a manageable one. Of particular importance are the fire safety regulations that pertain to evacuation, including the differing methods of evacuation, the meeting point and the frequency of fire drills.

There are actually three kinds of evacuation. The first is the normal Simultaneous Evacuation which involves everyone reacting to the fire alarm at the same time and moving towards the designated fire exits. In large, complex premises, a Vertical Phased Evacuation may be the strategy of choice. This involves informing those who are furthest away from the fire to stand by whilst those who are at greatest risk are evacuated immediately. Then, to avoid congestion around the exit doors, the floors are evacuated one by one. Some hospitals and care homes may be divided into several different fire resisting compartments and the occupants are moved from the area where the fire is to the nearest compartment and moved again if necessary. This is known as Horizontal Phased Evacuation. If the fire is deemed to be out of control, then total evacuation will be required in accordance with fire safety regulations.

One of the key fire safety regulations is having a specific assembly point for all the occupants of the building to assemble for a roll call. If someone is missing from the head count, immediately contact the nominated fire service liaison who should in turn alert the fire services. This assembly point should be far enough away from the building to ensure that no one is in danger from falling debris or radiated heat but close enough for the fire liaison (who should be near the entrance) to communicate with the person in charge of the head count. The area should be large enough to accommodate all staff and should have a shelter of some description to protect people from inclement weather.

Fire drills should be carried out on a regular basis to ensure that all staff and nominated individuals are up to speed with what is required in the event of an emergency. Fire safety regulations dictate that these drills should be performed at least once a year and preferably more frequently.  Also, all fire alarms and fire fighting equipment should be checked once a month. In order to prove that your company is adhering to fire safety regulations, you should keep a record of every drill carried out.

There is no reason to fear or dislike having to satisfy fire safety regulations. While it is a legal necessity to ensure that all staff are educated in what to do in the event of fire, surely it is common sense to know how to react when you see a blaze. Your company should carry out one of the three evacuation strategies, find a suitable assembly point and conduct regular fire drills to make certain that all staff will be well prepared if a fire alarm goes off suddenly one day.

While everyone knows the importance of a fire safety alarm for their home, having effective fire safety alarm systems for entire buildings seems to be something that gets continually ignored. Every building except domestic premises are subject to the Regulatory Reform Order 2005 and the ‘Responsible Person‘, whomever that is, is in charge of risk assessment. Therefore, a fire safety alarm system is not only essential for safety, it is also illegal not to have one if you own or look after a building. There are generally three different kinds of fire alarms available: Conventional, Analogue and Wireless systems.

Conventional alarm systems have a number of detectors and call points wired to the Fire Alarm Control Panel and these are separated into zones. A zone is a circuit and this would usually be wired to individual floors of the Fire Department. There are also a number of zone lamps. The purpose of the zones is to give the department a good idea where the fire has occurred. The control panel is wired to at least two sounder circuits that are designed to emit audible sounds.

Analogue detectors are sometimes known erroneously as ‘intelligent’ fire safety alarm systems. In actual fact, the majority of analogue detectors are anything but intelligent. They only give outputs signals with no actual sign that there is definitely a fire. It is then left up to the control panel to ascertain whether there is a fire, or if its just a fault. As one can imagine, such alarms would be irritating and time consuming for fire brigades in cities who have to deal with dozens or hundreds of calls a day. The truly intelligent analogue detectors however are excellent devices because their computer evaluates the environment around the alleged fire, figuring out for itself the nature of the alarm and informing the control panel of the reason for the alarm. This type of fire safety alarm is far more advanced than conventional systems.

If you don’t want one of the traditional wired fire alarm systems, then there is a wireless option available. They interconnect the sensors and devices like smoke detectors with the controllers using secure, license-free radio communications. This is a fairly simple but effective concept and is every bit as useful as its conventional fire alarm system counterpart without the hassle of cables. When a fire safety alarm system is being fitted, things like the number of zones required and the maximum amount of detectors also need to be considered.

Although a fire alarm is a fine tool for alerting you to the dangers posed by fire, they cannot protect your property when you’re not there. With a fire safety alarm system, the fire brigade will instantly be informed if a fire takes place in your home and will rush over there to save your property. They are assisted by the likes of conventional, analogue and wireless systems that give them the maximum amount of time required to successfully find and put out the fire, hopefully preventing too much damage from being done to your home.