Category Archives: Fire

Hospitality Industry Risk Update: “L.A. Hotel Fire Kills 1, Injures 15; Some Jump From Windows to Escape”

“Of the 29 people who were staying at the hotel, 15, including a child, were hurt and suffered minor to serious injuries, fire officials said. Most of the injured suffered broken bones from jumping,LA hotel fire fire officials said. Alejandro Lopez, 40, said he was trapped inside his room and the intense flames left him with only one option: Jump out of the window.”

A man was killed and 15 were injured when flames overtook a hotel early Thursday in Wilmington, forcing some people to jump out of windows.

People were trapped by flames inside the two-story Wilmington Hotel at 111 E. C St. shortly after 3 a.m. as firefighters arrived, said Erik Scott, spokesman for the Los Angeles Fire Department.

Other hotel residents jumped out of windows to escape the flames.

For more: http://lat.ms/1G7cf4F

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Filed under Fire, Guest Issues, Hotel Industry, Injuries, Management And Ownership, Risk Management

Hospitality Industry Management Update: “Common Fire Code Violations” (Video)

[vimeo https://vimeo.com/107482118 w=500&h=281]

Petra Risk Solutions’ Loss Control Manager, Matt Karp, offers a P3 Hospitality Risk Report – ‘Common Fire Code Violations’. 

P3 (Petra Plus Process) is the Risk Management Division of Petra Risk Solutions – America ’s largest independent insurance brokerage devoted exclusively to the hospitality marketplace.

For more information on Petra and P3 visit petrarisksolutions.com or call 800.466.8951.

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Filed under Fire, Hotel Industry, Insurance, Maintenance, Management And Ownership, Risk Management, Training

Hospitality Industry Management Update: “Common Fire Code Violations” (Video)

[vimeo https://vimeo.com/107482118 w=500&h=281]

Petra Risk Solutions’ Loss Control Manager, Matt Karp, offers a P3 Hospitality Risk Report – ‘Common Fire Code Violations’. 

P3 (Petra Plus Process) is the Risk Management Division of Petra Risk Solutions – America ’s largest independent insurance brokerage devoted exclusively to the hospitality marketplace.

For more information on Petra and P3 visit petrarisksolutions.com or call 800.466.8951.

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Filed under Fire, Hotel Industry, Insurance, Maintenance, Management And Ownership, Risk Management, Training

Hospitality Industry Legal Update: “Smoke Alarm Laws Taking Effect”

“…The biggest change, which took effect July 1, 20140225165058_87769requires all new battery-operated smoke alarms sold in California to be built with a nonremovable 10-year battery. Existing smoke detectors don’t have to be replaced until they reach the end of their 10-year lifespan or start malfunctioning…”

New smoke detector laws, including a change that took effect July 1, are intended to keep working alarms in rental properties and homes in Tracy and throughout California.

State Senate Bills 1394 and 745 are phasing in rules for installation and types of smoke alarms during the next two years.

For more: http://bit.ly/1qYv68S

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Filed under Fire, Hotel Industry, Maintenance, Management And Ownership, Risk Management, Technology

Hospitality Industry News Update: “Deadly Hotel Fire Raising Safety Concerns in New Jersey”

“…One woman, who stayed at Mariners Cove days before the fire, says the motel had battery-operated smoke detectors, but fire victims say they never went off.  ‘That’s the thing, they were battery-powered fire alarms. Once they get hot and they melt, they are not going to work,’ said Tammy Tilton…”

The deadly motel fire in Point Pleasant, New Jersey is raising safety concerns at other motels in the area.

Activity has died down at the scene, but the probe continues into Friday morning’s deadly fire at the Mariners Cove Motor Inn in Point Pleasant Beach.

The blaze killed four people, including 66-year-old Albert Sutton, formerly of Mount Laurel.

Based on surveillance footage pulled from the rubble and restored by computer experts at the Ocean County prosecutor’s office, detectives have determined the cause of the fire was careless smoking.

For more: http://abclocal.go.com/wpvi/story?section=news/local&id=9479643

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Filed under Claims, Fire, Hotel Industry, Injuries, Maintenance, Management And Ownership, Risk Management, Technology

Hospitality Industry Liability Update: “3 People Killed in Deadly Fire At New Jersey Hotel Read”

“…The New Jersey Hotel is only of few blocks from the beach and most of its guests work in the fishing industryImage or are building contractors in the area. Many of the residents at the hotel have been displaced by Hurricane Sandy and forced to stay in the hotel until they can afford to repair their homes…”

 

A deadly fire took the lives of three people and critically injured at least three more, when a New Jersey hotel burst into flames.

Mariner’s Cove Motor Inn at Point Pleasant Beach, suddenly caught fire early this morning and had firefighters struggling to control the flames.

The Jersey shore hotel was completely destroyed by the blaze and upon entering the building firefighters discovered the bodies of three guests that couldn’t escape the inferno.

For more: http://americanlivewire.com/2014-03-21-3-people-killed-in-deadly-fire/

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Filed under Fire, Guest Issues, Hotel Industry, Insurance, Liability, Management And Ownership, Risk Management

Hospitality Industry Risk Management Update: “Code Violations Plagued The Majestic Hotel Before Fire”

“…In an evaluation of the hotel in 2012, the fire chief predicted the hotel’s ultimate demise stating, “In the event of a fire it is anticipated portions of the yellow brick will begin to fail at an early state in the fire’s development.Image To place the cities firefighters inside the yellow brick building under those firefighting conditions is to needlessly expose them to injury or death…”

Two weeks ago today an historic hotel, more than 100 years old, went up in flames. Tonight, we’re learning more about what Hot Springs city leaders did to try and prevent the Majestic Hotel fire. Talk to just about any Hot Springs resident and they’ll give you a memory of the Majestic.

One bystander said, “That was the restaurant there and 20 years ago my husband and I had our first date there.” Another person said, “We had our wedding reception in the Majestic.” In the 1950’s the hotel became so popular, construction crews added on to it.

For more: http://www.arkansasmatters.com/story/d/story/code-violations-plagued-the-majestic-hotel-before/52879/rJ44s7w9-ku2EpG5lLKoGw

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Filed under Fire, Hotel Industry, Insurance, Maintenance, Management And Ownership, Risk Management, Structural Damage

Hospitality Industry Property Risks: Wisconsin Hotel Fire Likely An Electrical Short Tied To Bathtub Overflow; “Fire Stops” Limit Damage

“…(the fire likely started in the area where) a bathtub on the second floor overflowed for an extended period of time…the fire was likely electrical Hotel Fire and Smoke Damagein nature…Most of the damage was limited to the back one-third of the hotel, thanks to the building’s design, which includes “fire stops” — concrete barriers between sections of larger buildings that help keep potential fires from spreading…”

Investigators say a fire that tore through the Days Inn in Wausau Saturday evening started in the same area where a bathtub overflowed earlier in the day. Investigators from the Wausau Police Department, Wausau Fire Department, and the State Fire Marshal’s Office were at the hotel at 116 S. 17th Ave. Sunday to look into the cause of the blaze that displaced at least 20 long-term residents.

Wausau Police Capt. Greg Hagenbucher said investigators were notified of an incident earlier on Saturday where an amount of water damage was caused when a bathtub on the second floor overflowed for an extended period of time. The damage occurred in the same area where the fire was discovered. Hagenbucher said the fire was likely electrical in nature and does not appear suspicious.

For more: http://www.wisconsinrapidstribune.com/article/20131215/WRT01/312150299/Updated-Days-Inn-fire-likely-electrical-tied-water-damage-from-overflowing-bathtub

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Filed under Fire, Guest Issues, Maintenance, Risk Management, Structural Damage

Hospitality Industry Property Risks: North Carolina Hotel Suffers “Extensive Water Damage” From Fire Sprinklers Activated By Small Heating Unit Fire

“…Most of the damage was from the sprinkler system…once a fire activates the system, the sprinklers will continue to pour water (up to 40 Hotel Water Damagegallons per minute) until someone shuts them off…workers from a disaster recovery service, hauled fans and dehumidifiers to the damaged rooms. Workers had torn up soaked carpets from several of the rooms and at least half of one of the hallways…”

A small fire in a failed heating unit in an unoccupied room at the Holiday Inn on Glenwood Avenue on Thursday night caused extensive damage, but not because of the flames. Fire sprinklers doused the entire 10th floor of the building, soaking carpets, furniture and wallpaper. Damage extended to an estimated 25 percent of the building, according to a Raleigh Fire Department report.

About 70 firefighters arrived at the hotel just before 9 p.m. Thursday, but the sprinklers had already quenched the flames. No one was injured.

“They are designed to put a fire out, and the only way they can do that is to flow a lot of water,” Hicks said.

Read more here: http://www.newsobserver.com/2013/11/29/3417282/fire-extinguishers-at-holiday.html#storylink=cpy

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Filed under Fire, Guest Issues, Insurance, Maintenance, Structural Damage

Hospitality Industry Fire Risk Management: “Security Alert! Check The Security Of Your Hotel’s Knox Boxes Frequently” By Todd Seiders, CLSD, Petra Risk Solutions

Security Alert! Check The Security Of Your Hotel’s Knox Boxes Frequently

by Todd Seiders, CLSD

Check your Knox Boxes! A Knox Box, known officially as the KNOX-BOX Rapid Entry System, is a small, wall-mounted safe-like box that holds building keys for firefighters and EMTs to retrieve in emergencies. In many jurisdictions, the local Fire Department requires that a Knox Box be located outside of your hotel (check with your local Fire Department for requirements; some jurisdictions may not require hotels to have one), for their use only, in the event of an emergency. The Knox Box has a complete set of the hotel’s master keys locked inside this box.

Knox Boxes simplify key control for local fire departments. Local fire companies can hold master keys to all such boxes in their response area, so that they can quickly enter a building without having to force entry or find individual keys held in deposit at the fire station. Sometimes Knox Boxes are linked via radio to the dispatch station, where the dispatcher can release the keys with telecommunication tone signaling over analog phone lines.

Knox Boxes have advantages and disadvantages for both business owners and emergency responders. The main advantage for their use is that they cut fire losses for building owners since firefighters can more quickly enter buildings without breaking doors or windows. The disadvantage of the system is that it provides a single point of failure for security. If the key to a district’s Knox Boxes is stolen or copied, a thief can enter any building that has a Knox Box. Likewise, if the locking mechanism or structural integrity of the box is compromised, a thief can gain access to the keys and hence access to the entire building. For this reason some building owners wire Knox Boxes into their burglar alarm systems so that opening the box trips the alarm, thus negating its use in facilitating clandestine entry.

Knox Boxes are an actual miniature safe designed to withstand tampering and are built in a variety of sizes ranging from a box designed for two keys to one designed to hold hazardous material information and multiple keys. Prices start at approximately $250.00. Most Knox Boxes are mounted onto a wood or steel mounting with the screws or bolts covered.

Todd Seiders Petra Risk SolutionsYet, this does not mean that Knox Boxes are indestructible or cannot be removed from their mounting with force. We have recently seen many of these Knox Boxes forcefully removed from their wall mountings and stolen from the property. In several cases the thieves then returned to the hotel with the master keys and stole items.

In one theft at a hotel the thieves specifically used the master keys to access the storage room for the hotel night audit packets and guest files. The thieves stole hundreds of night audit packets containing the names, addresses and credit card numbers of previous guests. Obviously, hotels can be held liable for breach of guests’ personal information or loss of their credit card data.

So, what should hoteliers do? Secure your night audit packets/files in a secure room that has a hard metal key, rather than a magnetic key card lock. There should only be one or two hotel employees that have access to the night audit storage room, and storage room keys. Secure these files separately, and control all access to them. DO NOT include a key to this storage room in your Knox Box, or on your “master key ring”, or even leave this key unattended in a key box. The night audit file storage room key should be kept separate from all other keys.

As for the hotel’s Knox Box, local ordinances may require that your property have a Knox Box in the event of an emergency. If so, follow these suggestions:

  • Check that your Knox Box is solidly secured to its location, using numerous heavy duty screws or bolts to make it extremely hard to remove.
  • Relocate your Knox Box to a well lit area, and in view of security cameras, if your property has them.
  • Add a visual inspection of the Knox Box to your property inspection form and security tours so it will be inspected on a regular basis. This will let you know in a timely manner if someone has tried to remove it, or has in fact actually removed or damaged. Immediately re-key the entire hotel if the Knox Box is stolen or the keys inside come up missing. 

Pictured above: Here’s what some of the various Knox Boxes look like.

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http://www.petrarisksolutions.com/

(Todd Seiders, CLSD, is director of risk management for Petra Risk Solutions, which provides a full-range of risk management and insurance services for hospitality owners and operators. Their website is: www.petrarisksolutions.com. Todd can be reached at 800-466-8951 or via e-mail at: todds@petrarisksolutions.com.)  

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Filed under Crime, Fire, Insurance, Liability, Maintenance, Management And Ownership, Risk Management, Theft, Training