Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
presence. Do not break the window unless there is no other way of open-
ing it. You may need to close the window if smoke begins to come into your
room from outside. Unfortunately, most hotel windows do not open, and
you will need to break the glass.
Keep wet sheets and towels at hand. If the room becomes smoke filled,
place the wet towels over your mouth and nose and breathe through them.
This will filter out a great deal of the particulate matter. Stay low, because
smoke rises and will be thinnest the closer to the ground that you are.
Several emergency escape hoods are available (see Chapter 10 for a dis-
cussion of such devices). They are self-contained rubber and plastic res-
pirators built into emergency hoods. Some products are effective only
against smoke and a limited number of toxic gases. Others are better and
actually provide protection even against carbon monoxide. Others still
have their own self-contained supply of oxygen, typically enough for five
to twenty minutes. These are effective but are also bulkier and more
expensive and may be difficult to travel with. Some of the models made
by Duram and Supergum fit into very small packages and still provide
protection against a variety of poisonous fume that will be released during
a fire. Do not fail to appreciate the danger of fumes that are released when
plastics and other manmade materials are burned. Most people who are
killed during a fire die as a result of smoke inhalation, poisonous fumes,
or having their lungs burned by inhaling superheated air.
If the fire is burning intensely outside your door, it is only a matter of
time before the door will be consumed. If you are trapped in your room,
you have little choice other than to try to keep the door as wet as possible.
Take the ice bucket, drinking glasses, or the wastepaper basket and con-
tinuously douse the door with water from the bathtub. This will buy you a
little time. It is hoped that that is all you will need. The filled tub may
become your last place of refuge if help has not arrived. If all else fails, get
into the tub and immerse as much of your body as possible, covering your
head and face with wet towels. Do this only as an absolute last resort because
you are now going to be engulfed in flames with little chance of rescue. You
are also in danger from the likely event that the fire is burning below you
and that the structure has been weakened to the point that the floor might
give way. Still, this may provide you with time to survive while the fire is
being brought under control by the sprinklers and fire department. Even
so, before either of us would opt for this choice, we would first make
absolutely sure that there was no way to get out around the fire, perhaps
via an adjoining room or by escaping out the window onto a ledge.
