If you're like millions of Americans, chances are you will soon visit your favorite travel website to secure holiday reservations. Even now, you may be sitting by your computer, beverage in hand (but not too close to the keyboard), trying to make sure you don't forget something on your hotel checklist: Room with a view? Check! Around-the-clock room service? Check! Heated pool and spa? Check!
You might think you have it covered.
The men and women of the Los Angeles Fire Department ask you to go one step further though, by staying in a fire safe hotel or motel.
Firefighters know that you and your family can be as safe as the Feds!
The Hotel and Motel Fire Safety Act of 1990 mandates that Federal employees on official travel must stay in public accommodations that strictly adhere to life safety requirements specified in the legislation.
Why the law?
- In 1946, the worst hotel fire in U.S. history took place at the Winecoff Hotel in Atlanta, taking the lives of 119 people.
- In November 1980, 85 people were killed at the MGM Grand Hotel fire in Las Vegas.
- One month later, 26 people died in a fire at the Stouffer's Inn in New York.
- In February 1981, only three months after the MGM Grand Hotel tragedy, another Nevada hotel - the Las Vegas Hilton - was the site of a major fire, where 8 people died, and over 600 people were injured.
- On New Year's Eve 1986, a fire raged in the Dupont Plaza Hotel in San Juan, Puerto Rico, killing 97 people in the course of just 12 short minutes.
Investigations conducted in the aftermath of the MGM Grand fire revealed that had the hotel been fully outfitted with automatic sprinklers, the damage wrought by the small electrical fire would have been a puddle of water.
The fire in the Dupont Plaza tragedy moved with such speed that the hotel's casino patrons were dead before the local fire department had even been notified. Testimony following this incident indicated that the fire would not have posed a threat to life if smoke alarms and a sprinkler system had been in place.
Then again, maybe you already knew that.
Did you also know there is a quick and simple way to check the same Hotel-Motel National Master List that Federal employees use?
It's no more difficult than visiting:
There are more than 35,000 properties on the list, and while we don't think it will take the place of your favorite travel guide, we hope you always make it a part of your travel plans.
Go ahead. Click on the link above and bookmark it now. That way you can always have the peace of mind that comes with staying in a hotel or motel that places your personal safety on par with their government business.
Submitted by Brian Humphrey, Spokesman
Los Angeles Fire Department
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