Hotel Fire Research Articles

Current and Future Trends of Security and Fire Protection Technologies In The Hospitality Industry

Although there had been some serious hotel fires over the years, there was not a major focus on fire as a problem within the lodging industry until November 21, 1980 when the tragic fire occurred at the MGM Grand Hotel in Las Vegas, Nevada. With the loss of 85 lives and television coverage that pictured the fire while it was still & major conflagration, this became a critical challenge that had to be addressed by the lodging industry. Security per se became a major concern to the hospitality industry because of Connie Francis' rape in 1974.A number of types of new technology were developed to deal with fire and safety issues. Keycards are becoming commonplace, but in the future may be replaced by voice, hand, retina, and skin identification. Computerized systems help in keeping security personnel up to date with local security issues, screen potential security employees, monitor current security personnel and keep the physical facilities protected. Multisensor fire detectors provide increased fire protect...

Nightie flight nurse groped in hotel fire.

Flu-enforccd bed rest has resulted in my reading every single word of the current Nursing Standard (February 2). I have even read the addresses and locations in the career listings.

Roles of a helicopter emergency medical service in mass casualty incidents

The Connecticut helicopter emergency medical service (HEMS) has responded to 12 mass casualty incidents (MCI) in two years. Eight were drills and four were actual events. An MCI response plan was instituted prior to the onset of the HEMS program. All MCIs were reviewed to determined actual victims, knowledge of MCI prior to lift-off, and roles of the HEMS. The actual roles were compared with the pre-established roles. The four actual MCIs (building expolosion, hotel fire, bus rollover and plane crash) were reviewed. Sixty-seven victims were involved. Prenotification occurred in one MCI. The roles of the HEMS in each MCI were: triage {n=4}, medical treatment {n=}, transport {n=3}, augmented response {n=1}, and air surveillance {n=0}. The roles of HEMS response to MCI should be well-defined prior to an event. Air medical benefits include response within a large geographic area, highest level of prehospital medical care, identification of trauma receiving hospitals, and facilitation of transport.

Mid-year report

The Connecticut helicopter emergency medical service (HEMS) has responded to 12 mass casualty incidents (MCI) in two years. Eight were drills and four were actual events.An MCI response plan was instituted prior to the onset of the HEMS program. All MCIs were reviewed to determined actual victims, knowledge of MCI prior to lift-off, and roles of the HEMS. The actual roles were compared with the pre-established roles. The four actual MCIs (building expolosion, hotel fire, bus rollover and plane crash) were reviewed. Sixty-seven victims were involved. Prenotification occurred in one MCI. The roles of the HEMS in each MCI were: triage {n=4}, medical treatment {n=}, transport {n=3}, augmented response {n=1}, and air surveillance {n=0}.The roles of HEMS response to MCI should be well-defined prior to an event. Air medical benefits include response within a large geographic area, highest level of prehospital medical care, identification of trauma receiving hospitals, and facilitation of transport.

Analysis of Carboxyhemoglobin and Cyanide in Blood from Victims of the Dupont Plaza Hotel Fire in Puerto Rico

Ninety-seven people died from a fire that occurred in the Dupont Plaza Hotel in Puerto Rico on 31 Dec. 1986. All, except four who died later in the hospital, were found dead at the scene. All of the fatalities at the hotel (except for eight) were burned beyond recognition. Blood from seventy-eight of the victims was screened for carboxyhemoglobin at the Institute for Forensic Sciences in Puerto Rico and was then sent to the National Institute of Standards and Technology, Gaithersburg, Maryland, for analysis of carboxyhemoglobin and cyanide concentrations. The blood data indicated that carbon monoxide and hydrogen cyanide, singly or combined, were probably not responsible for the majority of the deaths that occurred in the badly burned victims. On the other hand, the significantly higher carboxyhemoglobin in the nonburned victims indicated that carbon monoxide alone or combined with hydrogen cyanide probably played a major role in the cause of their deaths.

UK commentary

After years of government-inspired political attacks, and government- imposed financial cuts on local authority housing - including much publicised 'right-to-buy' initiatives, prohibitions on using even money from sales for improving housing, and the selling off (by Conservative boroughs) of whole estates over tenants' heads - the quality and availability of public housing has deteriorated starkly. Black protest over the scarcity of public housing was most drama tically demonstrated when homeless Bengali families in the London borough of Camden occupied the town hall in 1984, after the death of a mother and her two children in a bed-and-breakfast hotel fire. Follow ing the occupation, an investigation into Camden's housing policies was carried out under the direction of local community organisations. * The investigation, conducted against the backdrop of sweeping legislative changes which threaten the very coherence and long-term existence of public housing, has implications for the black community as a whole. Lee Bridges, who served on the Investigation Panel and wrote its report, extracts and summarises the main findings.

Hotel fires in Hong Kong

The fire risk of hotels in Hong Kong was studied by carrying out a survey on the fireload, local design consideration and past records. It seems that the present design provides adequate safety and ability to control accidents as illustrated from past cases.

Summary of the national bureau of standards' analysis of the dupont plaza hotel fire

Fire and MaterialsVolume 13, Issue 1 p. 98-105 Real Fire Experience Summary of the national bureau of standards' analysis of the dupont plaza hotel fire† Jack E. Snell, Jack E. Snell Center for Fire Research, National Bureau of Standards, Gaithersburg, MD 20899, U.S.A.Search for more papers by this authorHarold E. Nelson, Harold E. Nelson Center for Fire Research, National Bureau of Standards, Gaithersburg, MD 20899, U.S.A.Search for more papers by this author Jack E. Snell, Jack E. Snell Center for Fire Research, National Bureau of Standards, Gaithersburg, MD 20899, U.S.A.Search for more papers by this authorHarold E. Nelson, Harold E. Nelson Center for Fire Research, National Bureau of Standards, Gaithersburg, MD 20899, U.S.A.Search for more papers by this author First published: March 1988 https://doi.org/10.1002/fam.810130114Citations: 3 † This paper is based on testimony presented by Jack E. Snell before the House Committee on Science, Space, and Technology; Subcommittee on Science, Research, and Technology, on Hotel Fire Safety [1]. AboutPDF ToolsRequest permissionExport citationAdd to favoritesTrack citation ShareShare Give accessShare full text accessShare full-text accessPlease review our Terms and Conditions of Use and check box below to share full-text version of article.I have read and accept the Wiley Online Library Terms and Conditions of UseShareable LinkUse the link below to share a full-text version of this article with your friends and colleagues. Learn more.Copy URL Share a linkShare onFacebookTwitterLinkedInRedditWechat Citing Literature Volume13, Issue1March 1988Pages 98-105 RelatedInformation

Willa Gather in Person: Interviews, Speeches and Letters ed. by L. Brent Bohlke

Reviews 151 detailed account of Cather’s days, including her struggles and successes as a young writer, teacher, magazine editor and novelist. Although quotation from Cather’s letters is forbidden in her will, Woodress’ careful paraphrase evokes her rich expression, ambition, love and humor. His vivid description combined with ninety well-reproduced photographs recreates her settings in America, Canada and Europe, and he incorporates perspectives from her fiction into the biography. In the process, he significantly expands and corrects the record of her life, which suffered from her own exaggerations as well as distortions by others. Among the new information is the text of Cather’s high school gradua­ tion speech, never before reprinted in full. Woodress also explores her early reading and first adventures abroad. He examines her editorial principles during the McClure’s years and reveals that during her first year as managing editor, circulation expanded by sixty thousand, increasing further the next year. The milieu of her less familiar stories also emerges from these pages. Woodress notes, for example, that “Behind the Singer Tower,” set following a hotel fire, was written while McClure’s was publishing a series of articles on the lack of fire escapes in New York apartment buildings. In addition to expanding the background for Cather’sfiction, Woodress traces the composition of each novel, quotes contemporaneous reviews and incorporates the important critical insights of Susan Rosowski, Sharon O’Brien and others. He connects Alex­ ander’s Bridge to Cather’s other works and provides especially impressive discussions of A Lost Lady, My Mortal Enemy, and Death Comes for the Archbishop. Beyond Woodress’ emphasis on Cather’s literary achievements, however, the biography remains, by his choice, a life rather than a reinterpretation. Yet as he portrays her relationships with family and friends, with publishers and readers, we increasingly glimpse Cather’s view of herself—one of the best con­ tributions a biography may make. In this respect he leaves the artist free to speak for herself, once again opening her world to a growing audience. CHAPEL PETTY-SCHMITT University of New Mexico Willa Cather in Person: Interviews, Speeches and Letters. Edited by L. Brent Bohlke. (Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 1987. 202 pages, $17.95.) This collection of primary material gathered by the late L. Brent Bohlke reinforces the impression and expands the knowledge of Willa Cather gleaned from the careful scholarship of Bernice Slote and the standard biographers. Bohlke divides his collection into three sections—interviews, speeches and letters—each arranged chronologically. The editor’s headnotes set the scene, provide pertinent biographical detail and cross references, and offer short 152 Western American Literature biographies of the interviewer or author if available and noteworthy, but they do not intrude with criticism of the article or the subject. Those who have been frustrated by the codicil in Cather’swill that forbids publication or direct quotation from her letters will welcome this oblique look at the private Cather. Her physical appearance (supported by inclusion of a number of published portraits), mannerisms, voice and daily routine—especi­ ally her writing schedule and her love of the art of cooking—come through vividly in the interviews she gave after her reputation was established so that the country-girl-turned-writer angle could be abandoned, but before she had gained the Eminent Author status that obligated an interviewer to focus on her literary career. Especially memorable isan interview byOmahan Eva Mahoney in 1921. The collection offers no sensational revelations but rather a series of windows, rather like the Dutch window scene Cather herself was fond of using as an illustration, into Cather’s personal and professional world. Where biog­ raphers have offered us one or two details to support a passing point, Bohlke’s collection provides a fuller picture, due in part to repetition in the sources, but also to the luxury of quoting a source in full. Scholars and casual readers of Cather alike will welcome this last legacy from the careful scholarship of Rev. Bohlke. DIANE D. QUANTIC Wichita State University On Mark Twain: The Best from American Literature. Edited by Louis J. Budd and Edwin H. Cady. (Durham, NC: Duke University Press, 1987. 312 pages, $33.50...

Forensic Engineering Analysis: Smoke Transport To Upper Floors During 1980 MGM Grand Hotel Fire

The fire began at 7 A.M. When it was over four hours later, 84 people were dead or dying and another 591 people were injured-mostly from smoke related injuries. The Las Vegas MGM Grand Hotel fire had become one of the worst fire tragedies in U.S. history. It is now generally accepted that some 80 percent of fire deaths result from smoke inhalation. Nearly two-thirds of the deaths occur away from the fire room. Victims can become incapacitated by heat, visible smoke, and/or toxic species within fire generated hot gases long before death from effects of one or more known lethal combinations of combustion products (i.e., such as oxygen depletion or temperature). The American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM) defines smoke as a complex mixture of airborne liquid, solid particulates and gas evolved under pyrolysis or combustion. Highly dependent on combustion conditions, its toxicity often cannot be attributed directly to inhalation of one or more specific chemicals from

Smoke inhalation: An ultrastructural study of reaction to injury in the human alveolar wall

This study was undertaken to determine the site of initial pulmonary injury in smoke inhalation. A hotel fire in Houston, Texas, resulted in the on-site deaths of 10 white people (2 to 62 years of age). All underwent autopsy examinations which included measurement of carbon monoxide (CO) and cyanide (CN) levels, as well as electron microscopy of lung samples. Average CO levels of 40% and CN levels of 0.6 ppm were obtained. In all cases, the lungs were heavy, hyperemic, and edematous with soot staining the tracheobronchial mucosa. Light microscopy showed soot, pulmonary congestion, and edema. Electron microscopy confirmed the presence of interstitial and intraalveolar congestion and edema. Carbon particles were also present, and occasionally were seen undergoing phagocytosis by alveolar macrophages. Intracellular edema with focal bleb and vesicle formation was prominent within Type I pneumocytes in 9 of 10 cases. Endothelial cells showed similar but much less severe changes, lacking the distinct blebs seen in the Type I cells. This investigation reveals that smoke, like ammonia inhalation and nitric acid instillation, appears to cause pulmonary edema by initial injury to the Type I pneumocyte.

Air Force Rescue at the MGM Hotel Fire in Las Vegas

One of the worst hotel fires in the USA occurred at the MGM Grand Hotel in Las Vegas, Nevada, on November 21, 1980. This tragedy claimed 84 lives and injured 300 others. The toll might have been higher were it not for Air Force assistance.Nine U.S. Air Force helicopters responded swiftly to the scene in answer to the city of Las Vegas plea for help. The call came from the Metropolitan Police Department at 7:38 a.m. and got an immediate response from the Nellis Air Force Base (AFB) Consolidated Command Post. By 7:55 a.m., the first Huey helicopter was airborne. Less than 20 minutes later it was hovering over the MGM Grand Hotel. Evacuation of survivors began immediately, according to Major Larry B. Doege, commander of Detachment 1, 57th Fighter Weapons Wing.

An example of human behavior in a wooden hotel fire.

A wooden hotel fire occurred on February 21, 1983 and it caused the death of 11 persons. The hotel located near the famous Zaou Skiing Ground and the majority of the guests were skiers. An examination and analysis were made on the behavior of the hotel's guests who had been registered at that time. The items examined and analyzed in this paper were the guest's means of awaking, the first six actions of the guests following their awakening, the guests' means of becoming aware of the fire and the first ten actions of the guests following their recognition of the fire incident.

Fall Meeting site

The world is clearly a very troubled place. Many problems contributing to this trouble, such as climatic changes, effects of global war, geophysical disasters, etc., are the concern and come under the purview of members of AGU. Within this context, it was clear at the last AGU Fall Meeting that the matter uppermost in most members minds was the large number of parallel sessions.In light of the overwhelming importance ascribed to this issue, I have devoted considerable thought as to how to solve this overcrowding. Putting aside for the moment the issue of whether or not the recent Cathedral Hill Hotel fire was a sign from on high in this matter, I wish to pursue what we, as a Union, can do to solve the problem. Remarkably enough, the Meetings Committee had already apparently perceived the nature of the solution (although dimly) and had stumbled upon a form of my result in a different context. It is perhaps worthwhile for me to review this previous situation prior to presenting my ideas for the West Coast meeting.

Study of biological samples obtained from victims of MGM Grand Hotel fire.

Eighty blood samples and 17 respiratory-tract tissue samples containing fluid taken from victims of the MGM Grand Hotel fire were studied to assist in the determination of the cause of death. The blood and tissue-fluid samples were analyzed for carboxyhemoglobin, oxyhemoglobin, methemoglobin, and total hemoglobin. Outgassing studies were done on the tissue samples using gas chromatography/mass spectroscopy, and heavy metal analysis on inhaled soot was done by x-ray fluorescence. The carboxyhemoglobin values obtained on the samples were significantly higher than those reported by Clark County. However, the percentage of the victims with a carboxyhemoglobin saturation level of 50% or less is higher than that found in the Maryland fire fatality study, suggesting that other toxic factors may have contributed to the lethal nature of the fire.

The role of a trauma center in disaster management.

The implementation of a contemporary comprehensive Emergency Medical Services System (EMSS) has resulted in a change in the method and character of initial response to and overall management of disaster situations. The focus of patient assessment and care responsibilities has shifted from the hospital to the scene of the disaster where triage, evaluation, and medical management of multiple casualties occur. New developments in the organization of EMS Systems dictate that new approaches to disaster planning and preparedness are essential in order to implement the current concepts of emergency medical services. The Boston Emergency Medical Services System has instituted a modern disaster plan which includes principles of hospital categorization, specialty center designation, hospital point-of-entry plans, multihospital resource determination (bed availability), scene triage, patient staging, patient transfer procedures, air evacuation, use of sophisticated telecommunications systems, and regionalization of resources. The activities are all centrally coordinated through one Resource Trauma Center, utilizing a centralized communications center with central medical emergency direction (CMED) capabilities. Four disasters are reviewed: a courthouse bombing with 20 victims, to which there was a 2.5 minute response time, and for which four hospitals were utilized; a factory explosion with 13 critically burned victims air and ground transported to four definitive regional specialty centers; two simultaneous hotel fires with 73 victims who required transport to six hospitals after being treated in on-scene triage areas; and the crash of a jetliner carrying 208 people, 33 of whom required transport to seven hospitals.

Fire Hazards of Plastics Spark Heated Debate

Americans are afraid of fires. And with good reason. If trends continue, some 7500 people will die in fires in the U.S. this year, and four times that number will be injured. That's a fire death rate per capita that is almost twice the international average, and one that is surpassed by only one other country—Canada. And as for fire incidence, the U.S. rate per capita is the highest in the world. The fires Americans seem most afraid of are those in public buildings like hotels, night clubs, and even jails, where a single incident can lead to scores of deaths. Although these public fires focus attention on fire hazards, by far the largest number of fire deaths in the U.S. occur in homes. On average, about 25 people per day in the U.S. die in fires. But when 119 people died between November 1980 and May 1981 in three highly publicized hotel fires in ...

An Example of Human Behavior in a Hotel Fire

An Example of Human Behavior in a Hotel Fire

A review of the examination and analysis of the dynamics of human behavior in the fire at the MGM Grand Hotel, Clark County, Nevada as determined from a selected questionnaire population

A 28 item, 4 page questionaire was mailed to 1,960 persons, who were registered guests at the MGM Grand Hotel at the time of the fire on November 21, 1980. Responses were received from 554 guests, approximately 28.3 percent of the questionnaire population. The information presented in this report consists of a selected presentation of the data contained in the complete study report published by the National Fire Protection Association entitled: “An Examination and Analysis of the Dynamics of the Human Behavior in the MGM Grand Hotel Fire, Clark Country, Nevada November 21, 1980”. The study presents the questionnaire data in relation to the following: guests' characters and behavior; the cultural and social relationships between guests; the guests' means of becoming aware of the fire, and the time of their fire awareness; the first five actions of the guests following their recognition of the fire incident; the guests' location in the hotel and their use of the hotel stairs; the means of evacuation of the guests, the obstructions to evacuation and the type of assistance provided in their evacuation; the time interval of the evacuation delay and the actions of the guests while waiting in rooms. In addition, the means by which smoke migrated into the rooms as reported by the guests was tabulated. The actions of the guests appeared to indicate the occurrence of convergence clusters among those unable to evacuate immediately, and predominantly altruistic and cooperative behavior among the guests.

Steroid Therapy following Isolated Smoke Inhalation Injury

Steroids have no positive influence upon pulmonary related morbidity and mortality following combined smoke inhalation and thermal cutaneous injury (3, 4). Steroid administration following isolated smoke inhalation without concomitant thermal cutaneous injury has, however, been shown to have beneficial effects in previous animal studies (1). This potential therapeutic approach to treatment has not been examined in the clinical setting. Recent hotel fires in Las Vegas, Nevada, resulted in a large cohort of individuals with similar smoke exposures without associated injuries. Two of four hospitals in the triage system administered steroids following injury. Patients were divided into two groups, a steroid-treated, and a non-treated group. These groups were compared using multivariate and frequency analyses. There were no detectable differences in sex, signs, symptoms, and previous medical history. There were likewise no differences between groups with respect to oxyhemoglobin saturation, arterial oxygen tension, arterial pH, and pulmonary-related morbidity and mortality. These data suggest that steroid coverage has little beneficial effect upon pulmonary-related morbidity and mortality following isolated smoke inhalation injury.