Hotel Fire Research Articles

The Enhanced Emergency Response Plan for Augmented Quarantine Hotels During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Introduction:During the COVID-19 outbreak in May 2021, Taipei City has transformed many vacant hotels to augmented quarantine hotels, recruiting retired medical staff to provide medical care, in order to preserve hospitals’ medical capabilities. In an augmented quarantine hotel at Caesar Park Hotel Taipei, the complexity of COVID quarantine, quarantine status of the residents, and hotel staff working with medical staff has made the original emergency response plan inappropriate. Henceforth, a series of modifications were made to ensure the emergency response readiness of Caesar Park Hotel Taipei.Method:The enhancements of emergency response capability of the augmented quarantine hotel at the Caesar Park Hotel Taipei, were made in accordance with the following list: 1. Revise evacuation plan, 2. Setup emergency equipment cart, 3. Modify emergency response procedure, 4. Update staff training and resident notice, 5. Routine stock count of medical supplies and emergency equipment.Results:The enhanced emergency response plan has ensured the safety of all personnel, plans were made in accordance with the COVID-19 quarantine status, and the staff has a clear perception of their duty with a picture of the overall emergency response plan.Conclusion:The enhanced emergency response plan was completed and under implementation in June 2021, and at the end of that month there was a fire that took four lives with 22 injured at a quarantine hotel in Changhua County. A review of the enhanced emergency response plan was made by the staff and corresponding hospital; many problems that happened at the Chunghua County quarantine hotel fire had already been considered or prevented in the enhanced emergency response plan. Such a method for building an enhanced emergency response plan has the potential to be implemented in more locations, and possibly in different scenarios.

Systems as an effort to guarantee the safety and security of guests study of hotel building fire protection

<p>Hotel fires can occur at any time without knowing the season for which the hotel building must have a fire extinguishing system that can guarantee the safety of guests, the purpose of this study is to find out the equipment used in the hotel building fire extinguishing system, to assess the completeness of facilities and infrastructure of the hotel building fire protection system, know the precautions against hotel fires in an effort to guarantee the safety and security of guests in hotel. The research methods used in this study are library study methods, interview methods, observation methods, documentation methods. Assessment of the completeness and reliability of building fire protection systems against fire hazards is used the parameters of tread completeness, means of rectification, active and passive protection systems. In data collection, it was carried out on the object of the study, namely at the Sahid Jaya Solo Hotel. The results of the discussion in this study, the equipment in the research object is complete and functions well and the results of the assessment of the reliability of the fire protection system obtained results of 90.63 which means that the reliability of the building is very good. From these results, it can be used as a consideration for the hotel in improving the right fire extinguishing system in an effort to guarantee the safety and security of guests.</p>

Comprehensive Evaluation and Optimization Model of Regional Fire Protection Planning of Major Hazard Sources Based on Multiobjective Fuzzy Theory.

The regional fire protection plan is an important part of the city's overall plan, which represents the deepening of the regional fire protection plan and the specific content of the city's economic regional fire protection plan. Fire protection is an important part of national economic and social development, and it is also one of the indicators to measure the level of modern culture. Effective and practical fire protection planning can effectively prevent and reduce fire risks and protect the lives and property of the people, which is very important for social development. In order to optimize the regional fire model, this study uses a very objective fuzzy theory to analyze and discuss the research objects. In view of the large amount of fuzzy information in fuzzy optimization, fuzzy criterion recognition, and fuzzy grouping, based on the generalized fuzzy distance and fuzzy number, this paper proposes a multiobjective fuzzy theory-based comprehensive evaluation and optimization model of fire planning for major hazard sources. The results show that hotel fire risks tend to be higher, which is the focus of people's attention. Among the fire hazards, wholesale, retail, and catering industries are the hardest hit areas, accounting for 66.3%, and some other industries are also disaster areas that need to be dealt with.

Can fire safety in hotels be improved? Results from the survey of a panel of experts in Spain.

The hotel industry is an important driver of the European labour market with over 250,000 hotels employing some 2 million people. In Spain, 240 workers were injured by fires in hotels from 2004 to 2008. Fire is considered to be the most important risk in the hotel industry, but the lack of an EU-wide data recording system for hotels makes it difficult to give exact figures for fire events. We analysed the state of fire prevention systems in hotels in Spain with the aim of proposing strategies to improve fire safety. A 10-item questionnaire was administered from 2007 to 2009 to 15 Spanish experts in fire safety. The questions were measured using a Likert scale and classified into 4 sections: current state of installations, influence of establishment characteristics, application of regulations and priority ranking of actions. Descriptive statistics summarized the data and t-tests evaluated the agreement foreach statement in the questionnaire. The statistical analysis showed homogeneity in the responses by the experts in all four categories: current state of fire safety installations, influence of establishment characteristics, application of regulations, and priority of actions. There was consensus among the experts over the necessity to improve the enforcement of regulations and also regarding the existence of an association between the hotel category (in Spain they are ranked using a 1 to 5 "star" rating system) and the level of fire safety; hotels with a higher category had higher levels of safety. There is a need to identify ways to apply fire safety standards to older hotels so that they comply with new regulations, to standardize regulations for different regions and countries, to improve the maintenance of installations and equipment, to increase the effectiveness of inspections conducted by government bodies, and to raise the general awareness of stakeholders involved in hotel fire prevention.

Using FDS program and an evacuation test to develop hotel fire safety strategy

This paper examines the hotel fire with the most serious casualties in Taiwan’s history. The official fire investigation report and NFPA921 related information are used, and the fire hazard and personnel evacuation scenes are reconstructed using the latest fire dynamics simulator (FDS + EVAC) program. The FDS is also used to simulate four improved schemes. Another two possible improved schemes are tested using the full-scale evacuation test. Fifty adults were divided into nine groups to undergo three evacuation tests. It is hoped that these research results can be used as a reference for improving fire safety strategies for future hotel construction.

An analysis of occupant evacuation time during a hotel fire using evacuation tests

The fire floor of a hotel fire that resulted in serious casualties in Taiwan was reconstructed as the site of a full-scale evacuation test. Health status assessments were conducted on 50 adults between ages of 25 and 75, and then their horizontal movement speed was measured as a function of three physical conditions: normal health, wheelchair bound and on crutches. The 50 subjects were divided into nine groups for three kinds of evacuation strategies in order to measure the evacuation time of each group. In addition, taking into consideration the three aforementioned kinds of physical conditions, 40 of the 50 subjects were organized into six types of conditions to conduct exit width tests by measuring the evacuation time for passing through exits with widths of 0.75 m and 1.2 m. The two kinds of evacuation test results can be used as a reference for improving fire safety strategies for future hotel construction. Language: en

Exit choice, (pre-)movement time and (pre-)evacuation behaviour in hotel fire evacuation — Behavioural analysis and validation of the use of serious gaming in experimental research

Human behaviour in fires is mainly studied by incident evaluations and real-life experiments, such as unannounced evacuation drills. The possibilities of virtual reality for studying human behaviour in fires are so far hardly adopted by researchers. Nevertheless, the application of a behavioural assessment and research tool (BART) in virtual reality is expected to be a valuable supplement on the existing research methods. The innovative instrument will be validated by comparing the results of experiments in a virtual environment with results of the same experiments in real life. In this paper some results of case studies on evacuation behaviour in a real hotel building, as well as in a virtual hotel building in BART are given. The participants’ route choice, pre-movement time, pre-evacuation behaviour, movement time and evacuation behaviour are part of the analysis in the paper.

Lessons from Japanese Experience with Fire Disasters in Public Buildings

Fatal fire disasters in commercial and hotel buildings and social effort not to repeat disasters from the 1930s to the beginning of the 21st Century in Japan are reviewed to verify what have been learnt from fire disasters in modern public buildings. Shirokiya Department fire in 1932, Japan's first significant fatal fire in commercial building, evoked social awareness of fire safety in high-rise buildings, and led to the requirements for general framework for the limitation of fire damage in large scale building such as fire separation for the restriction of damaged area, protected escape staircases, and sprinklers. However, procrastination in introducing smoke control and floor-to-floor fire and smoke separation is believed to have become a background for the frequent fatal fires in public buildings in the 1960s. Experience of fatal fires in hotel buildings from the 1960s to the mid-1980s led to the introduction of labeling of fire safety and qualification of fire safety manager for hotels, which became the main background for exterminating fatal hotel fires.

A Study on the Actual Developing State and Future Development Possibilities of Green Tourism in Okinawa

Tourism is one of Okinawa′s leading industries, and in recent years green tourism has been developing for the purpose of improving tourism quality with increasing attention from levels such as administration, practitioners, tourists and local residents. Taking the on–site experience and exchange activities between cities and farming, forestry and fishing villages in Okinawa as research examples, the authors examine green tourism development trends from the perspective of prefectural administration, city, town and village administration levels as well as those of practitioners; and examine the present state of green tourism development by taking Higashi Village as a case study; pointing out areas in need of improvement. The research shows the following results. Firstly, because the rapid increase in practitioner numbers correlates with growing green tourism needs, administrative guidance and facility improvement is slow. Secondly, from the case study of Higashi Village, it is found that in carrying out green tourism activities, mainly agricultural experience and farm village home–stays, the Chamber of Commerce and Industry plays a key role, and green tourism development aims are consciously considered. Moreover, appropriate green tourism exchange facility maintenance, deregulation of the Hotel Business Law and Fire Regulations are also necessary.

Traumatic impact of a fire disaster on survivors—A 25-year follow-up of the 1978 hotel fire in Borås, Sweden

The objective of this study was to investigate the long-term psychological and mental health outcomes among survivors of a disastrous hotel fire. A 25-year follow-up investigation among adolescent and young adult survivors of a fire disaster was conducted in Borås, Sweden. A self-evaluation questionnaire and four self-rating scales—the IES-22, PTSS-10, GHQ-28 and SoC—were sent by mail to the participants. The results from the self-reported data showed low levels of psychiatric illness. Moreover, the respondents reported a low level of traumatic stress symptoms. More than 50% of the participants stated that the fire had a determining effect on their lives. Sixteen (21.3%) respondents indicated that the fire still had an impact on their daily lives. Differences between men and women were reported in most of the self-rating scales. The results indicate that a traumatizing experience (such as a fire disaster) still had a small effect on psychological health in a long-term perspective.

Historia de los seguros en Puerto Rico, 1898–2002

Historia de los seguros en Puerto Rico, 1898–2002

Reported fatal and non-fatal incidents involving tourists in Thailand, July 1997–June 1999

Objectives. To examine fatal and non-fatal incidents involving tourists in Thailand. Methods. Press records from a major English language newspaper for the period from July 1997 to June 1999 were examined for reports of fatal and non-fatal incidents involving tourists. Results. From July 1997 to June 1999, up to 233 deaths were reported and up to a further 216 were reported injured in incidents involving tourists. One hundred and one deaths and 45 injured were reported following one major domestic jet aircraft crash in southern Thailand, however, it was not stated what proportion of casualties were tourists. Approximately 90 people perished in a single hotel fire in southeast Thailand. Most of the victims were local travellers attending meetings of two Thai companies. Sixteen deaths and 86 injured resulted from five road accidents. The majority of deaths and injuries involved foreigners. Twelve deaths and at least 33 injured resulted from three ferry and tour boat accidents. Most victims were reported to be foreigners. Three deaths and 35 injured resulted from a single cable car accident in northern Thailand. Most of these were Thai tourists, however, four of the injured were foreigners. Eight deaths and six injured resulted from 11 muggings and other violent incidents. All were foreigners. Six deaths were reportedly connected to a scam at the airport in Bangkok involving unlicensed airport taxis. Three deaths and four injured were due to other reported incidents. Conclusions. Newspaper reports of fatal and non-fatal incidents involving tourists in Thailand were probably uncommon, particularly given the volume of tourists entering the Kingdom, although better reporting mechanisms are needed. With the exception of the unusual major incidents, most reported fatal and non-fatal incidents involving tourists were due to road trauma and other transportation accidents, muggings, and occasional water sports and other accidents, which could occur at any major tourist destination. Travel health advisers should include advice concerning personal safety abroad and tourist authorities should endeavour to promote and advocate for tourism safety.

火の粉の飛散範囲に関する数値シミュレーション(防火)

Scatter of firebrands caused by a fire is numerically simulated by means of CFD (Computational Fluid Dynamics) based on a turbulent model. The results are compared with an investigation by the authors on the distribution of firebrands and spot fires due to a hotel fire occurred in Shirahama, Wakayama prefecture on November 17th 1998 by exploration and questionnaire. New Technique concerning motion of a flying firebrand is included in the model, and scatter of them can be predicted realistically in comparison with the former method by the authors.

De fotografie van rampen. Objectiverende registratie of anticiperende betrokkenheid?

<strong>Photography of disasters. Objectifying registration or anticipated involvement?</strong> <strong></strong><br />The news photo has become an inextricable component of journalistic organizations. The first press photo in a Dutch newspaper was printed in 1890, but it would take another forty years for the photos to be printed togethet with their corresponding news articles. This article follows the development of press photography, specifically focussing on the documentation of large disasters such as the flood<br />disasters in 1916 and 1953, the large cinema and hotel fires in 1934 and 1977, and the fireworks disaster of Enschede in 2000. Up until the Second World War newspapers, as opposed to illustrated magazines, would only print a single photo, which was expected to provide a complete representation of the disaster. The photographer would attempt to capture a general overview of what had happened. Only later, and especially with the flood disaster in Zeeland, were the victims of the disaster photographed. The photographer finally dared to tread within the disaster zone and capture the victims in all their misery. The result of this approach were direct and emotional portraits. Changing techniques and improving communication methods allowed the photographer to document the disaster directly- as if he were involved himself. The changes triggered questions related to the recording of disasters, even more so than before: how confronting may a photograph be? Documentation of recent events, such as Enschede and Volendam, no longer suffice with single photos; newspapers instead present extensive photo reports, which preferably document the chronological sequence of events, focussing on the victims and aid. In the end it is the news editor who decides which photograph gets printed in his or her newspaper. And even though newspapers also use photographs from the larger<br />press offices, and not only from their own photographers, their personal signature is still recognisable in their choices.

A Forty Year History 1960–2000

A Forty Year History 1960–2000

Qualitative overview of some important factors affecting the egress of people in hotel fires

Serious fires involving fatalities as well as injuries, frequently arise in buildings where many people are gathered, and whenever they have occurred in hotels and other hospitality environments, such as the MGM Grand Hotel in Las Vegas (1980), or the Cocoanut Grove Dance Hall in Boston (1942), they have, understandably, received much attention. It is often considered the responsibility of industry to prevent, or deal effectively with fire problems, and given the saturation of tourism and hotels in many towns and cities worldwide, it would seem apposite for hoteliers to take regard of the fire intelligence available. Undoubtedly there exists a need to raise the awareness of potential fire hazards and the results of fire occurrences amongst tourists and business travellers, whilst simultaneously persuading hospitality managers and investors that attention to fire prevention and protection will not only assist in deflecting bad publicity resulting from fire-related incidents, but may also serve as a valuable marketing tool as hotel guests develop their appreciation of health and safety issues and make choices on the basis of where they believe themselves to be most secure. This paper briefly reviews some of the important aspects of fire in buildings inhabited by diverse populations, and comments on those factors to be appreciated by management, especially in hotels.

Fires in hotel rooms and scenario predictions

Contributes towards the research into the potential dangers of unprotected hotel rooms by highlighting the incidence, and cause, of some major hotel fires in Asia and USA. Additionally, through the use of fire modelling computer software, predicts various fire scenarios inside the guest room, demonstrates how little time is available for evacuation, and states that without specific precautions, fire fatalities will continue to occur. Suggests that once such an appreciation becomes widespread, together with the worldwide publicity resulting from fires in hospitality environments, this may influence the demands made by travellers, and that hoteliers might be well advised to exceed the requirements placed upon them by statute, and advertise such personal safety guarantees alongside their usual facilities, as part of an overall strategy in the battle for competitive edge.

Wars, hotel fires, and plane crashes

Alexander Wendt has drawn on an exceptional range of theoretical literature in his effort to reconceptualize the nature of the international system. His discussion of scientific realism ought to be required reading for any student of international relations, or political science for that matter. He puts to rest the notion that constructivism is necessarily postmodern, devoid of an objective referent. In John Searle's felicitous formulation it is possible to have a subjective ontology but an objective epistemology. In emphasizing that all knowledge is theory laden, Wendt underscores the point that facts never simply speak for themselves. In both the social and natural sciences brute empiricism is never an adequate research strategy. Our theories shape the way we see the world but they cannot remake the world in their own image.

An investigation on the distribution of fire brands and spot fires due to a hotel fire.

An investigation on the distribution of fire brands and spot fires due to a hotel fire.

Does debriefing after psychological trauma work? Time for randomised controlled trials

This article first appeared in the British Medrcal]ournol (Vol. 310. he 1995: 1479-14801. The’bMJ Publishing Group ig the copyright holder of this article and it is reproduced with their kind permission. Some people believe strongly that talking through traumatic or stressful experiences may help the psychological recovery of those who have suffered psychological wounding. This belief has led to military psychiatrists providing immediate interventions at the front line that are intended to heal and return soldiers to activity (Soloman & Bendenishty 1986), and it has fuelled psychological debriefing methods such as Mitchell’s critical incident stress debriefing (Dunning 1988). Debriefing programmes have expanded rapidly, reflecting a powerful social movement that sees them as meeting the needs of workers in emergency services, victims of disasters, and those who have been affected by trauma and violence in wider society (Pennebaker & Susman 1988; Ersland et al 1989; Shapiro Kunkler 1990). Yet, although military psychiatry has succeeded in returning troops to action, outcome studies suggest that soldiers who are repeatedly traumatised by returning to combat may suffer even higher rates of severe and chronic posttraumatic stress disorder in the longer term (Soloman & Bendenishty 1986). The proponents of debriefing agree that it needs evaluation, yet there is a dearth of systematic evaluation and outcome studies. In one of the few systematic evaluations, many subjects reported two weeks after debriefing that they had found it helpful and felt less stressed (Robinson & Mitchell 1993). Nevertheless, 41% of the group of chiefly female welfare workers (n-65) and almost 6% of the group of chiefly male emergency workers (n-102) reported the traumatic experience to be ‘still having considerable or great impact on them,’ with a high frequency of cognitive and other symptoms. Symptoms were not, however, assessed systematically with standard measures. Randomised controlled trials of the effectiveness of debriefing have not been reported, although a few studies include comparison with a group that was not debriefed. A study of fnefighters two weeks after they dealt with a hotel fire in Norway showed that most of those who attended debriefing reported that it had helped and increased their self confidence. Their scores for intrusive thoughts and avoidance behaviour measured by the impact of events scale (Horowitz et al 1979) were no different from those of the group who had simply talked to their colleagues informally (Hytten & Hasle 1989). Nearly half of a group of emergency workers surveyed one year after attending serious bus crashes still reported considerable symptoms, and 13% thought that they would probably not recover (Griftiths & Watts 1992). Those who had been debriefed (182 of 285) had significantly higher scores for morbidity and distress on the general health questionnaire (Goldberg & Hillies 1979) and the impact of events scale. These findings provide little evidence that the debriefing, even though perceived as helpful, was effective in preventing negative outcomes. The group with high distress might have been worse without it, but the study was unable to show this. Similar findings were obtained in a longitudinal study of 195 people who had helped after an earthquake, of whom 62 had been debriefed and 133 had not (Kenardy et al in press). Screening for degree of stressfulness, threat, and psychological exposure over the subsequent two years found a general decrease in symptoms, with less improvement over time among those who had been debriefed, even though 80% rated the debriefing as helpful. Clearly, neither perceived helpfulness nor experience of debriefing was associated with more positive outcomes. These studies were not controlled trials. The groups may not have been comparable, perhaps experiencing different stressors (loss rather than trauma), having uncertain roles, and having more welfare or counselling functions, for which the debriefing model was inappropriate, or perhaps being more distressed at the outset. But it is conceivable that debriefing may exaggerate the traumatic process (Kenardy et al in press; Watts R 1994) or even be associated with a delayed presentation. In addition, exposure to informational social support, which forms part