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‘Twas the night before convention, and all through the hotel, not a creature was stirring except for some knucklehead microwaving popcorn and left it in for too long causing alarms to start ringing, strobe lights flashing, and all hell to break loose at 0100 hours!

Have you ever been in a hotel fire or just had the alarms go off in the middle of the night? It’s not fun, or exciting, or any of those things you see on TV. But it is one thing: frightening. To have a piercing high pitched electronic sound knock you out of bed, along with bright lights flashing wildly, gave me a reminiscent feeling of walking under a giant half moon hanging from the ceiling at Studio 54…although it was nowhere near as much fun as doing the hustle. It did remind me of Gloria Gaynor’s hit song “I Will Survive”, although all I thought about was The Bee Gees as I kept saying to myself “Stayin’ Alive, Stayin’ Alive”.

As I rolled out of bed looking quickly around the room, I slipped into my shoes, grabbed my jacket, wallet, cell phone and room and car keys, and quickly headed for the door. Touching the door knob with the back of my hand, I glanced at the bottom of the door to see if any smoke was billowing in. Not seeing fire or smelling smoke, I felt the top of the door for any signs of heat, while peering through the peep hole looking for signs of fire. Not seeing anything unusual, I slowly opened the door, quickly glanced both ways but yet noticing everything like I was crossing Broadway and 42nd, and walked swiftly (not running) towards the exit door for the stairs which I knew were three doors down to my right. Remembering that I was on the second floor, I headed down one flight of stairs, and exited right out into the side parking lot. I quickly walked away from the building and around to the front of the building, where I waited off to the side while emergency vehicles came screaming onto the premises.

Still not smelling smoke, I waited patiently while people came running out of the hotel, wearing everything from their full attire to just a white bed sheet. Surprisingly, I looked up at the higher floors of the hotel, and saw people looking out the windows of their rooms, as if they had no intention of fleeing. Some genius even yelled down, “What’s going on?” to those of us who were already in the safe and friendly confines of the parking lot. “Nothing” one wise guy yelled back. “Sorry to bother you”, another yelled up. Trying not to laugh too hard, some guy next to me and I motioned to the “brainiac” to come down now, waving our arms at him, as by this time sirens from police and fire department vehicles were screaming so there was no way the guy upstairs was going to hear us yell to him that he better slip into something more comfortable and conducive to an escape and head for the stairs.

Long story short, it ended up that the small fire and smoke was thankfully contained to one room on my floor, and wouldn’t you know it, I had parked my car directly underneath the window of the room where the incident occurred, so when the fire fighters started chucking the contents of the room out the window, all I could think of was that I should have parked further from the building. Although I couldn’t even move my car because the ladder truck was stopped directly behind me, no damage occurred. Within a short period of time the FD cleared the building and we were told it was safe to go back to bed. No injuries occurred, with minimal property damage…an insurance adjuster’s dream.

Although my little story and actions may sound very “text book proper” and maybe even a little corny to some, practicing and knowing what to do in the event of a fire in a hotel may save your life or the life of another. Traveling on business for the past twenty years, I have probably had fifty or so encounters with a fire alarm waking me in the middle of the night. 90% of those were false alarms, but you don’t know that when the alarm sounds, and you can’t become complacent and expect it “to be nothing” every time. It only takes one time to die, so you might as well not die trying not to die! Make sense? Let me explain. Something I have always taught my kids since they were very young, is something that I always practice religiously every time I stay in a hotel and slide that key card through the card reader on the hotel door. These very simple precautions may save your life:

1. Always ask for a low floor. Think about how much time you actually spend looking out of the window of your hotel room; is the view from the 18th floor really that much better? I personally like the 1st floor as my favorite because you have the ability to make a quick escape if you have to via the window or exit stairs, however I’ll take the 2nf floor, too, as then I don’t have the worry that someone will climb in through the window and steal my laptop and favorite pair of underwear when I go to dinner.

2. Always ask for a room close to the exit stairs, and remember what floor you are on. This may sound silly but when escaping down the stairs you don’t want to start asking yourself, “Are we there yet?” while trying to figure out how many floors are left so that you don’t end up in a basement.

3. When you reach your room, take notice of exactly where the stairs are, and count the doors between your room and the stairwell exit. Remember to look for the stairs while facing out of your room, so as not to confuse yourself and to be sure that you are counting in the proper direction. This is important because if you have to crawl on your belly in thick smoke, you can literally feel your way to safety.

4. Once bed times comes around, I always make it a point to go to sleep dressed in a comfortable sweat suit, because in the event of an emergency you may not have that much time to decide what to wear to a fire.

5. At the end of the bed I always place my shoes, wallet, room key, car keys, jacket and cell phone, and no matter what hotel I’m in I always make sure to place these items is the same place so that if an alarm rings I don’t have to remember where I left everything. You want your shoes because you never know what you may have to climb over to get out, your wallet so if you get hungry once you’re out safely you can buy a snack (or in the event they need to identify you); your room key so that once the authorities clear the building for re-entry you can easily go back to sleep, and your car keys in case you need a warm place to spend the rest of the night. Take your cell phone in case you have to call for assistance in the event you are trapped, and your jacket so that you don’t catch a chill once outside.

6. Once in possession of the items that I mentioned above (which should take you much less than a minute), be sure to touch the door knob using the back of your hand, feeling for heat. Reason you use the back of your hand is so that if the knob is scorching, it won’t fuse you’re your hand to the knob. Immediately after that, feel along the top of the door for heat, and look through the peep hole for signs of fire, etc.

7. Once you open the door, look both ways for fire, and proceed to the nearest stairwell, which you already know where it is located from when you first entered the room when you checked in.

8. If when you open the door the hallway is full of smoke and if there is no sign of fire in the direction you need to go, get down on your belly and crawl to the stairwell exit door, feeling for and counting the number of doors between your room and the exit. Be sure to close your hotel door behind you.

9. Quickly proceed down the stairs, and exit the building.

10. Once outside, proceed away from the building so that you are not hit with falling debris, etc., and find a safe secure place to wait until instructed by authorities.

11. Above all, try your best to remain calm, and follow the steps that we discussed.

Since the majority of hotel fires originate in guest rooms (about 38%), chances are that when you hear an alarm it was activated at the first sign of smoke, and is most likely still contained within the room, so following the advice above should lead you to safety. In addition to my suggestions based on experience, I solicited the advice of a dear friend of mine who is a professional in the field of fire safety, Jeffrey Davis, who is the Commissioner of the Middle Island Fire Department on Long Island, NY. I asked Jeff to review what I suggested, and to add anything else that he thought would help save a life. Here is what Jeff had to say about ways to keep safe in the event that you are involved in a hotel fire:

“Every October is ‘Fire Prevention Month’ throughout the United States, and locally volunteer fire departments promote fire safety to its residents by offering "Open Houses" where residents can visit the firehouse and see the equipment and learn about fire safety in the home. Also, many fire departments visit local schools to give a brief safety talk to students and co-operate in fire safety drills. We tend to educate about home and workplace safety, but many families do travel and hotel/motel fire safety is just as important. So it makes sense to think safe when staying at a hotel or motel for whatever length of time you choose. Once settled in the room, you typically throw your suitcase on the bed, make sure the TV works, hit the bathroom and then bolt out for dinner or a meeting. What you should do is check your surroundings and plan for the worst case scenario. You should never take an elevator in the case of a fire alarm. Make sure that the exit signs are properly lit, as they should always be on. Check to see if there are fire extinguishers nearby your room, and most importantly do they look to be operational. Look at the gauge, if the arrow is in the "green" it’s good, if it’s in the "red" or off center, it may not work and the front desk staff should be notified. Does your room have a working smoke detector? Don’t test it by blowing smoke in it; look for a little red light in the detector. If you don’t see one, contact the front desk. If there is a fire, do not panic. If you hear the bells or whatever audible sounds there are, don’t wait to see if anything happens, exit your room and the building immediately.

If your family is with you, determine a meeting place outdoors so you will know everyone is safe. Then use the simple rules you've learned in case of a fire in your home. If you are unable to leave your room, make every effort to notify someone that you are in your room. If you cannot reach the hotel operator, call the local fire department to let them know where you are. If there is smoke in your room, open the window. Don't jump from the room, as a fall from this height can cause serious injury, and you can always signal from your window for help. Most importantly do not panic, people will be exiting their room the same way you are, and hopefully security or someone from the hotel will be there to help. Go to a safe distance from the building, and wait for emergency perso nnel to arrive and give further directions.”

Thanks, Jeff, for that wonderful advice, and hopefully we will never have to use it. The reason that I was in the Nanuet hotel where the fire alarms occurred in the first place was because the following morning was the PIA of NY Hudson Valley RAP Convention, held nearby at the Doubletree Hotel in the land of the Legend of Sleepy Hollow, Tarrytown, NY. Although the convention floor arrangement at this venue was excellent, I will say that the service from the hotel staff, specifically the parking lot attendants, was terrible as they were quite rude when instructing the vendors that they had to park a half mile away and then take a shuttle bus back to the hotel with all of their trade show materials.

Thanks to the hard work and efforts of Hudson Valley committee members and insurance professionals Carl Abramson; J.P. Carlucci; PIA of NY President Donna Chiapperino; Brian Colby; John Gallagher; Thom Ianniccari; Kathering Jennings; Jacob Lerner; Scott Liebert; Mary Ellen Parisi; Fran Scott and Bob Snyder, the event itself was truly a success as a sold out trade show was very well attended by agents and carrier folks, and the education seminars were wonderful. At the awards luncheon sponsored by New York Central Mutual Insurance Company and Maxons Restorations, Committee Chair Amy Bryan of Bryan Insurance Agency announced the winner of the Hudson Valley RAP “Executive of the Year” award. This year’s winner was Camilla Belser of Merchants Insurance Group, who recently passed away. Accepting the award for Mrs. Belser was her husband, who graciously accepted it in her honor. Congratulations to the Belser family for Camilla’s award, and we are so sorry for your loss as Camilla will be sorely missed by everyone. Afterwards, Executive Director of PIA, Diane Fowler, had this to say of the conference, “Over 300 people participated in this year's Hudson Valley RAP, an event that continues to grow in popularity each year. It was great to see so many people networking and discussing the issues of the day throughout the facility and in the busy trade show. We appreciated the participation of Deputy Superintendent Michael Moriarty (keynote speaker) and were proud to have the opportunity to honor Cammy Belser, who sadly lost her battle with cancer after being selected as PIANY Hudson Valley Executive of the Year earlier this year. We're already working hard to make next year's event even better!”

Well, thanks for taking another walk down the hotel stairs and out into the night with me. If you would like to view some video clips of many of the memorable moments that we talk about in this column, please check out “Loguercio At Large” on YouTube (to view videos simply search “Loguercio at Large” on YouTube). By the way, in case you’re curious to know, I didn’t film the hotel fire because my Flip Video Camera wasn’t on my “fire emergency grab and run list”…I left it back in the room! Ciao!