Interesting morning!

[Sabeking]

We are currently in London and heading back to the States today. The fire alarm went off in the hotel at 5:00 am. At first I was so startled, I thought my daughter's alarm was going off. Once I realized what it was I stuck my head out the door and looked around. The door beside our room opened and a guy looked out. He said, "what do you think?" And I said, "I think we should go!" Doors began opening and people were filing out. My daughter reminded me to get our passports. Good thinking. As we were heading down one door opens up and a guy sticks his head out and says, I really don't think we need to leave and shuts his door! So we are headed down the stairway and this kid thinks he smells smoke on the second floor as we pass and says so loudly. People start running down the stairs now. As soon as we get to the outdoors the hotel staff tell us it's a false alarm. A few minutes later a family busts through the door in their pajamas with all seven bags of luggage. I have to admit it was pretty funny. I was fascinated at all the different reactions. One guy never left the room and one family brought everything they had with them. We took the minimal...pocketbook and passports. Reflecting on that situation when the kid said he thought he smelled smoke I thought maybe we should have left with more urgency than we did. What group do you think you would fall into? Would you run out the door immediately, hesitate, bring everything or stay in the hotel??

 

[AquamarineSteph]

If I heard a fire alarm, I would grab my phone & credit cards (always next to my bed at night when I travel), my passports (if overseas), and I would get the heck out of there.

 

[Tozzie]

We are currently in London and heading back to the States today. The fire alarm went off in the hotel at 5:00 am. At first I was so startled, I thought my daughter's alarm was going off. Once I realized what it was I stuck my head out the door and looked around. The door beside our room opened and a guy looked out. He said, "what do you think?" And I said, "I think we should go!" Doors began opening and people were filing out. My daughter reminded me to get our passports. Good thinking. As we were heading down one door opens up and a guy sticks his head out and says, I really don't think we need to leave and shuts his door! So we are headed down the stairway and this kid thinks he smells smoke on the second floor as we pass and says so loudly. People start running down the stairs now. As soon as we get to the outdoors the hotel staff tell us it's a false alarm. A few minutes later a family busts through the door in their pajamas with all seven bags of luggage. I have to admit it was pretty funny. I was fascinated at all the different reactions. One guy never left the room and one family brought everything they had with them. We took the minimal...pocketbook and passports. Reflecting on that situation when the kid said he thought he smelled smoke I thought maybe we should have left with more urgency than we did. What group do you think you would fall into? Would you run out the door immediately, hesitate, bring everything or stay in the hotel??

I would take my passport pocketbook and meds and get out especially in London .

 

[3 MEN AND A BOAT]

As a practical joker myself, I'd be the kid who said he smelled smoke.

 

[indimom]

After the recent tragedy of the apartment fire, I'd grab my wallet and go.

My daughter had a somewhat similar experience at her university this spring. While lying in bed during the early morning hours, her phone and roommate's phone started going off with tornado watches and a warning for towns in the area. No alerts from the school itself. They're room was on the tenth floor, and they were starting to wonder if they would get directions if the storm continued to move in their direction.
When it turned to a warning for the nearest town, they were wide awake, but still nothing from the university.

A few minutes later, they could hear a distant siren going off. And minutes after, they could hear the city's siren going off. Their campus is on the edge of the city. By this point, they are texting friends, wondering what they should do. They all decided that they would head to the lowest floor. Only a scattered few students were doing the same.

When they hit the ground floor, the campus alarm sounded. Still no text alerts or information about where to go or what to do. A desk staff member on the first floor suggested they head into the basement (not very large, about 50-100 people squeezed in, the dorm holds about 400-500 students). DD and her friends were some of the first in the basement. She couldn't see what happened with the students who arrived later, but assumed they gathered in the lobby.

Ten minutes after they entered the room, the school sent a text alert about the tornado warning, but no information about where to go or what to do. While they were waiting it out, they got snaps from friends in other dorms, who were gathering in poorly chosen spaces (like a large, open dining area with a wall of windows) and a glass-sided stairwell.

I was pretty surprised. While most of the students should have known the rules for a safer location, I can't believe the university itself doesn't have a plan of action and education about where they want students to go. We did a college tour with my youngest a month ago, and they had signs indicating what areas were designated tornado shelters.

 

[Missypyxi]

Several years ago, I lived in an apartment where one of the kids on our floor pulled the alarm regularly because he thought it was funny. One night, the alarm went off and I looked out my window and smoke was billowing from the community staircase window next door. I grabbed my purse and the mockup of a picture book I was working on, and my then BF and I fled.

In the hallway, I chose to go to the nearest exit. My mind was in a panic and it didn't occur to me that the nearest exit was also the stairway where the fire was. I opened the door and was engulfed in searing hot, thick smoke. I dropped to my hands and knees like they teach you to do and I made to crawl into the stairwell. My BF grabbed me by the ankle and pulled me back into the hallway. He led me back, to a stairway away from the fire.

We got out with no injuries aside from smoke inhalation, but the experience was so terrifying that I didn't realize until later that I had dropped my purse and book mockup in the hallway when I had gotten to my hands and knees.

If you're ever in a fire, don't bring anything with you unless it will fit in your pockets. The people with the luggage could have been killed and/or caused others to be seriously delayed in their escape if there had been a real fire.

 

[Missypyxi]

P.S. Sabeking, I have friends who were at the same hotel that day and posted about this on Facebook!

 

[Aliceacc]

I'm a teacher, and I know that's what guides my reaction.

When a fire alarm goes off, I MOVE. And so does my family.

If it's a false alarm, no problem, all I will have lost is a few minutes. But if it's not a false alarm, I refuse to let the unthinkable happen simply because I chose to ignore an alarm.

 

[kimblebee]

I don't joke around with fire alarms. If I hear one, I leave.

I was in Grade 12 and was sitting in English class when the fire bell went off. We trudged down the stairs and went outside to the designated spot. That's when we saw the flames and smoke.. an arsonist had set our school on fire. We missed seven weeks of school but still all graduated on time.

 

[kamik86]

When I was younger there was a fire alarm in a hotel we were in. It was a semi-false alarm meaning there wasn't a fire but someone messed up in putting out a fireplace and put the cover on before it stopped smoking, so it didn't burn but it caused smoke to backup into some rooms.

Some people got fully dressed. i was a kid taught you leave now so I didn't even grab shoes. My mom got her purse but it was an on the way out thing, she was still right behind me (she had shoes but she had slips ons where her feet hit the floor so again two seconds... I am still the kind of person that can't tell you exactly where my shoes are unless they are on my feet so didn't wait.

Now as an adult I would probably take a few extra seconds. Had this happened when I was in london I would have grabbed my backpack and he his day bag, which had our american cell phones (not our british one but in an emergency we could still use the american ones) passports, and all the cards we weren't carrying so enough to be fine even if everything else burned.


I will say in college though the first thing you did was open your door. Your reaction was then determined by if you could smell burnt popcorn. If not, assume real fire and leave now. Grab books for your next class if they are ready.

If you can smell burnt popcorn take your time, grab anything you might want in the next hour.

 

[Hikergirl]

I'd grab my purse and my camera bag. I don't really keep them tucked away, they are usually right there on the table so a quick grab out the door.

 

[Sabeking]

P.S. Sabeking, I have friends who were at the same hotel that day and posted about this on Facebook!

Too funny!! I wonder if I saw them in their pj's?!
Are they still there or did a catch a plane ; it was the airport hotel?

 

[wgeo]

The reaction in a hotel would be different than if I was in a place I lived in. In a hotel - my important stuff is probably very easy to grab quickly, but I'd also have some indecision about where to go what to do.

At home, the important stuff is much much much more scattered, but I would be able to assess the situation much quicker. I would go straight to the kids rooms, and if possible on the way out the door I'd grab my phone. My really important docs aren't accessible enough to grab quickly in that situation - I should probably fix that.

 

[mmouse37]

My DD was in the airport in Chicago a few years ago when a tornado warning sounded inside the airport. She was at the gate and they herded everyone to an area with minimal windows and they had to wait it out. She said it was very scary waiting to see if the terminal was hit.

MJ

 

[ols386]

I would take only what I thought was absolutely necessary: purse, passports, cell phone and any other important documents. When I'm traveling, I usually have my really important stuff ready to go, just for such situations like fire alarm and evacuation.