BY GLENN P. CORBETT
For many years, the way-ward traveler assumed a great deal of risk when signing the guest register at a hotel to spend the night. Our fire history is replete with hotel disasters, including the Hotel Winecoff in Atlanta, where scores of people perished in a hotel that proclaimed itself to be "absolutely fireproof." While the level of risk has considerably diminished through improved fire safety techniques, the potential for catastrophe still exists in many of these structures.
Hotels combine several concerns under one roof-large occupant loads unfamiliar with their surroundings as well as the scattering of individuals with poor fire safety habits throughout the building. Hazards include the proverbial smoker, the kitchen in the restaurant, the laundry room in the basement, and the chlorine cylinders at the pool.
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