تاییدیه آتش نشانی

Smoke and flames quickly traveled to the mezzanine level and then up the two open staircases to the upper floors—just like a chimney. Firefighters battled the flames in the lobby while others headed up the fire escapes and knocked on doors to evacuate occupants. Up on the fourth floor of the building—where lights and emergency exit signs had gone out shortly after the fire began—firefighters made a human chain to lead hotel guests to the fire escape. Crews on the exterior of the building rescued occupants from the lower floors with ladders. Service members who were hotel guests deployed hotel fire hoses on the floors above the lobby, but water in the hoses was only partially turned on; due to the fear that the old lines would burst under higher pressure. In fact, after the fire, questions about the condition of the hotel’s fire hoses would arise; it was found that some hoses would crumble just by being handled.