In just about every hotel room, you’ll find fire emergency instructions. We start our safety measures at the front desk. We ask for a room no higher than the 7th floor. Why? That’s usually the highest a fire truck ladder can reach. Don’t make fun of us. Just check the history of major hotel fires, and being trapped in a room on an upper floor is a remote possibility, but it happens. Here are some other instructions:

1. When you get to the floor where your room is located, note and remember where the stairway exits are located, as well as fire alarms, hoses and hatchets.

2. As soon as you smell smoke or suspect there’s a fire nearby, immediately call the front desk, usually by hitting the O.

3. When a hotel-wide alarm sounds, get to the emergency stairway and exit the building as quickly as possible. Because some fires rise quickly up the chutes and attack the elevator system, don’t use the elevators. This is another good reason to book a room on a lower floor.

4. If you know the fire and smoke may be on your floor, don’t just run out of your room. Feel the door for possible heat. If it’s cool, take a moment to gather your room key and belongings, lock your room and go to the nearest stairway.

If your door is hot, open it slowly and find a way to get to the stairway immediately, and you may need to bend down low to avoid breathing smoke. If possible, don’t leave your baggage behind, and always take your room key with you. If the fire is intensely burning nearby, don’t lock your room.

5. If a fire or threat of fire seriously affects you or anyone with you in your room, whether physically or emotionally, call the front desk by hitting the O key and ask for immediate medical help.