Fire Prevention Week 2025 kicks off this Sunday, October 5, and it’s a critical reminder that fire safety is never truly “finished.” For hotels, resorts, and hospitality operators, this annual campaign offers more than awareness, it’s the perfect moment to educate staff, strengthen procedures, and audit fire safety readiness across people, processes, and property.
We’ll explore:
1. Why fire safety must be proactively managed in hospitality
2. Key risks, common failures, and industry data
3. A step-by-step fire safety readiness framework
4. How to embed robust compliance, audits and PPM (planned preventive maintenance)
5.Common pitfalls and how to avoid them
6.A final checklist and a Q&A section
The stakes are real: lives, reputation & liability
• In the U.S., an estimated 3,900 hotel and motel fires occur every year, causing death, injuries, and tens of millions in property loss.
• Hotels often host vulnerable populations (children, older adults, people unfamiliar with the building), which amplifies evacuation risk.
• Fire losses in even a single property can devastate brand reputation and bring regulatory or legal scrutiny.
• High-profile fires in hotels and historic buildings in recent years show how rapidly a small ignition can escalate.
Hospitality imposes complex risks
• Multiple zones (rooms, kitchens, spas, back-of-house).
• Frequent guest movement and turnover.
• Heavy use of cooking, laundry, HVAC and electrical systems.
• Staff turnover is high, so fire procedures and training must be consistently reinforced.
• Physical complexity: older buildings, architectural quirks, vertical circulation, hidden spaces (attics, service shafts)
Fire safety is a core FM (facilities management) responsibility
Facilities management is often divided into hard FM (structural, systems, safety) and soft FM (cleaning, grounds, services). Fire systems (sprinklers, alarms, extinguishers, fire doors, signage) fall squarely in hard FM and are usually mandated by regulation.
Moreover, fire safety must be integrated with PPM. Reactive maintenance simply doesn’t cut it when it comes to life and safety systems.
Understanding where fire safety often fails helps you defend your venue proactively.
Top causes and zones
• Cooking fires (in guest or back-of-house kitchens) account for nearly 46% of hotel fires; nearly all are small, confined fires.
• Among the more serious, non-confined fires, leading causes are electrical faults, open flames / smoking, and intentional fires.
• In hotels and motels, many fires begin in kitchens, guest rooms, laundry areas.
Use of sprinklers dramatically reduces fatality rates: one NFPA study showed deaths per 1,000 fires were almost 100% lower in properties with wet-pipe sprinkler systems versus those without.
Common Failures
• Missed or irregular testing / servicing of fire extinguishers, hoses, alarm panels.
• Fire doors or dampers that are blocked, propped open, or not properly maintained.
• Poor documentation or missing logs (especially in audits).
• Inconsistent staff training, weak fire drill discipline.
• Inefficient coordination between departments (housekeeping, kitchen, engineering) causing blind spots.
• Fire escapes, signage or exit routes obstructed or poorly lit.
Here's a structured approach you can apply immediately and sustain throughout the year.
Phase 1: Fire Risk & Gap Assessment
• Start with a fire safety audit: inspect every zone, system, exit, signage, alarms, suppression systems, doors, staff readiness.
• Compare against the latest local jurisdiction regulations and fire codes (e.g. NFPA standards if applicable).
• Use guest flow mapping (peak loads, ingress/egress) to spot chokepoints or hidden risks.
• Survey historical incident logs or near misses..
• Use the new Snapfix Global Template Library to access best practices and identify blind spots in your plan.
Phase 2: Prioritize & Plan
• Assign risk scores to gaps (likelihood × impact).
• Sequence remediation projects (fire door repairs, sprinkler upgrades, signage, etc.).
• Allocate budgets (including contingency), many properties neglect a “fire safety contingency fund.”
• Develop a PPM schedule for inspections, recalibrations, replacements.
Phase 3: Execute, Document & Enforce
• Execute repairs, upgrades, and system replacements.
• Issue standard operating procedures (SOPs) for fire checks (e.g. morning fire-walk, midday check, nightly checks).
• Deploy staff training and fire drills; simulate blackout conditions, guest evacuations, disabled guest assistance.
• Assure documentation: logs, certificates, test results.
• Maintain visibility: dashboards, escalations, audit-ready reporting.
Phase 4: Maintain, Review, Iterate
• Perform periodic (monthly, quarterly, annual) reviews.
• Reassess risk when building changes, renovations, or operational changes occur.
• Use inspections and audits to refine schedules, close gaps, identify drift.
• Conduct surprise audits or third-party audits.
During Fire Prevention Week, you can use this cadence to engage staff, spotlight vulnerabilities, run scenario drills, review logs, and reset culture.
To make fire safety operational rather than episodic, here are strategies that hospitality operations leaders can adopt:
1. Centralized digital workflows & documented checklists
Scattered spreadsheets, paper logs and siloed systems introduce gaps. A unified digital workflow ensures that inspection tasks, audits, follow-ups, signoffs and escalations live in one place fully traceable.
Snapfix is the perfect tool to manage this as all employees have access to SOPs, and can create hazard alerts in real-time all from their mobile phones.
2. NFC / physical checkpoints to ensure real presence
One of the most reliable ways to confirm an inspection was physically done is using NFC “tag-tap” checkpoints on fire doors, extinguishers, hose reels, etc. The inspector must physically tap the tag with their phone, which timestamps and verifies the location. This helps eliminate the “checklist tick without visit” risk.
Some hospitality operations using such an approach report that if an inspector shows up, they can immediately produce proof that each fire extinguisher or fire door was visited and recorded.
“We do two fire-walks every 24 hours, recorded simply in Snapfix. If an inspector visits, we have proof that each area has been checked, with a printed record if needed.”
— Paul Gaynor, Johnstown Estate
3. Triggered escalations & SLA enforcement
If a fire-door check was missed or a defect flagged, the system should automatically escalate to a supervisor, assign a corrective task, and track resolution. Unresolved items beyond SLA should alert higher management.
4. Audit-ready reporting & evidence
Compile reports (with timestamps, photos, status, history) that can be exported or printed during audits or regulatory inspections. This removes last-minute stress and ensures defensible compliance.
5. Integrated PPM scheduling
Fire equipment inspections (daily, weekly, monthly, quarterly annual), alarm testing, suppression system servicing should be built into your PPM calendar in Snapfix and tied to workflows and not left to memory.
“Fire walks used to be a paperwork-heavy process, so we do that on Snapfix now. That removes the possibility of the paperwork going missing. I know it’s recorded.”
— Rory Rooney, The Morrison Hotel, Curio Collection by Hilton
6. Staff engagement & transparency
• For example, Snapfix uses a visual dashboard with a universally understood traffic-light system to track progress updates.
• Recognize and reward consistent performance.
• Incorporate fire safety questions into onboarding and refreshers.
As John O’Grady (General Manager at The Landmark) put it:
“Snapfix really gives you a huge peace of mind regarding fire safety and the traffic light system ensures there are no language barriers, making it easier for the entire multicultural team. We cover everything in one place; checklists, SOPs, fire safety, maintenance.”
Common Mistakes & How to Avoid Them
|
Mistake |
Why It Happens |
Mitigation |
|
Treating fire safety as a “tick box” |
Fire tasks get deprioritized under operational pressure |
Embed tasks in daily ops with escalation, visible metrics |
|
Overreliance on paper logs |
Easy to lose, falsify, or ignore |
Transition to digital, timestamped workflows |
|
Infrequent (or no) drills |
Staff forget critical steps in crisis |
Schedule quarterly or semiannual fire drills, vary scenarios |
|
Disconnected systems |
Multiple siloed apps or systems |
Consolidate on one platform or tightly integrated tools |
|
Gaps during renovations or changes |
New zones or hidden risers overlooked |
Re-audit after any structural or layout changes |
|
Ignoring near-miss reports |
They often precede serious events |
Encourage low-threshold reporting; treat near-misses as data |
Maurice Ryan, F&B Manager at The g Hotel reflected:
“With Snapfix, we can now report maintenance issues, carry out fire walks and record temperatures all on one device… as a manager I can review standards from the app instead of being in many places to monitor.”
• Kick off with a site-wide fire awareness campaign (posters, digital screens, messaging to staff)
• Run fire drills across shifts (with varying complexity)
• Hold a “fire walkathon” — a simultaneous inspection tour by mixed teams
• Use the week to audit your audit process: are you capturing everything you should?
• Host short micro-trainings (5–10 minute sessions) for departments: housekeeping, kitchen, maintenance
• Publish a fire safety scoreboard for your properties or departments
• Invite a local fire brigade to visit or demo to staff
Use (and adapt) this checklist as a working guide:
1. Risk & Gap Audit
• Fire doors, dampers, signage, escape routes, alarms, suppression
• Evacuation mapping, guest flows, staff zones
• Records review & near-miss history
2. Remediation & Upgrades
• Repair or replace defective doors, alarm panels, extinguishers
• Upgrade sprinkler or detection systems if needed
• Check emergency lighting
3. PPM & Inspection Schedule
• Weekly checks of fire doors, access routes
• Monthly inspection of extinguishers, hoses
• Quarterly tests of alarms and sprinklers
• Annual full system certification
4. Digital Workflow & Evidence Capture
• Place NFC tags or QR tags at critical locations and link up to Snapfix platform
• Require physical tag taps for inspection verification
• Capture photos, notes, status, timestamps
5. Training & Drills
• Department-level fire procedure training
• At least one full evacuation drill per year
• Scenario drills (e.g. blocked exit, smoke-filled corridor)
6. Reporting & Audit Readiness
• Automate exportable reports
• Maintain log retention policies (e.g. 5+ years)
• Include exec-level summary dashboard
7. Feedback Loop & Iteration
• Conduct after-action reviews post-drills
• Monitor discrepancies, failures, missed steps
• Adjust schedules, SOPs, training accordingly
In hospitality, guest safety isn’t just regulation, it's brand trust. A hotel that consistently demonstrates fire safety vigilance wins confidence from guests, staff, insurers and auditors alike.
Fire Prevention Week is a powerful anchor but real resilience comes from embedding workflows, using proofable inspections, integrating PPM, and building a culture of proactive safety. Technology (mobile workflows, NFC tagging, audit dashboards) helps operations teams keep pace without being overwhelmed.
Over time, fire safety should become invisible to guests but visible to your management as a non-negotiable baseline.
Q. What is Fire Prevention Week and why does it matter to hotels?
A. Fire Prevention Week is an annual observance (first Sunday through Saturday in October) aimed at raising awareness about fire risks and safety practices.For hotels, it offers a chance to refresh fire safety protocols, engage staff, audit systems, and emphasize culture.
Q What are the most common causes of fire in hotels?
A. Cooking fires are the number one cause of fires in hotels, followed by electrical faults, heating systems, open flames, and intentional fires.
Q. How often should fire systems be inspected or tested?
A. It depends on local codes, but common cadence should include daily door/escape route checks, monthly extinguisher inspections, quarterly alarm/sprinkler tests, and annual full certification checks. Use Snapfix Global Template Library to access best practices compiled from thousands of teams around the world.
Q. How do NFC tag “taps” improve fire walk integrity?
A. In order to log a completed check, they require the inspector to physically be present at the location (extinguisher, fire door, etc). This gives verification of compliance and avoids falsified records.
Q. What role does PPM play in fire safety?
A. Planned Preventive Maintenance ensures that fire safety systems are regularly serviced before failure, maintaining reliability, longevity, and compliance.
Q. What mistakes should hospitality operators avoid?
A. Treating fire safety as secondary, relying on paper logs, failing to run drills, letting systems drift unnoticed, and disconnecting processes are common traps.