33

Restored Pioneer Hotel HasModel Fire-Protection System

Rehabilitated after a disastrous fire, this Arizona hotelfeatures "one of the most sophisticated fire-protectionand sprinkler systems in the country."

WHEN the completely refur-bished Pioneer Internat:onal

Hotel reopened recently in down-town Tucson, after being devastatedby an arson-caused fire on Decem-ber 20, 1971, its restoration in-cluded the installation of the onlycomplete life-saving fire-protectionsystem in any hotel in the nation,with a sprinkler head in every guestroom, closet and bathroom, as wellas the hallways, lobby and base-ment.

The fire gutted the hallways ofthe upper nine floors of the solidly-built (1929) structure, raging frommidnight until morning. It brought11 engine and four ladder compan-ies from the fire department, fiverescue units, reserve equipment, 165firemen and every ambulance in thecity. Twenty-eight persons lost theirlives.

Although some industry associa-tions say that in hotels sprinkler

PIONEER INTERNATIONAL HOTEL indowntown Tucson features "covered-wagon" desert schooner motor vehiclewhich transports guests to and fromnearby Community Center and Con-vention Complex. Topping six-floorwing are outdoor swimming pool andspacious patio area. Two ballroomsand 13 meeting rooms provide facili-ties for functions and conventions. Ex-clusive Mountain Oyster Club main-tains quarters on mezzanine. Manage-ment is by Hospitality ManagementCorp. of Dallas.

HOTEL & MOTEL MANAGEMENT

Mavis are necessary only in hall-ways, the Pioneer management, inconsultation with fire departmentofficials, determined to effect amore complete and innovative sys-tem for the restored property.

True, most traffic in hotels is inthe hallways, but fire hazards arenot confined to these areas. Says R.B. Slagel, assistant chief of theTucson fire department, in chargeof fire prevention, "Smoke andtoxic gases, not flames, kill mostpeople in building fires. A fire inone room can involve all the com-bustibles in that room in a matterof minutes, and this one-room-sizedfire can produce sufficient heat andsmoke to kill well beyond the con-fines of the room. We knew wewere crawling out on a limb withour plan, but we knew it wouldwork and we went ahead."

The plan for the 175-room Pi-oneer was prepared by Richard M.Patton, president of Patton FireProtection 81 Research, Tucson, andauthor of "The Patton Report" con-cerning the need of updating life-saving fire protection in publicbuildings. Says Patton, "A buildingis not inherently safe (fireproof)

ALL HALLWAYS and all public roomsare equipped with sprinklers at inter-vals in 'ceilings, here shown betweenlight fixtures on alternate sides ofhallway.

simply because the steel is protect-ed. Structural elements are meas-ured against a standard Underwrit-ers Laboratories test fire thatreaches 1,000° F. within fiveminutes. But long before thattemperature is reached, human be-ings die."

Present fire codes, Pattonpoints out, define a building as be-ing inherently safe (fireproof) whenthe structure itself is so designedthat it can withstand a long-dura-tion interior fire. The original Pi-oneer structure, for example, wasdesigned to be able to withstand afour-hour interior fire, and as suchwould be considered a "Class AFireproof Building" by most build-ing codes today.

"But what the codes do not takeinto account," observes Patton, "isthat the people inside the buildingwho are directly exposed to thetoxic gases are not fireproof, anddeaths occur long before the struc-ture itself is seriously tested."

Patton's concept of fire safety isto first protect people with a low-cost but extremely reliable well-en-gineered detection and suppressionsystem, and reduce some of the

EVERY BATHROOM and every closet aswell as every guest room has protec-tion of sprinklers installed in ceilings.Typical unit appears here at upperright.

superfluous structural fire-proofingcosts to pay for this system, whichprotects the structure itself as wellas the people inside.

The Pioneer sprinkler system in-stallation consists of two risers, oneat each building end. All piping isof copper, which is light in weightand non-corrosive. Orifices insprinkler heads vary from 1/2-inchto 5/16-inch and 7/16-inch. Side-wall heads were permitted in guestrooms where appropriate.

A fire sprinkler head, explainsSlagel, is held closed by a fusiblelink. At 165° F. this link melts andreleases the water in the system,which is sprayed throughout theroom.

The entire sprinkler system at thePioneer, and several manual alarms,are connected to the Tucson FireDepartment Communications Cen-ter. At the instant the fusible linkmelts, the alarm is automatically re-ceived at the center over leasedtelephone lines, and engines arriveat the hotel in case of fire in fromtwo to three minutes.

"An automatic sprinkler systemis designed to do three things," saysSlagel. "Detect the fire; report thefire; extinguish or control the fireuntil firemen arrive."

Frans Stalpers, VP and GM atthe Pioneer International Hotel,and VP Michael C. McKinney wentbeyond code requirements and in-cluded in their system the installa-tion of combustible products detec-tors which, through an ionizationprocess, detect any small blaze orexcessive heat from burning orsmouldering rags and such.

A new steel exterior stairway hasbeen attached to the east end of thehotel, all interior stairways havebeen enclosed, and in all hallwaysthere are fire area separation doorswhich automatically close when afire alarm is triggered or there isa water flow.

Following the installation of thesystem, a test fire in an 1 1 th-floorroom was witnessed by a score ofinvited fire-suppression officials. Asexpected, the performance was en-tirely satisfactory. Said Tucson FireChief L. F. Peterson, "The life-sav-ing fire protection in this hotelserves as a prototype for fire pro-tection in every public building inthe U.S., if not the world. END

34 MARCH 1973