Restored Pioneer Hotel Has

Model Fire-Protection System

Rehabilitated after a disastrous fire, this Arizona hotel
features "one of the most sophisticated fire-protection
and sprinkler systems in the country."

HEN the completely refur-

W bished Pioneer Internat:onal
Hotel reopened recently in down-
town Tucson, after being devastated
by an arson-caused fire on Decem-
ber 20, 1971, its restoration in-
cluded the installation of the only
complete life-saving fire-protection
system in any hotel in the nation,
with a sprinkler head in every guest
room, closet and bathroom, as well
as the hallways, lobby and base-
ment.
The fire gutted the hallways of
the upper nine floors of the solidly-
built (1929) structure, raging from
midnight until morning. It brought
11 engine and four ladder compan-
ies from the fire department, five
rescue units, reserve equipment, 165
firemen and every ambulance in the
city. Twenty-eight persons lost their
lives.
Although some industry associa-
tions say that in hotels sprinkler

PIONEER INTERNATIONAL HOTEL in

downtown Tucson features "covered-
wagon" desert schooner motor vehicle
which transports guests to and from
nearby Community Center and Con-
vention Complex. Topping six-floor
wing are outdoor swimming pool and
spacious patio area. Two ballrooms
and 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 Management
Corp. of Dallas.
HOTEL & MOTEL MANAGEMENT 33
Mavi s are necessary only in hall-
ways, the Pioneer management, in
consultation with fire department
officials, determined to effect a
more complete and innovative sys-
tem for the restored property.
True, most traffic in hotels is in
the hallways, but fire hazards are
not confined to these areas. Says R.
B. Slagel, assistant chief of the
Tucson fire department, in charge
of fire prevention, "Smoke and
toxic gases, not flames, kill most
people in building fires. A fire in
one room can involve all the com-
bustibles in that room in a matter
of minutes, and this one-room-sized
fire can produce sufficient heat and
smoke to kill well beyond the con-
fines of the room. We knew we
were crawling out on a limb with
our plan, but we knew it would
work and we went ahead."
The plan for the 175-room Pi-
oneer was prepared by Richard M.
Patton, president of Patton Fire
Protection 81 Research, Tucson, and
author of "The Patton Report" con-
cerning the need of updating life-
saving fire protection in public
buildings. Says Patton, "A building
is not inherently safe (fireproof)
ALL HALLWAYS and all public rooms
are equipped with sprinklers at inter-
vals in 'ceilings, here shown between
light fixtures on alternate sides of
hallway.
34
simply because the steel is protect-
ed. Structural elements are meas-
ured against a standard Underwrit-
ers Laboratories test fire that
reaches 1,000° F. within five
minutes. But long before that
temperature is reached, human be-
ings die."
Present fire codes, Patton
points out, define a building as be-
ing inherently safe (fireproof) when
the structure itself is so designed
that it can withstand a long-dura-
tion interior fire. The original Pi-
oneer structure, for example, was
designed to be able to withstand a
four-hour interior fire, and as such
would be considered a "Class A
Fireproof Building" by most build-
ing codes today.
"But what the codes do not take
into account," observes Patton, "is
that the people inside the building
who are directly exposed to the
toxic gases are not fireproof, and
deaths occur long before the struc-
ture itself is seriously tested."
Patton's concept of fire safety is
to first protect people with a low-
cost but extremely reliable well-en-
gineered detection and suppression
system, and reduce some of the
EVERY BATHROOM and every closet as
well as every guest room has protec-
tion of sprinklers installed in ceilings.
Typical unit appears here at upper
right.
superfluous structural fire-proofing
costs to pay for this system, which
protects the structure itself as well
as the people inside.
The Pioneer sprinkler system in-
stallation consists of two risers, one
at each building end. All piping is
of copper, which is light in weight
and non-corrosive. Orifices in
sprinkler heads vary from 1/2-inch
to 5/16-inch and 7/16-inch. Side-
wall heads were permitted in guest
rooms where appropriate.
A fire sprinkler head, explains
Slagel, is held closed by a fusible
link. At 165° F. this link melts and
releases the water in the system,
which is sprayed throughout the
room.
The entire sprinkler system at the
Pioneer, and several manual alarms,
are connected to the Tucson Fire
Department Communications Cen-
ter. At the instant the fusible link
melts, the alarm is automatically re-
ceived at the center over leased
telephone lines, and engines arrive
at the hotel in case of fire in from
two to three minutes.
"An automatic sprinkler system
is designed to do three things," says
Slagel. "Detect the fire; report the
fire; extinguish or control the fire
until firemen arrive."
Frans Stalpers, VP and GM at
the Pioneer International Hotel,
and VP Michael C. McKinney went
beyond code requirements and in-
cluded in their system the installa-
tion of combustible products detec-
tors which, through an ionization
process, detect any small blaze or
excessive heat from burning or
smouldering rags and such.
A new steel exterior stairway has
been attached to the east end of the
hotel, all interior stairways have
been enclosed, and in all hallways
there are fire area separation doors
which automatically close when a
fire alarm is triggered or there is
a water flow.
Following the installation of the
system, a test fire in an 1 1 th-floor
room was witnessed by a score of
invited fire-suppression officials. As
expected, the performance was en-
tirely satisfactory. Said Tucson Fire
Chief L. F. Peterson, "The life-sav-
ing fire protection in this hotel
serves as a prototype for fire pro-
tection in every public building in
the U.S., if not the world. END
MARCH 1973