Fire Alarms: Annoying, but in a Good Way

I don't think it's humanly possible to predict or plan the perfect trip. The plane could be delayed, your hotel could end up overbooked, a jellyfish could sidle up next to you as you're sunbathing on the beach. Whatever the case is, it's always helpful to take a step back from these situations and look at them as minor, sometimes necessary, setbacks, rather than colossal disasters that can ruin your entire trip.

Just the other day, David, SQM's President and cofounder, was telling me about his stay at a hotel this summer. At 1:30 a.m. David, along with all the other guests staying at the hotel, were awakened by fire alarms within the building. The entire hotel was evacuated.

Though David recounted that the experience was a little inconvenient, he also pointed out that there is no such thing as a false alarm. In this instance, a motor had burned out in the kitchen and the smoke from the motor had set of the alarm.

Fire alarms and other safety precautions, such as sprinkler systems, can also be helpful indicators of other problems within a facility. For example, if the steam from a hot shower sets off an alarm, then the facility manager may want to consider how sensitive the alarms are or whether or not the hot water temperature is too high.

While fire alarms may not exactly be music to our ears, we should remember that they are there for a reason, and especially when travelling, safety should take precedence over annoyance.