THAT sure was a close call last Labor Day when the Royal Orchid hotel in Tumon had to be evacuated due to an electrical fire.

From all accounts, emergency responders were on the scene quickly to evacuate hotel guests and in just a little over an hour, the hotel was declared secure and guests were allowed to return to their rooms.

Still, if the Royal Orchid fire had been worse, would the Guam Fire Department have been capable of handling it?

Guam is fortunate in that we have rarely experienced the kind of high-rise building fires we see in the movies that is common in other parts of the world.

However, the number of high-rise buildings on Guam will surely continue to increase. There’s already a new hotel being constructed in the heart of Tumon and with the continuing progress of Guam, more high-rises can be expected.

Moreover, taller and newer buildings will have more complicated fire protection systems and this will require greater awareness on behalf of the Guam Fire Department.

We're sure GFD has developed procedures to deal with high-rise fires. But these plans could be several years old and may not have taken into consideration changes in building and construction technology.

Experts say high-rise buildings are challenging and complex environments for fire services because they pose difficult problems such as the time and effort required to ascend to the fire, the coordination of occupants on multiple floors, and the reliance on building standpipe systems for firefighting.

A study prepared for the Surrey Fire Service in British Columbia stressed that high-rise fires are unique in that they challenge many aspects of a fire service's preparation and capability simultaneously. As such, they are notorious for revealing weaknesses in fire departments.

Here on Guam, do we even have fire trucks capable of reaching fires in the top floors of our tallest buildings? Are our firefighters adequately trained to handle a 5-alarm fire in one of our island’s high-rise buildings?

These are valid questions that must be asked because our island is heavily dependent on tourism. Mismanage just one high-rise hotel fire in the center of Tumon and we will have bad word of mouth traveling through our tourism markets that Guam is incapable of handling a big hotel fire. That’s the kind of negative publicity that drives tourists away.

In addition, local businesses also have a lot to lose. Even Monday’s minor incident resulted in merchants complaining about three hours worth of lost business. What more if a major fire happens in the heart of Tumon, clogging up traffic and closing shops for hours.

We should count ourselves lucky that we haven’t suffered from such a disaster yet. However, GFD should take a pro-active approach and try to prepare itself for any eventuality. And GovGuam should help support GFD by giving it the adequate equipment and training needed. Our residents and tourists must know that GFD can protect them – where ever they may be.