[madhattr999]

It would be nice if the staff could announce when/if the hotel catches the person who caused the fire alarm to go off, and whether he/she is punished. They inconvenienced a lot of people, and perhaps even ruined weekends for some of the masquerade entries. It would be satisfiying for people to know that the person received retribution, and that he/she will not be back at the convention in subsequent years.

[sweetbeanpaste]

I agree. You don't have to tell us who it was or whatever, but it'd be nice to know they're banned for life.

[laceyarsenic]

Agreed! This kinda things should be announced to scare off further perpetrators!
Didn't something happen last year? That was never officially announced.
Con-goers should know what is going on so they are aware.

[Molly Mae]

sweetbeanpaste, on 30 April 2012 - 09:13 AM, said:

...banned for life.

I absolutely agree with this, and I don't even go to the Masquerade. I didn't know anything about the cancellation/fire drill, but it absolutely sickens me that somebody would pull an alarm or press an extinguisher or whatever they did.

laceyarsenic, on 30 April 2012 - 09:15 AM, said:

Didn't something happen last year? That was never officially announced.

There was something thrown from a balcony in the Hyatt that broke a glass dome (I think staff announced the damages to be about $10k...I can't remember).

This post has been edited by Molly Mae: 30 April 2012 - 09:19 AM

[Washu Takahashi]

Molly Mae, on 30 April 2012 - 09:17 AM, said:

I absolutely agree with this, and I don't even go to the Masquerade. I didn't know anything about the cancellation/fire drill, but it absolutely sickens me that somebody would pull an alarm or press an extinguisher or whatever they did.

Agreed. I happened to walk out of the hotel literally like 5 minutes before it happened. The suddenly there was this huge mass of people. But it was cold and wet outside and there were plenty of people that would have bee freezing in their skimpy costumes.

One of my friends was in line to get stuff signed by Chris Sabat after a panel. He was like the 10th person in line when the alarm was pulled. Needless to say, he was NOT happy. Really hope whoever did this is caught.

[sockie]

lol I actually know the guy who caused the bottle-through-the-atrium fiasco last year and he was back this year with no problems whatsoever. Cops came to his room that night, but I don't know if he ever was actually "caught"...

Before I get jumped, I promise he's no friend of mine! haha

[JujuFox]

We talked to hotel staff Sunday morning, and were told that the "guest" pulled the fire extinguisher off the wall and sprayed it around. They never found out who it was.

[Lunarex]

The person got caught for the fire alarm as far as I know, He was arrested. (That's what I was told by some staff)

[Kamiokande]

If the fire person is found guilty and is still in prison during ACen 2013, the ban won't be necessary.

[jadeDRGNKISS]

This was my first year coming to Acen, did whatever I had to do to get there, and
honestly this fire alarm thing was ridiculous and not properly handled.

I'm 4months pregnant, I was in one the first few groups that was waiting since 5pm,
went through the LONG, LONG wait, didn't get a chance to go get anything to eat/drink,
security didn't allow my friends to bring me anything and all that for what?
We lost our good seats, that we waited for 3hrs, to those conveniently close to the entrance..

Seriously debating over going next year. Horrible experience!

Something has to be done.

[Sapphy]

jadeDRGNKISS, on 30 April 2012 - 01:02 PM, said:

This was my first year coming to Acen, did whatever I had to do to get there, and
honestly this fire alarm thing was ridiculous and not properly handled.

How would you suggest it have been done? When there is a fire alarm or other emergency, the priority immediately shifts to "get everyone out as safely and quickly as possible" because the full scope of the emergency is unknown. I'm sorry that you ended up further back in line than you originally were, but I honestly can't see how ACen staff could have preserved the lines while still treating such a possible emergency the way it should be treated.

[madhattr999]

jadeDRGNKISS, on 30 April 2012 - 01:02 PM, said:

This was my first year coming to Acen, did whatever I had to do to get there, and
honestly this fire alarm thing was ridiculous and not properly handled.

I'm 4months pregnant, I was in one the first few groups that was waiting since 5pm,
went through the LONG, LONG wait, didn't get a chance to go get anything to eat/drink,
security didn't allow my friends to bring me anything and all that for what?
We lost our good seats, that we waited for 3hrs, to those conveniently close to the entrance..

Seriously debating over going next year. Horrible experience!

Something has to be done.

That's pretty unfortunate, but at least 25000 people didn't potentially burn to death. Have some perspective.

[Unka Josh]

Speaking as Acen staff who had a radio at the time, we were definitely receiving contradictory instructions from the authorities regarding the fire alarm, and there wasn't really a lot else that we could have done-- we tried to get everyone out of the building as quickly as possible, tried to get everyone back in as smoothly as possible, and attempted to salvage all of the interrupted events as best we could. Unfortunately, that wasn't always possible, and it was a huge pain for everyone involved.

[Jeff]

We do not need to know who pulled the alarm. We are not going to burn the witch. What this person did is VERY ILLEGAL and the authorities should be in charge of handling it. This issue should be considered concluded.

[Washu Takahashi]

Unka Josh, on 30 April 2012 - 03:21 PM, said:

Speaking as Acen staff who had a radio at the time, we were definitely receiving contradictory instructions from the authorities regarding the fire alarm, and there wasn't really a lot else that we could have done-- we tried to get everyone out of the building as quickly as possible, tried to get everyone back in as smoothly as possible, and attempted to salvage all of the interrupted events as best we could. Unfortunately, that wasn't always possible, and it was a huge pain for everyone involved.

I'd imagine all of you were just as confused and frustrated as the attendees, if not more. I was lucky enough to have left the hotel just minutes before the alarm went off, but from what I've heard you all did an excellent job! Thanks for putting up with all of the less understanding attendees and handling things to the best of your ability.

[KnitChick]

jadeDRGNKISS, on 30 April 2012 - 01:02 PM, said:

I'm 4months pregnant, I was in one the first few groups that was waiting since 5pm,
went through the LONG, LONG wait, didn't get a chance to go get anything to eat/drink,
security didn't allow my friends to bring me anything and all that for what?
We lost our good seats, that we waited for 3hrs, to those conveniently close to the entrance..

Oh, I wish you had come see my department! We would have given you a pass to make sure you could step out of line to get a drink or sit down, pregnant definitely counts for that! **HUGS** If you do come back next year, *please* come see us (we offer help for nursing moms too!)

[Valkyrie]

Sapphy, on 30 April 2012 - 01:28 PM, said:

How would you suggest it have been done? When there is a fire alarm or other emergency, the priority immediately shifts to "get everyone out as safely and quickly as possible" because the full scope of the emergency is unknown. I'm sorry that you ended up further back in line than you originally were, but I honestly can't see how ACen staff could have preserved the lines while still treating such a possible emergency the way it should be treated.

I will echo this, with a bit of elaboration.

By "everyone," this means everyone we can reach. We can't go into individual rooms, but we (IRT) did scramble all available ops - on-shift and off-shift - to ensure that all congoers and non-attendee guests alike within sight were evacuated to a safe distance, until we gained an all-clear.

By being scrambled, this meant that our priority was getting everyone out as quickly and as safely as possible, and allowed back in safely as well. There's no way for us to manage who was where in line originally, and while we do have procedures for incidents like this one (keeping in mind that this is the first time in 5 years we've had an incident of this scale), we cannot predict when they will happen.

That being said, to jadeDRGNKISS - I am very sorry that this had to happen during your very first visit with us, and especially with you being pregnant. I do hope that you and your party got out and back safely, despite the line and schedule changes that resulted afterward.

This post has been edited by Valkyrie: 30 April 2012 - 03:48 PM

[rondo]

Bring.The.Pain

Thank goodness it wasn't raining but I loathe for what it did to the Masq.

[XenoBlade]

I think the evacuation was handled pretty well. To the people who are complaining, try evacuating 25,000 people in a timely manner. Add pretty angry people too. Not easy. Kudos to the staff.

And I do hope justice will be served.

[Unka Josh]

...Speaking as someone who had to perform the evacuation, thank all of you for cooperating.

[STVO]

I can't believe my friend and I went to McDonalds during that time. Seriously, I got a text from a friend letting me know about the evacuation, I couldn't believe it! What I feel real awful about is the people who love the masquerade, the people who made skits for the masquerade, and of course the people who run the masquerade. Seriously, one of my best friend's biggest passion ever since she's been going to ACen in 2000 is the masquerade. For some jerk to pull the fire alarm to inconvenience people such as them, people who were running other panels, and of course people who just wanted to relax by napping, gaming, whatever, that is just awful.

I hope that person never comes back and nothing like this ever happens again.

[SpicyNinjaCat]

sockie, on 30 April 2012 - 09:55 AM, said:

lol I actually know the guy who caused the bottle-through-the-atrium fiasco last year and he was back this year with no problems whatsoever. Cops came to his room that night, but I don't know if he ever was actually "caught"...

Before I get jumped, I promise he's no friend of mine! haha

Hold up, if you knew the person who did it and he wasn't a friend of yours, then why didn't you step forward last year when the staff was trying to find someone with information about it? Since no one stepped forward, the convention had to pay for the damages in the five figure range.

[Washu Takahashi]

SpicyNinjaCat, on 01 May 2012 - 09:37 AM, said:

Hold up, if you knew the person who did it and he wasn't a friend of yours, then why didn't you step forward last year when the staff was trying to find someone with information about it? Since no one stepped forward, the convention had to pay for the damages in the five figure range.

Seconding this. Because of that jerk EVERYONE suffered and had to pay more to attend this year. You should have turned him in, especially since you claim he wasn't even your friend.

[Fate Averruncus]

sockie, on 30 April 2012 - 09:55 AM, said:

lol I actually know the guy who caused the bottle-through-the-atrium fiasco last year and he was back this year with no problems whatsoever. Cops came to his room that night, but I don't know if he ever was actually "caught"...

Before I get jumped, I promise he's no friend of mine! haha

I hadn't heard of the dome breaking last year, but I third that you should have turned him in. He made the con pay thousands that they shouldn't have had to pay. D:. I feel that that isn't right. I know it's too late, but that is something that shouldn't have been left alone.


That aside, I also hope that whoever pulled the alarm is caught and banned for life. The last thing we need is for the rates to go up again because someone thought it was cute to pull the alarm. >_<;.

This post has been edited by Fate Averruncus: 01 May 2012 - 09:03 PM

[JujuFox]

Fate Averruncus, on 01 May 2012 - 09:02 PM, said:

I hadn't heard of the dome breaking last year, but I third that you should have turned him in. He made the con pay thousands that they shouldn't have had to pay. D:. I feel that that isn't right. I know it's too late, but that is something that shouldn't have been left alone.


That aside, I also hope that whoever pulled the alarm is caught and banned for life. The last thing we need is for the rates to go up again because someone thought it was cute to pull the alarm. >_<;.

It was the extinguisher. That is what the Hyatt's apology letter said, and hotel staff said he/she sprayed it around too. Major lack of common sense there.

[rondo]

DavenEvanXaviour, on 01 May 2012 - 09:06 PM, said:

Major lack of common sense there.

Comment sense. More like being a complete tard.

[YasuiGetups]

jadeDRGNKISS, on 30 April 2012 - 01:02 PM, said:

Seriously debating over going next year. Horrible experience!

Something has to be done.

1) Honestly, some idiot does this at every con- it's happened to me at four of the five I've been to, and I still con. I'm pretty used to dropping everything, though, since the running gag at my high school was to make bomb threats once a week in an area where nobody was smart enough to get a good algebra grade, let alone design and create an explosive.

2) PLEASE COME BACK with your cosplay baby! There's nothing cuter in the whole world!


As for the dome-breaker... your friend was a (feminine hygiene product) who put a huge dent in a weekend people wait a whole year for, and I'm afraid to say that (femine hygiene product)-baggery is highly contagious under said circumstances. This $#%* is not funny. Period.

This post has been edited by YasuiGetups: 01 May 2012 - 10:28 PM

[Heathery]

I sure hope the person was actually trying to put out a fire if they were screwing around with that fire extinguisher. I was on the first floor of the Hyatt when the alarms went off and that was a frightening experience. I can't thank the con-goers, IRT, and the local police and fire departments enough for being kind and considerate.

Someone stated that they were looking for a woman that had broken a toe trying to get down the stairs during the evacuation. Is there any thread or word about how she's doing? It's terrible that anyone got hurt during this incident, and I really hope that was the worst injury.

And...I can't second the comments above about turning in the jerk(s) who damaged the hotel last year throwing a keg.

[manga1]

The buffoon that set off the alarm, I think a public floggin is in order, from each one of the skit people that could not do their skit at all because of the jerk, and the masqurade was already behind from the concert before the vic todd wars movie, and then took a long time to set up for the reoka concert, set us 45 minuts behinde as it was, then the jerk had to pull the fire alarm when we were already 1 hour behind trying to just get started, and then the masquerade staff for putting everything through in under 20 minuts in an orderly fashion doing what they could so we could have some kind of masquerade.

[tfcreate]

Molly Mae, on 30 April 2012 - 09:17 AM, said:

I absolutely agree with this, and I don't even go to the Masquerade. I didn't know anything about the cancellation/fire drill, but it absolutely sickens me that somebody would pull an alarm or press an extinguisher or whatever they did.



There was something thrown from a balcony in the Hyatt that broke a glass dome (I think staff announced the damages to be about $10k...I can't remember).

The glass landed about 20 feet from where I was standing.
This was the time that I decided that 2011 was my last ACEN.