Zoom Out: Fire Risk on the Slot Floor, From a Single Machine to the Whole Room
Start small. There’s one slot machine, lit up amid a group of several dozen more. For the most part, the machines are harmless. Closer inspection, however, reveals each machine as an assembly of little appliances: power supply, fans, ticket printer, bill validator, lots of LED screens and an intricate network of wires hidden behind a closed door.
Imagine multiplying that image by a few hundred. All of a sudden, there is something with the electrical characteristics of a tiny data center, along with carpet, padded seats, bar service and a constant flow of people. If the sprinkler system serving this area has to be taken out of commission, a gaming floor fire watch comes into play to fill the gap. The most effective way of thinking about what that patrol watches for is to widen the perspective, one layer at a time.
Ring One: The Machine
Within the cabinet, the issue of heat is all about. The power supply transforms the voltage, the monitor consumes power, and fans blow air into tiny vents. The dust gathers. A fan stops rotating. A capacitor gets old. Sometimes a part gets too heated and emits the burning plastic smell.
The ticket printer has added paper and heating mechanism. The bill validator contains the belts and motors. These components are reliable for many years and if any problem occurs, then it announces about its presence with some odors or sound crackling.
What a patrol notices: unusual odors, heated surfaces of the cabinet, machines that stay dark while their neighbors are lit, sparks and buzzing.
Ring Two: The Bank
Machines are generally organised into banks or islands, and may share a common power source and cable. One failure of power can impact multiple cabinets.
Temporary power strips and extension cords may appear due to reconfiguration. Temporary use of such items is acceptable only when the items are properly rated, and these should never be daisy-chained together.
What a patrol notices: Wires and extension cords running through walkways and under carpets, overloaded electrical outlets and cables with damaged jackets.
Ring Three: The Aisle
These corridors are located between the banks and are usually covered with carpet with stools along its sides. This corridor is used for evacuation in case anything bad happens, besides being heavily used all the time.
Any obstacle in the aisle like a promotional table, a cart or cleaning supplies can become a barrier for the fleeing crowd. Smoking areas become another potential threat because of the presence of cigarette ends and lighters. A person conducting a gaming floor fire watch considers these corridors to be first in his priorities.
What a patrol notices: Obstacles, beverages close to outlets, smoking items and obstructed exit signs.
Ring Four: The Room
Zooming back out, you can see the entire gaming area, including the ceilings equipped with sprinklers, detectors and speakers, as well as cameras for surveillance and strobes for alarms. Large rooms may have fire-resistant barriers or smoke curtains separating the spaces.
The main issue here will be coverage. In the event of sprinklers being offline in one area, the patrol will know exactly what section of the floor has the problem, and how to get there quickly. The patrol will check smoke detectors, pull stations and extinguishers on the way.
The patrol will also pay close attention to the room perimeter, including doors into back-of-house areas, kitchen pass through and bar service stations, since the fire usually breaks through at the perimeter, not at the machines themselves.
What a patrol notices: propped doors, blocked pull stations, missing extinguishers and any damage to ceiling tiles.
Ring Five: The Property
Lastly, the shot shifts to the whole resort. The hotel towers, restaurants, theaters, parking garages, spas, and meeting rooms are all linked to the gaming floor by hallways and by mechanical systems. Smoke could go through the vents. An alarm system in one area will affect another.
Due to the connection, patrolling is not just about the floor. Patrollers work with security, surveillance, and engineers; they understand how an alarm in one area can affect others.
Making the Zoom Practical
The common characteristics of operators that plan for impairments include:
- Keeping a floor map indicating the various sprinkler zones and valves and exit locations.
- Indicating the impaired areas clearly but without alarming the visitors.
- Informing shift supervisors about the timing of the rounds and the radio frequencies.
- Keeping logs of the rounds, including a brief indication of what was observed.
- Analysing the logs with engineering personnel after the maintenance process.
Final Thought
The fire safety on a slot floor is not one large issue but rather a series of smaller issues, ranging from the fan in one cabinet to the duct system in the entire property. The importance of the rings cannot be overstated.
