A spring break trip to Acapulco for several Westfield State College students ended with a terrifying hotel fire, and some real heroism, as the 25 students — along with thousands of students from other colleges — managed to escape uninjured.
The students were staying at the 502-room twin-tower Best Western Playa Suites when smoke from a reported laundry chute fire spread throughout the hotel about 4:30 a.m. Sunday, March 16. They had arranged with the Maryland-based Student Travel Services for a private group tour, not affiliated with the college, for 36 students. Eleven returned home on Saturday, before the fire.
Some quick thinking and cooperation helped all the students escape, and the heroic efforts of three Westfield State students saved hundreds of others. Daniel L. Moreno, a junior from Northborough; Drew W. Nalewanski, a senior from Easthampton; and Brian Stanley, a junior from Thomaston, Conn., all went from floor to floor alerting others of the fire when the hotel’s alarm system failed.
“What could have been a terrible tragedy was averted — thanks in large part to our own Westfield State College students,” Evan S. Dobelle, college president said. “Although they went off on spring break to have fun, like thousands of other students, they distinguished themselves by coming together in the face of adversity, not only saving themselves, but many others.”
Susan LaMontagne, interim vice president for student affairs, said she is contacting students to offer praise and support. “We are so lucky not to have lost lives or property,” she said. “It’s amazing the way the students worked together and helped each other during this tragedy. I’m very proud of them.”
“This kind of experience can demonstrate how it is important for students and all travelers to be cautious in booking trips to insure that agencies and hotels have the appropriate safety measures in place,” LaMontagne said. “We encourage all students to do travel research and investigate before purchasing travel packages.”
Moreno, who set up the trip, was returning to the hotel with friends after a last night on the town, when they saw the halls filled with smoke. They woke up the other Westfield students, who were staying together on the 4th and 5th floors. Nalewanski and Stanley also had just returned from a night at the clubs. Stanley was in his room when he heard the sound of glass breaking and some screaming from the other tower. The halls were filling up with smoke, so they made their way outside.
Outside the hotel, students called out the college’s name to gather the whole group together. When all were accounted for, Moreno, Nalewanski and Stanley decided to return inside to alert others still asleep in their rooms.
The students said they noticed the smoke was getting thicker in the lobby, no alarms were going off and only a small portion of the hotel population had evacuated. Students said the hotel staff at first did not believe them when they reported the smoke, but then tried to block access to the towers. It appeared that no one was trying to evacuate the sleeping students.
Moreno started from the ground floor, while Nalewanski and Stanley took the stairs to the top floor to work down.
“I got as far as the 6th floor and I couldn’t breathe,” Moreno said. “I started to vomit. I had to turn back, but Drew and Brian went all the way to the 18th floor.”
Stanley, a volunteer firefighter in his hometown, learned from training to protect his lungs by wrapping a wet shirt or towel around his face. So he and Nalewanski covered their faces with wet shirts. They advised the other students they encountered to do the same.
“We went all the way up to the 18th floor, knocking on every door,” Nalewanski said. “Brian would do one side of the hall and I would do the other.”
Students poured out. Christopher Flood, a senior from Framingham, saw the scene from the first floor. “I was down in the reception area when people started rushing out, crying,” he said. “It was a very emotional scene.”
“Drew and Brian were about the last two people I saw leaving the building,” Flood said.
Nalewanski said he tried to pull a fire alarm and nothing happened. There didn’t seem to be any smoke alarms. Stanley said nearly every fire alarm box he passed had been triggered, but there was still no alarm. Both said they saw no hotel staff or other students knocking on doors in the upper floors.
There was also no sign of fire trucks. “Firefighters didn’t arrive until about 40 minutes later,” he said.
When he got back outside, Nalewanski saw a hotel employee lying on the ground apparently having convulsions. The student nearly completed his Red Cross EMT certification at Westfield State, so he knew the man needed oxygen. There were still no EMT units at the scene, so he used a self-contained breathing apparatus air unit from a nearby fire truck to help the man breathe clean air until local emergency medical technicians took over several minutes later.
Stanley also has taken Red Cross EMT training at the college, which he said helped him deal with what he called, “the most surreal experience I’ve every been involved with.”
The students said they were able to return to their rooms about 9 a.m. and had about 15 minutes to gather their belongings. They all made their scheduled flights home that day, which was not the case with many other students.
“Many other students missed their flights or lost their belongings,” Moreno said. “We were very, very lucky.”
The students reported coming back with sore throats and some have gone for medical checkups — a precaution that the college has encouraged.
Meanwhile, parents, who had heard about the fire, were frantically trying to reach their students. “When our plane finally landed, I had eight voice mail messages from my mother,” Moreno said.
“Our parents were awesome,” he said, noting that his fellow students appreciated the support they got from their parents.
John and Barbara Nalewanski said they finally got word from their son, Drew, at the fire scene, but only after some scary time had passed. “We were monitoring the situation pretty closely,” John Nalewanski said. “Reports said kids were waking up to the sound of someone pounding on their doors. And that was probably Drew and his friends.”
An economics and management major, Nalewanski plans to start his own business, but also work as a firefighter — a tradition that runs in the family through four generations.
Nalewanski’s brother David, also scheduled to graduate this year from Westfield State, is a firefighter for the Easthampton Fire Department and his uncle, William Hurley, is deputy chief for the Northampton Fire Department. Nalewanski’s grandfather was also a firefighter.
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