
Safety Tips for Hotel Guests to Prevent Fire Damage on Chicago’s Magnificent Mile

Sam Simon
November 12, 2015With over 700 Chicago hotels, together housing over 101,000 rooms, the unfortunate odds are that a fire will break out in one or more of those properties at some time. If you’re a hotel manager at one of these lodging properties anywhere within the windy city, including Chicago’s Magnificent Mile, the safety of all your guests, employees, and vendors is your utmost priority. Another concern is the fire damage that can put your property out of commission either temporarily or permanently.
If you’re a Chicago hotel manager or owner, you can quickly turn to ServiceMaster Restoration By Simons for professional
fire damage, smoke damage, and water damage restoration
after the fire fighters have put out the blaze. Our highly trained professionals use the ServiceMaster smoke and fire damage restoration process to return property to its pre-loss condition as quickly and effectively as possible. This professional and effective process encompasses the following steps: emergency pre-cleaning, content cleaning and pack-out, wall cleaning, ceiling cleaning, and deodorization. More restoration services are available upon request.
To prevent having to make an emergency call to both the fire department and ServiceMaster Restoration By Simons, study these fire safety tips, which are geared towards both hotel guests and employees:
- Make a special room request at check-in. Many safety experts recommend staying somewhere between the third and sixth floors.
- Request a map at the front desk or review the one that’s posted on the back of the door. Familiarize yourself with the location of the stairwells and emergency exits and calculate a few potential escape routes.
- Place a flashlight on the nightstand to use in case an emergency exit is required.
- Never, ever smoke in bed. If you do smoke elsewhere in the room, douse your cigarette butt with water before retiring.
- In the event of a fire, leave your suitcase behind. Your belongings are replaceable, but you are not!
In addition to the Magnificent Mile, ServiceMaster Restoration By Simons serves seventeen more Chicago neighborhoods, including Gold Coast, Near North, and River North, with high-quality fire damage, water damage, and smoke damage restoration. We’re available twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week, offering finely-tuned fire damage restoration skills to help you get your hotel, motel, inn, or bed and breakfast up and running and back to full capacity! Our telephone number is 773-376-1110.
Sam Simon
Sam Simon is the Co-Owner and Managing Director of ServiceMaster Restoration By Simons, a certified MBE/WBE disaster restoration and specialty cleaning firm proudly serving Cook, Lake, and DuPage Counties in Illinois. With over 30 years of experience in restoration project management, field operations, and emergency response, Sam plays a vital leadership role in overseeing service execution, technician development, reconstruction, and subcontractor coordination.
He holds the IICRC’s highest technical designation as a Master Fire & Water Restorer, a distinction achieved by fewer than 1% of professionals in the restoration industry. His technical scope includes water and flood damage restoration, fire and smoke recovery, mold remediation, and post-disaster reconstruction across both residential and commercial sectors.
Sam has demonstrated a long-standing commitment to helping communities in crisis. He has participated in large-scale disaster recovery efforts across the U.S., providing boots-on-the-ground leadership during Hurricanes Katrina, Sandy, and Harvey, as well as catastrophic floods, wildfires, and deep freeze events throughout Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Minnesota, Ohio, Texas, and beyond. His dedication to serving distressed families and businesses in the wake of national catastrophes reflects both his personal values and ServiceMaster’s mission of restoring peace of mind.
In 2019, Sam was selected for the HACIA Contractor Training Program, a competitive six-month construction management cohort offered by the Hispanic American Construction Industry Association. The program delivers intensive instruction in blueprint reading, estimating, project management, and construction law—skills that support the company’s continued growth in emergency build-back and general contracting services.
Before co-founding ServiceMaster Restoration By Simons, Sam built a successful creative career under the name Sam Zabadneh, contributing to notable film and television productions including Chicago Fire (2012), Juvies (2007), and Image Union (1978). His media and videography background continues to shape ServiceMaster’s marketing strategy, digital training resources, and brand storytelling.
→ IMDb Profile
Sam is also the co-author of RESTORE: A Complete Guide to Protecting Your Home As Your Most Valuable Asset—a practical guidebook for homeowners navigating the challenges of water, fire, and mold damage.
Under the direction of majority owner and President & CEO Nasutsa Mabwa, and with Sam’s operational leadership, ServiceMaster Restoration By Simons has earned numerous regional and national accolades, including:
Subscribe
Subscribe now for expert tips, rapid-response insights, and restoration guidance delivered straight to your inbox. Whether you’re recovering from fire, water, or mold damage, stay prepared with advice from the trusted pros at ServiceMaster Restoration by Simons.
Restoration and Recovery Tips
Get Help Now
Stop fire, water, and mold damage before it spreads! Call us day or night to restore your home or business—we’ll Get You Back to Normal, FAST!™

