False fire alarms annoy residents
Rhyan Shirley
Issue date: 9/22/08 Section: News
When the fire alarm sounded in Smith Hall on a recent Tuesday morning, residents were asked to abandon their preparations for early classes and exit the building.
Many left their rooms to go downstairs to see what had happened, while others lingered in their rooms and in the hallways to see if this was just another false alarm.
Evacuation is mandatory when a fire alarm occurs, and students who do not leave the building are charged a $50 fine.
According to many girls on campus, the sound of a ringing fire alarm is a familiar one.
"I've only been here for one, but it was a really bad one and I just hear about them [occurring] all the time," said Kathryn Howell, freshman music education major.
Mashae Brown, sophomore nursing major, said, "It's funny until it happens to you."
On average, two or more false alarms occur each year.
The cause, however, is not due to the lack of maintenance of the fire alarms themselves.
"By law they have to be checked semi-annually," John Corley, director of the physical plant, said. "We come down in August and January to check their efficiency. As far as updating the stuff, we spend about $62,000 a year to maintain our fire alarms."
Corley said the system itself is not the problem. "Hairspray may set them off," he said. "Also, if students take them out to smoke, the action of taking out the batteries may set them off as well. I have an efficiency report. It was delivered to me a couple weeks ago from August. You know, I don't think there's anything in Smith. That means that they went through and checked everything, checked all the smoke detectors and all that. Everything seemed to work," he said.
The constant occurrence of these false alarms have made many girls question the authenticity of every alarm that goes off.
"It's ridiculous, and if it's not my room making the fire alarm problem I shouldn't have to go stand out there whenever it's raining," said Donnelle' Mitchell, freshman early childhood education major.
To some it may seem logical to remain in the dormitory rather than wasting time evacuating for a false alarm, but Corley disagrees.
"I know it's frustrating, but any time that fire alarm goes off you need to get up and leave because you never know when it's real," Corley said.
To limit false alarms, residents of Smith and Newberry are cautioned to keep all irons, excessive overspray from hairspray, blow dryers and anything else that may set the fire alarms off at a safe distance from the room's smoke detector.
According to Corley, the problem is not with the alarm.
The only problem is the sensitivity of the detectors.
Many left their rooms to go downstairs to see what had happened, while others lingered in their rooms and in the hallways to see if this was just another false alarm.
Evacuation is mandatory when a fire alarm occurs, and students who do not leave the building are charged a $50 fine.
According to many girls on campus, the sound of a ringing fire alarm is a familiar one.
"I've only been here for one, but it was a really bad one and I just hear about them [occurring] all the time," said Kathryn Howell, freshman music education major.
Mashae Brown, sophomore nursing major, said, "It's funny until it happens to you."
On average, two or more false alarms occur each year.
The cause, however, is not due to the lack of maintenance of the fire alarms themselves.
"By law they have to be checked semi-annually," John Corley, director of the physical plant, said. "We come down in August and January to check their efficiency. As far as updating the stuff, we spend about $62,000 a year to maintain our fire alarms."
Corley said the system itself is not the problem. "Hairspray may set them off," he said. "Also, if students take them out to smoke, the action of taking out the batteries may set them off as well. I have an efficiency report. It was delivered to me a couple weeks ago from August. You know, I don't think there's anything in Smith. That means that they went through and checked everything, checked all the smoke detectors and all that. Everything seemed to work," he said.
The constant occurrence of these false alarms have made many girls question the authenticity of every alarm that goes off.
"It's ridiculous, and if it's not my room making the fire alarm problem I shouldn't have to go stand out there whenever it's raining," said Donnelle' Mitchell, freshman early childhood education major.
To some it may seem logical to remain in the dormitory rather than wasting time evacuating for a false alarm, but Corley disagrees.
"I know it's frustrating, but any time that fire alarm goes off you need to get up and leave because you never know when it's real," Corley said.
To limit false alarms, residents of Smith and Newberry are cautioned to keep all irons, excessive overspray from hairspray, blow dryers and anything else that may set the fire alarms off at a safe distance from the room's smoke detector.
According to Corley, the problem is not with the alarm.
The only problem is the sensitivity of the detectors.
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