By: Jenna Floyd
November 3, 2009
On Oct. 14, three out of the six residence halls on campus failed their fire drill. Among the three were West Hall, Dinkmeyer Hall, and Niebuhr Hall.
Caroline Krause, assistant directed of Campus Security, said it was ironic because those three residence halls never fail.
“Some of the buildings did not pass on the initial drill due to length of evacuation. It took students longer than the three minutes or less required evacuation time,” Associate Dean of Students and Director of Residence Life Christine Smith said in an email interview.
Krause indicated that everyone in West Hall had evacuated the building in 2:17, but that one person exited at 3:20, causing a failed fire drill.
Fortunately, the three aforementioned dormitories passed the second fire drill on Oct. 20 with “flying colors,” according to Krause. She said they were really proud of Stanger and Schick Hall, which both passed the fire drill on Oct. 14.
Area coordinator for Schick Hall, Susie Regan, said that a large majority of people evacuate within one minute to 1:30, although can be one or two people who do not take it seriously.
“I think it’s just important that every time the fire alarm goes off, [to] treat it as real,” Regan said.
Edward Gricius, area coordinator for West Hall, agreed. He mentioned that when the fire alarm does go off, some students may think that if they cannot tell that there is a fire, there is not one.
“There’s a general feeling of safety,” he said, adding that this may give students a false sense of security.
Fire drills are completed in the fall and the spring. Regan said that anytime after the fire drill has occurred, that the alarm is the real drill.
According to Krause, there are around 1,000 deaths a year in dormitories due to fires. She experienced a fire in her residence hall when she was in college, which is why she takes fire safety seriously.
“There’s nothing in your room that you can’t replace,” Krause said. “Your life is much more precious than your TV, your Xbox…”
Krause said that iPods and TVs might make it difficult for students to hear the fire alarms, but guaranteed that all of the fire alarms in the buildings, even the older ones, operate on legal decibel levels.
Gricius said that the alarms can be “painful” in West.
“There’s no concern of people not hearing it,” he said, smiling.
He also mentioned that there are flashers that go off at the same time as the alarms, and that West Hall is equipped with “areas of refuge” in the stairwells. These areas are reinforced with fire retardant doors and speaker systems so that students can contact the main lobby.
Gricius said that if a student did cause the fire, they should tell where the problem occurred and what happened so that the fire department can get to the source easier.
Krause said that students should always know two exits out of any building, and should count the number of doors to the exits in their dormitories.
“It’s Russian Roulette,” she said. “[The] one time you don’t get out; [it’s the real thing].”