Fire safety & Rose

In the past week, there have been two significant incidents requiring the evacuation of two buildings due to the activation of the fire alarm. In both events, there seemed to be either a lack of knowledge or a lack of respect for fire safety.

First, one week ago, the Moench Hall fire alarm activated at about 9:20am when belts in one of the air handlers burned due to an internal problem in the handlers themselves, according to Mike Howard, the Manager of Environmental Health and Safety here at Rose. “The fire alarm system worked precisely as it is designed to by shutting down the air handler, closing the duct dampers, and activating the fire alarm” he said.

However, perhaps the most notable part of the e-mail sent out by him was that “the silencing of the alarm system does not mean it is safe to re-enter the building … Please wait until you are instructed to re-enter by Public Safety, Facilities or Emergency personnel.” When asked why the occupants were not re-evacuated, he said, “During this particular situation, we determined that at the time we silenced the alarms … we had the situation under control and there was no further threat or danger. So, the need to re-evacuate was not necessary at [that] time.”

It is my conjecture, that if the situation had been more serious and dangerous, that people re-entering the building would have only made the situation more complicated, dangerous, and chaotic, and that the people who decided to re-enter on their own accord were taking a large risk.

The large risk is solely the fault of those choosing to go back inside. Not knowing the policy (while caution is a good reason to wait anyway) is not a valid excuse considering all of Rose’s emergency procedures are posted online and said information was advertised to all of campus.

The second event that arose recently was this past Wednesday evening in the Apartment Style Residence Hall when the fire alarm was activated for a second night in a row, the previous night being for a fire drill. Unofficially, the cause of the activation has been reported to be a resident’s inability to properly cook fish.

In this situation, most of the occupants of the building remained outside even after the alarm had been silenced. However, those who had been waiting in line for dinner in Subway decided that their desire to save their place in line outweighed the threat of possible danger.

Perhaps many students believe common sense is the only tool they need (although it is not guaranteed that 100% of Rose students possess this quality), however, this is most definitely a case where knowledge is power, or at least power to save your and others’ lives. Mr. Howard expects to hold another set of meetings, similar to those held in fall quarter, to present the valuable knowledge in safety that Rose has to offer.