Staff Editorial | Heeding fire alarms essential for student safety

When a fire alarm rings, the Residential Life Web site advises: “Walk rapidly to the nearest exit. Do not run. Avoid panic and exit in a calm, orderly fashion.”

Perhaps panic upon hearing a fire alarm is the wrong presumption to make. Fire alarms are common on campus, so common that some students choose not to evacuate when they hear one go off. While blaring alarms and flashing lights usually cue individuals to become panicky about an impending dangerous situation, fire alarms in residential houses on campus have become just another sound, almost as common as loud footsteps in the hall.

Recent events have shown that alarms are more than mere nuisances. The damaging fire in Lathrop House earlier this semester should be more than satisfactory evidence to show that fires are an actual threat on campus, and students ought to heed alarms.

There are areas the College can improve in order to further urge students to take fire alarms seriously, and they should do so in order to ensure the safety of the College community. One place to start would be with addressing how audible fire alarms are in different locations on campus. Currently, for example, fire alarms are barely audible in some parts of Main Building. It is especially hard to hear the alarm in some suites where the bedrooms are far away from the main corridors. Also, the Jewett House fire alarm is louder than other residential houses’, and other houses’ fire alarms sound different from one another. Standardizing the ring of fire alarms in each residential space on campus (including senior housing) would help students quickly associate the sound with the threat of a fire.

Ensuring that students actually evacuate their rooms when a fire alarm sounds may prove difficult. According to the Fire Safety section of the 2006-2007 College Regulations, "No person may disregard a fire alarm signal or refuse to evacuate a building when a fire alarm is activated." (12.03, deanofthecollege.vassar.edu). If a student is found in a residence during a fire alarm, he or she will be asked to attend a Student Conduct Meeting, where the student is asked to meet with a House Advisor or another member of the Residential Life staff to discuss behavior. This is a common consequence for many infractions, and one that should not be relaxed, which is why it is unfortunate that no one at the College or Fire Department is actively checking to see if students are staying in their rooms during alarms. This would require extensive work and would be a time-consuming task to go door-to-door, and also raises questions about residents’ rights to privacy in their rooms. But without some system of identifying and holding a student accountable when he or she fails to meet evacuation expectations, students will likely continue to ignore alarms, and their neighbors may start to as well. Right now, some students choose not to evacuate because they see no need (most likely attributable to both the high number of fire alarms and absence of any evacuation supervision), thereby putting their own safety at risk.

One cause of desensitization to fire alarms stems from students triggering false fire alarms. There are already clear penalties for causing false alarms to sound. According to the Residential Life Web site, “Criminal charges will be filed by the College against individuals who purposefully activate fire alarms without just cause. In addition, Vassar students will face an automatic fine of $100 and be subject to eviction from the residence program and/or suspension from the College. Falsely reporting fires represents a danger to the college community and is a violation of college regulations and New York State law. Violators of the fire regulations may be brought before the College Regulations Panel for disciplinary action” (residentiallife.vassar.edu/safety.html).

Of course, the fire safety situation would also be improved if alarms were not set off when there is no fire. Students who set off fire alarms needlessly are also endangering members of the Arlington community. When a fire alarm sounds on campus, the fire department responds as well—and if there is no fire, the fire trucks are obviously in a location where they are not needed, while another actual emergency may be unfolding elsewhere in Arlington.

Fire safety at the College is a serious matter, and students should regard fire alarms as a cue to promptly exit buildings—not as simply a moment of interrupted sleep. While not all students are desensitized to fire alarms, the fact that even a few students do not evacuate upon hearing a fire alarm is a problem. No matter how small, any sign of students disregarding fire safety is a cause for alarm.

The Staff Editorial represents at least a two-thirds majority of the Editorial Board.