When a smoke alarm went off in Emma Silverman’s ’06 dorm early last Tuesday morning, she figured it was a fire drill like any other. Silverman and the 29 other students living at 156 High Street left the building around 2 a.m., unaware that they would not be allowed to return for the next seven hours.

Students, many of whom were dressed in pajamas and bathrobes, waited outside the dorm until representatives from Public Safety and the Office of Residential Life explained what had happened. They learned that a boiler malfunction had caused the smoke that triggered the alarm. In addition to smoke, the boiler was also emitting carbon monoxide (CO).

Due to the danger posed by the presence of the CO, the residents of 156 High – mostly sophomores, some juniors, and one senior – were asked by ResLife to find somewhere else to sleep for the night. They were also offered accommodations at the Bayit. Students were not able to return to 156 High until 9 a.m.

Some students were pleased with the way the University handled their housing problem.

“The ResLife Area Coordinator in charge worked with Public Safety and got us blankets,” said Mark Liew ’06, one of the two Residential Advisors for 156 High. ‘They made sure that everyone was as comfortable as possible in the Bayit. The people in the Bayit were great, too.“

Other students found the night frustrating.

”It was a little disorganized,“ Silverman said. ”We had to find friends to stay with, or else we’d end up sleeping on a strange couch. As far as I know, the only reason public safety came… is that a girl who lived on the bottom floor smelled smoke.“

The student who made the initial call, Mojgan Khodadoust ’06, was asleep when the smoke detector in her room went off. After a quick investigation, Khodadoust discovered smoke in the hall outside her first-floor room, and called Public Safety.

”It smelled like gaseous burning,“ Khodadoust said. ”[Public Safety] didn’t know where it was coming from until they opened up the basement door and realized that the furnace or boiler was emitting…smoke and making noises. As soon as they opened the door, you could smell it a mile away.“

Jeff Miller, the Associate Director of Student Life Facilities, said that the problems at 156 High on Feb. 23 were the result of ”a combustion problem in the furnace itself… a bad mixture of fuel and air which created smoke in the furnace room, which drifted up the stairwell.“

”Any time you smell smoke like that, there is carbon monoxide,“ Miller said.

Though the smell and smoke at 156 High were the result of the boiler’s internal problems, CO gas alone is odorless and colorless. The poisonous gas is the result of incomplete burning of carbon-containing fuels. Common sources include chimneys, fireplaces, wood stoves, and gasoline-powered equipment like water heaters, stoves, and cars.

Public Safety, Physical Plant, ResLife, and the Middletown Fire Department all responded to the problem at 156 High. By the time Physical Plant’s on-call night mechanic arrived at the building, the Fire Department had already shut down the malfunctioning boiler, Miller said. The mechanic then secured everything in the furnace room, making sure that no more smoke and CO would be emitted.

Carbon monoxide is dangerous because it inhibits the blood’s ability to carry oxygen. Mild exposure can cause flu-like symptoms in healthy people; medium exposure can induce drowsiness, dizziness, and vomiting; and extreme exposure can lead to unconsciousness, brain damage, and death.

Director of Public Safety Maryann Wiggin said that slightly elevated levels of CO were detected in the building that night. Public Safety and Physical Plant opened all of the windows and doors in the building, and after a few hours the dorm was safe once more. An independent contractor repaired the boiler.

”The building was tested for the levels [of carbon monoxide] before anyone was allowed back in, and the furnace was also fixed and tested,“ Wiggin said.

Students said that they were concerned that had Khodadoust not called public safety, their safety would have been endangered by the presence of CO in their dorm.

There are no CO detectors in 156 High, according to Miller, and they are not required by law. But, he added, Student Life Facilities is currently looking into installing them.

”When something goes wrong, there can always be danger,“ he said. ”But the good side of this is that the [smoke] alarm system was functioning properly. The alarm notified students that there was a problem, and they were able to leave the building safely.“

The smoke alarm system was also tested before the building re-opened, Miller said. He pointed out that all of this maintenance took place between the hours of 2:30 and 6:30 in the morning.

”It’s always good when students are paying attention to their surroundings and notifying Public Safety whenever they feel something is out of the norm, because the quicker we can react to something, the better it is for everyone, even if it’s just a false alarm,“ Miller said.

”We had someone who did the right thing: she called Public Safety,“ Wiggin said.

Because the boiler malfunctioned so early in the morning, WesWings, which is also located in 156 High, was essentially unaffected by the problem. All exposed food was discarded, and all surfaces and food trays in the restaurant were wiped clean. Inspectors tested for CO levels that morning, and found the restaurant to be clean long before it opened for lunch, said Bryann Blair, the head chef and General Manager of WesWings.