While pre-frosh on University tours might ogle the high-definition TV in Fauver’s lounge and their parents might admire the dorm’s well-kept rooms, few seem to notice that the fire extinguisher cubbies that hide imbedded in each hall are empty, depopulated in recent years. The lack, though, may not be the egregious safety hazard it first appears to be.
For the last decade, the University has been phasing out hand-held fire extinguishers, and now functions on a totally automated fire safety system. The only exceptions are in on-campus kitchens, which are equipped with both a sprinkler system and fire extinguishers. According to Joyce Topshe, vice president for facilities, a desire to go above and beyond the minimal requirements of the fire code has driven the University’s campus-wide alarm upgrade during the last decade.
Outside events, too, may have spurred the school’s transition to the new system.
On the night of Jan. 19, 2000, a fire broke out in the third floor common room of a freshman dormitory at New Jersey’s Seton Hall University. Three students died and over 50 were injured, largely because the dorm was one of two on campus without a sprinkler system.
Little more than a week later, the Hartford Courant published a story investigating the lack of modern sprinkler systems at universities across the state of Connecticut. At the time, less than half of the student housing buildings at Wesleyan had sprinkler systems installed or in the works.
Eight years later, only woodframe houses with fewer than five beds do not have the updated installations. They are, however, required to have fire extinguishers and a fire safety manual in place by the front door.
Local firefighters encourage the move towards alarm-triggered sprinklers.
“The sprinkler system is definitely an improvement over the old one,” said Lieutenant Bill Drachenberg of the Middletown Fire Department. “This way, you can’t have kids messing around and unloading an extinguisher so that when you need it, there is no chemical left inside.”
Many students appear to be unaware of the updated precautions.
“I thought mine was the only hall with an empty fire extinguisher cubby,” said Gerj Rosenberg ’12. “I was actually really worried about that.”
The empty cubbies may be a sign of beneficial safety measures rather than troubling oversights, though. According to the University’s website, most buildings on campus have a variety of alarm systems that are linked straight to the fire department. In case of an emergency, no one will have to rely on untrained staff or students attempting to operate a potentially life-saving device.
Generally, there has been a positive consensus regarding the systematic updates. The U.S. Fire Administration has not released statistical data on dormitory fires since 2001, but in that year reported that 56 percent of injuries from dorm fires occurred while the victim was trying to suppress the blaze. The report concluded by urging universities to install sprinkler systems in their dormitories.
“The automated sprinkler system is the gold standard,” Drachenberg said. “There is no risk for human error.”
Leave a Reply