By Natasha Zeng WEB BLURB: Estimates of fires on college campuses range from 3,350 to 4,220 yearly since 2003 in the United States. Five fire alarms went off in Hardy hall in the last year and a half, and three of them were cooking related. Even just microwaving Easy Mac can be dangerous, especially inside HU dorm kitchens. It was during January term. Junior Anna O’Dell, resident assistant of Roush hall and Mallory Jones, resident director of Roush hall, were in the middle of a conversation until they both heard the fire alarm go off. “I didn’t have my shoes on,” said O’Dell. “And I didn’t know what was going on. But I ran back to the floor and evaluate the building. ” The smoke came from their dorm kitchen. A student was cooking chicken on the stove. The frying pan got really hot and it triggered the detector. Everybody was on the run. “There were only five or six people in the kitchen, ” O’Dell recalled. “We all went outside, and I ended up helping move someone’s car, because it was parked in the fire lane. ” When the alarm goes off, everyone needs to exit the building. Residents have to stand in a place that’s not going to be in the way of the fire department coming through. “So for instance, they should not stand at the street because that would block the way,” Jones explained. “Typically, the campus side is the best side for people to stand by. ” A fire alarm went off every semester in every dorm on campus. In Hardy hall, it went off five times last year and twice this year. Three of them were cooking related. According to National Fire Protection Association, the number of reported fires in the dormitory occupancy group have ranged from 3,350 to 4,220. Between 2007 to 2011, cooking equipment was involved in 84% of the reported dormitory fires. Besides fried chicken, Easy Mac, popcorn, French fries and Ramen noodles are also causing lots of safety issues in HU dorm kitchens. #EASYMACNOWATER: Shaffer posted a group picture on Instagram after the first fire alarm went off in Hardy hall last fall. (Photo provided.) Danielle Shaffer, Hardy hall resident director, said that, on more than one occasion, a student has forgotten to add water to their instant Mac&Cheese. “She put it into the microwave, started the microwave and as you can imagine, the noodles started burning,” Shaffer said about one of the Mac&Cheese fiascoes. “It was unbelievable how much smoke that tiny Easy Mac caused,” Shaffer laughed. “I mean it was completely down the entire hallway. I had to plug my nose. It was rough! The fire department had to bring in some fans and open up the windows to air it out. ” This happened fall semester 2012. The fire alarm went off twice that day. A student from Wright hall was making french fries for his friends in Hardy basement. He cut the potatoes and tried deep frying them. It created a lot of smoke, and there was no fan down there to move the smoke around. The fire department had to come back again. As a resident director, Shaffer admitted it was quite embarrassing. “No one loves a fire alarm,” Shaffer said. “Because it requires them to leave whatever they are doing and go else where. You are not allowed to be back in the buildings. If you need your computer, you are out of luck. You can’t do homework. It is very inconvenient. So students don’t like it.” “It feels humorous when this kind of thing happens — to forget to put water in your Easy Mac,” Shaffer stated. After this incident happened, Shaffer took a picture and posted it on Instagram. Several people commented on it. “I can’t find you. Did you hide? Also, you are forgiven,” Shaffer wrote. “LOL. Definitely hiding,” The female resident who caused the fire replied. ALARM: The annunciator panel, which tells the fire fighters about the floor plan of the building , is in the main lobby of Hardy hall. The company Simplex does repairs for the panel. (Photo by Natasha Zeng.) In 2007 to 2011, U.S. fire departments responded to an estimated average of 3,810 structure fires in dormitories, fraternities, sororities, and barracks. These fires caused an annual average of two civilian deaths, 30 civilian fire injuries, and $9.4 million in direct property damage.
According to Tim Alberton, chief of the Huntington Fire Department, there are approximately 10 to 20 fire incidents that have taken place at Huntington University yearly. “The university doesn’t have to pay the costs, ”Alberton said. Huntington taxpayers do. It is included in the property and local taxes, and each fire incident on campus averages about 2,000 dollars, Alberton shared. Alberton also mentioned that with the system that Huntington University has, firefighters don’t have to search every floor. It usually takes about ten minutes to locate the problem. “If you ever look any of the buildings, they all have a panel,” said Alberton. “It’s like a picture that shows where is burning and we always check that. It will tell us which floor to go to, and we go to that floor and check it and evaluate what the situation is. Then, after we’ve done that, we verify safe or no more danger and then we let everybody get back in. ” At HU, the most common cause for fire alarm is popcorn, Alberton said. “We had several popcorn incidents,” he said. “People just put the popcorn bag in for too long. Their microwave at home says it takes three minutes to microwave a bag of a popcorn, so they come to the university and hit three minutes, and it should only be two minutes. Then it just keep burning until it smokes.” He advised that if the microwave has a popcorn button, always use it. A fire happened with Ramen noodles in Roush hall in the winter of 2012. A student came to visit a dorm friend and was microwaving noodles. “They didn’t know what was going on with the Ramen noodles in the microwave until it flamed,” said junior Olivia Treu, a resident assistant at Roush hall. “They ran and took it outside, throwing it in snow.” Jesse Brown, associate dean of student development, said that the school is upgrading the stoves. This year, Roush hall has finished updating all of their stoves. They put new stoves in hardy basement and in the Wright basement and kitchens. “Typically what happened is that students are cooking something in the microwave or the oven,” Brown said. “They started cooking it and walked away. Sometimes it cooked too long, or they didn’t add enough water. I don’t think they mean to do it. I think they feel really embarrassed when they come back and the smoke detectors have been sent off and the fire department comes. I think they get embarrassed about that.” HU purchased a monitoring service that’s tied into the phone system. When the alarm trips, it’s tied into two phone lines –- a backup line, in case the first one fails — immediately it contacts the fire department. As soon as the fire department is notified, it calls the Maintenance person on call, and if that person is not immediately contacted then they work through a list of additional phone numbers. Nevertheless, not all buildings on campus are monitored and updated. For example, there is no monitoring service in Forester village. “It’s not monitored and someone would have to call the fire department or police, ” said Jerry Gressley, director of physical plant and maintenance. A few summers ago, there was a serious fire in a Forester village apartment. A female resident received minor burns. She had left hot oil on the stove and fell asleep. It began smoking and set off the smoke alarm, which woke her up. She grabbed the pan and put it in the sink and turned the water on. But it splashed because of the combination of water and hot oil. It burned the window, left marks on the ceiling and the female resident had to go to the hospital. “We are working on a proposal to add monitoring services in all the apartments,” Greesley said. “It’s been on our radar, and we try to get it budgeted each summer. It’s a pretty expensive item to do because there are 33 apartments and everything has to be hard-wired, phone lines have to be put in place, as well as panels. It’s not as simple as residence halls.” “For whatever reason, it’s never been budgeted or put in,” Greesley pointed out. The January fire alarm in Roush hall ended with lots of smoke but no real damage. “I think she doesn’t want to cook chicken ever again,” O’Dell concluded.
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