Fire alarms a major pain in the ass

It hits at the most inconvenient hours. Perhaps you were taking a nice relaxing nap, or cramming for the test that's in two hours, or even enjoying a refreshing shower, when that dreaded noise hits your ear. Yep, it's the fire alarm again.

In certain buildings on Georgia Tech's campus, the fire alarms go off regularly and often at inconvenient times. They could be caused by drills, particles such as perfume and baby powder hitting the sensors, or, most commonly, by people pulling the alarms. According to Dan Morrison, Associate Director of Housing, planned fire drills that occur are always scheduled at reasonable times. However, more frequently the alarms are caused by people pulling them, especially at weird hours. "People should have more respect for each other and not pull alarms, because it inconveniences the whole building," said sophomore Elizabeth Young, a resident of Woodruff South.

The official number of unplanned alarms this semester in all residential building is about 12 to 15. Compared to other schools, where the number of occurrences is much higher, false alarms at Georgia Tech are not "overly problematic, even though we want none," said Morrison.

In the Woodruff residence halls, several false alarms have occurred this year, but a culprit has not yet been found. To deter students from pulling alarms, covers were installed over the alarms this year so "people will think twice about pulling them. Setting off false alarms is a federal offense; it's serious stuff," warned Morrison.

Those who do get caught can face criminal charges, removal from the building, or suspension from school. The covers also should cut down on the number of incidences where people accidentally set them off by hitting or bumping into them.

Many students have become annoyed with the high number of false alarms. "I think most people can appreciate a quarterly testing of their fire alarms to make sure they're functioning properly, but four alarms the night before a major test is just more of a hassle than I want to deal with," said sophomore Doug Jones, who lived in Caldwell last year.

"Everyone was very angry and upset because it [a false alarm] happened during the week, twice in one night. I wasn't too happy with it because I had a test at 9:30 that morning." junior Jonathan Kent added, who lives in Armstrong this year.

When an alarm goes off, campus police are notified, who then determine if fire trucks are needed. This is to ensure that the time and energy of the fire department is not wasted on false alarms. The alarm system must then be reset, by the electricians during the day and the campus police at night. This may not always be done instantaneously due to reasons such as different building requiring different keys to turn off the alarms. "They're too slow in getting here to turn the alarm off, especially late at night and it's freezing cold outside," said Young.

One consequence of so many false alarms is that often students stop leaving their rooms, which puts them in danger if a real fire did occur. "The frequency of the fire alarm going off is both a nuisance and a danger...a nuisance because you have to leave the building, sometimes at night, and a danger because after so many times in one night, you just aren't going to leave. And what if that time it really happens to be a fire?" asked sophomore Brody Weber, who lives in Woodruff South.

"Being in Freshmen experience and having a Peer Leader, I think most people left the dorms during a fire alarm. So far this year in Woodruff, I only leave the dorm if I'm awake. I think there are times I've stayed inside because I was in bed. It is especially annoying and irritating when I'm working on schoolwork, or something important. I also notice a lot of people staying inside," agreed sophomore Jon Woodruff.

Not leaving rooms during an alarm can results in fines and probation, but so far housing has not been adamant in enforcing this policy. However, if this becomes a regular problem, the department will take measures to get students to follow guidelines. According to Morrison, who has been in a building during a fire before, "It's easy for people to get disoriented [during a fire]. We don't want that to occur. Alarms should be taken seriously," said Morrison.

The housing department is open to any suggestion on how to improve the problem of false alarms.