2008 Woodie Awards
Harsh punishments can follow pulling false fire alarms on campus
Sept. 4 incident empties Moody Learning Center.
By Sonya Harvey & Ryan Johnston
Issue date: 9/14/07 Section: News
Originally published: 9/13/07 at 3:32 PM CSTLast update: 9/13/07 at 8:29 PM CST
- Page 1 of 1
| |
|
Anything can happen when people pour out of a building during fire alarm evacuations, but students, faculty and staff evacuated the building in a timely and orderly manner.
"A vocal alarm sounded and we got out," Jan Starnes, professor of counseling and student development, said. "It took just a few minutes for the students to evacuate the building."
The exact reason for the evacuation at the time was not known when 200-300 students, faculty and staff headed for the exits of Moody. As it turns out, according to Derrick Patten, deputy chief of police, the fire was a false alarm.
"Rumors were going around, but no one is certain exactly what happened," Starnes said.
When a fire alarm goes off in any building, a campus police officer and member of the facilities department respond.
David Ortega, facilities superintendent, was off-duty when the incident occurred, but said several things can set off an alarm.
"It could be heat sensors, duct detectors, dust in the system or a pull station could be set off."
The pull stations are the little red boxes used to set off a fire alarm.
If anyone thinks setting off a prank fire alarm is fun, be aware, it is a serious offense.
According to the Web site http://www.txdps.state.tx.us, disruption of a public school or false alarm is a state felony, punishable from six months to two years in jail.
Although the incident occurred with no casualties, it took nearly 30-45 minutes to check all seven floors of Moody and reset the alarms.
When an alarm sounds, remember to head to the nearest exit and avoid using elevators, J.D. Richardson, fire science professor, said.
"People shouldn't ignore an alarm," Richardson said.
"If you're told to evacuate the building because an alarm goes off, it's for a reason."
While waiting for the signal to go back into the building, students seemed to be worried about being counted absent or missing classes altogether, but by 1:15 p.m., students, faculty and staff were allowed to re-enter the building.
This is an open forum for the readers of TheRanger.org. Abusive, inflammatory, slanderous, obscene and libelous language will not be tolerated. Please be considerate of other readers when posting comments. This is not the place for personal attacks. The staff of The Ranger.org reserves the right to deny publication of any posts. The comments posted here do not reflect the opinions of The Ranger staff, San Antonio College or the Alamo Community College District.
Be the first to comment on this story