Teter Quad evacuated for fire drill

On Thursday evening residents of Teter Quad huddled outside, anxiously waiting to return to their dorm rooms.\nQuestions like, “Is this a real fire?” and “What is going on?” circulated through the crowd as, for the first time this semester, students in IU residence halls participated in a routine fire drill practice.\nResidential Programs and Services practices fire safety by having these drills throughout the semesters to prepare students for a real fire. \nHowever, some students don’t take these drills seriously, despite the emphasis placed on them.\n“I didn’t expect the fire drill,” Teter-Rabb resident and freshman Jenna Fritsch said. “No one wanted to leave. Only two or three people on my floor left.” \nFritsch said she doesn’t usually believe there is a real fire when the alarm goes off because she hasn’t experienced a real fire.\nBoth the Bloomington and IU Police departments were present at the drill, in addition to the fire department. \nResidence manager Cedric Harris said that, in situations where a real fire is present, resident assistants will be under more pressure because some RAs may not be present on their floors at that time. \nHowever, RPS’ goal remains the same: to provide a safe environment for students and to let the students know that even if there may not be a real fire, practice is necessary in case there is one.\nHarris said that during the drill he saw a girl in her slippers sauntering down the hallway. He remembered telling her that if she heard the sirens going off, she needed to get outside.\nShe remarked, “Is it real?” but still didn’t take the drill seriously, he said.\n“It is important for the staff to know what it is like,” Harris said of teaching how to act in a fire drill. “For the students too, it is important for them to know so they can take it seriously.” \nTypically Harris said students complain. But this year, he didn’t hear anything unusual, and the group was cooperative.\n“It has always gone smooth,” Harris said of the drills. \nFreshman Frank Cummings was outside when the fire drill occurred. He said he saw the ambulance and police cars and had no idea what was going on, but thought he smelled smoke because he didn’t suspect a drill. \n“A lot of people need to practice the drills,” he said. “I was going to be a fireman so I know what is like from that perspective.”\nSophomore Matt Etheridge, an RA in Teter, said during his training, he was told about a fire a few years ago in Briscoe during the early morning that took people there by surprise. He said that, when people hear fire alarms, they tend to think they aren’t real. \n“It is very important to practice,” he said. “It affects not only me but all the residences, and the incident that happened in Briscoe is just reason enough why it is important to practice.”