False fire alarms plague Campus View

Though threatening to most people, the piercing sound of the fire alarm already sounds familiar for everyone who has lived in Campus View Apartments for a while. Since January, as many as eight fire alarms at the complex have been reported to the IU Police Department, said Capt. Jerry Minger. \nIn the same period, IUPD has not received a single fire call from Eigenmann Hall and University West Apartments, only one call from University East Apartments and two from Tulip Tree Apartments. \nOn April 17, Campus View, 800 N. Union St., was emptied again. Afterward, the alarm appeared to be false: Somebody had activated a pull station.\n“In South Korea, where I am from, I have never experienced a fire alarm in my apartment,” said graduate student Wonhyung Kim, who was waiting in front of the building until he was allowed to get in. “But here it sometimes happens four times a month.”\n“In the two months that I have lived here, there have been five alarms while I was home,” graduate student Sylvie van Nieuwerburgh said. “Some of them were very inappropriate. You just don’t feel like rushing downstairs from the ninth floor when you are in the shower or when you are just about to have dinner.”\nThe high number of false alarms means residents are less likely to evacuate. \n“We know by experience that many people don’t leave the building anymore if there is a fire alarm,” said housing manager Steve Rolfe.\nA real fire would mean more residents would be in danger. The number of fire alarms ringing when no fires are present is a concern of the Campus View staff, and it has been a discussion item in resident and staff meetings lately.\nBut, Rolfe said, most of the about 20 fire alarms in the last 18 months were legitimate. In most cases, burned food appeared to be the cause. Only twice did this lead to a fire – the other times there was just a lot of smoke. \nA new smoke detection system was installed in Campus View two years ago, when the renovation of the building was completed, Rolfe said. If smoke is detected by at least two detectors, the alarm bells automatically set off.\nRolfe said the alarm system is not too sensitive.\n“No, this new system is actually very good,” Rolfe said, “because in some way smoke is worse than fire. More people die of smoke than are burnt.”\nStill, measures are being taken to reduce the number of fire alarms.\n“We have to make people aware of the need to be more careful with their stove,” Rolfe said. “New brochures about kitchen safety are being developed now. Hopefully, they help... residents realize they can’t leave their food unattended.”