Dorm Safety

Know Your Fire Protection Systems

Your residence hall is protected with the following fire protection systems:

The residential sprinkler system installed in your building is designed to prevent a fire from growing large enough to affect general resident safety.
A sprinkler is designed to be activated individually by heat from a fire and will discharge a minimum of 18 gallons of water per minute of operation on the fire.
A sprinkler may be activated when subjected to abuse such as being struck, or if used as a place to hang clothing.
Covering and or interference with a sprinkler head or tampering with sprinkler valves is considered Criminal Tampering and may result in criminal charges being placed against perpetrators, as well as punitive action by the Resident Life Office.
Water from a sprinkler will continue to flow after the fire is extinguished and is shut off by closing a system control valve that is accessible only to authorized persons.
Water flowing in the sprinkler piping and out an open sprinkler head will cause the building fire alarm system to activate, sounding the building fire alarm.
Everyone must evacuate the building when the fire alarm sounds and proceed to the assigned assembly area. No one should re-enter the building until directed to do so by University Police.

A smoke detector is designed to sound the building fire alarm when it senses products of combustion in the air. When the building fire alarm sounds, everyone must exit the building
Smoke detectors are located in individual apartments and in public areas.
Smoke detectors may go into an alarm mode if exposed to steam from showers or smoke from cooking. When showering always have the bathroom exhaust fan turned on to prevent steam from collecting in the room and setting off the smoke detector. This occurs when the bathroom door is opened and steam fills the hallway.
When cooking always turn the stove ventilation fan on and never leave your food on the stove unattended.
Covering and or removing a smoke detector from the ceiling is considered Criminal Tampering and may result in criminal charges being placed against perpetrators as well as punitive action by the Resident Life Office.
Everyone must evacuate the building when the fire alarm sounds and proceed to the assigned assembly area. No one should re-enter the building until directed to do so by University Police.

Portable fire extinguishers provided are dry chemical, water and Carbon Dioxide.
Use of portable fire extinguishers is restricted to persons trained in their operation, is limited to fires in the early stage of development and is secondary to activation of the building fire alarm system.
Any use of a portable fire extinguisher for purposes other then to extinguish a small fire is considered Criminal Tampering and may result in criminal charges being placed against perpetrators as well as punitive action by the Resident Life Office.

Red Fire Alarm Pull Stations are located in common areas and in exit corridors.
A pull station should be activated if you are aware of a fire in the building or have reason to believe that there is a fire in the building.
Pull stations may be activated if bumped or struck and therefore caution should be exercised around them.
Any inappropriate action that causes a pull station to activate the building fire alarm system is considered Criminal Tampering and if the action is an intentional false alarm a charge of falsely reporting an incident may be charged against the perpetrator.