The Evanston Fire Department responded to over 200 fire alarms at Northwestern last year, said Deputy Chief of Operations William Muno. Out of those hundreds of alarms, Muno said that he does not recall there ever being a real fire.
Muno said the majority of alarms are set off by cooking in the dorms, whether that be from smoke detectors going off, or from students pulling the alarm.
“Typically what happens in the dorms is somebody will smell (food burning),” Muno said. “If the fire alarm hasn’t activated yet, someone might pull the fire alarm. Or they’ll do it intentionally just for fun.”
Muno said the frequent fire alarms are not unique to NU, and the Fire Department follows the same protocols when responding to alarms throughout Evanston.
Muno said the department sends one fire engine, one fire truck and a battalion chief in response to alarms at NU due to the school’s proximity to all of Evanston.
“Because we are so close to all the properties in Evanston with five firehouses, we are able to get there very quickly,” Muno said. “If it ended up being a bonafide fire, we’ll be able to get resources very quickly to help mitigate the situation.”
Weinberg senior Aryaman Chawla, who is a senior residential assistant, said last year, Jones Hall had false fire alarms four or five times one week. Chawla said that by the end of the week, residents stopped leaving the building during an alarm.
Weinberg junior and a residential assistant Dave Arthur said that many residents do not listen to disaster alarms, as he saw students not following protocol during a tornado warning last year.
“Last year, there was a tornado warning and nobody was following protocol in terms of getting to the basement,” Arthur said. “I think with a lot of disaster alarms, there are definitely quite a few people who don’t take it seriously.”
When residents do not follow proper procedures, Chawla said, it makes it harder for the fire department to do their job. Arthur said that while residential assistants do not investigate alarms, they do have to file a report and report students who chose to not leave the building.
Muno said that his staff always treats alarms seriously. While they do not frequently respond to active fires, Muno said that the firefighters train daily and are prepared to face a variety of emergencies.
One of the fire department’s most frequent responses is to the Technological Institute, Muno said, where they visit routinely, often for minor hazardous materials issues.
At the beginning of Muno’s career, when dorms only had smoke detectors, there would typically be one or two fires in the dorms a year. However, NU has worked to improve fire safety through new fire alarm cycle systems, which include sprinkler systems, said Muno.
“It’s a huge undertaking for the University,” Muno said. “But … the most important critical component is that they don’t want any students or faculty to ever be injured or die in a fire that could have been prevented.”
SESP junior and residential assistant Noelle Robinson says most of her job when it comes to fire safety is making sure residents do not have prohibited items that could be fire hazards, as most students grew up doing fire drills and know the protocols.
However, Chawla said he thinks residential assistants should take more precautions when it comes to emergencies.
“We need (to do) a better job of educating residents,” Chawla said.
Email: [email protected]
X: @MarleySSmith
Related Stories:
— Families practice fire prevention during Evanston Fire Department event
— City Council tables Rebuild Ryan Field approval, introduces 2024 budget