New fire alarm system to improve campus safety

Pitt students can now claim a small, but important victory, in Pitt’s ongoing rivalry with… Pitt students can now claim a small, but important victory, in Pitt’s ongoing rivalry with Penn State.

The University recently completed a self-motivated fire suppression project, while PSU still hopes to meet its 2010 deadline for a similar plan.

Pitt’s five-year plan equipped each University-owned residence hall – including Greek housing on the upper campus – with up-to-date sprinkler and alarm systems that aim to protect the 6,300 students who reside in campus housing.

The new precautions are meant to eliminate worry in the minds of students and their parents who may remember events as recent as the couch fire in Lothrop Hall last spring.

Pitt is one of few universities that can boast of such an accomplishment – most likely because sprinklers are not required by law in residence halls that were constructed before 1990.

Tysen Kendig, a spokesman for Penn State, explained to PSU’s student newspaper that their installation of new sprinkler systems is taking longer because they have more sprinklers to install.

“Obviously, it’s a much larger project, and it would be unfair to compare it to the timetables of other universities,” he said in a Sept. 8 Daily Collegian article.

According to the Center for Campus Fire Safety, a lack of automatic sprinklers and functional smoke alarms is a preventable factor of student deaths across the country.

With that in mind, Pitt’s Executive Vice Chancellor, Jerome Cochran, explained the importance of providing students with safe living quarters.

“This is all part of the University’s commitment to a safe and enjoyable educational experience for our students,” Cochran said.

In addition to the installation of fire-detection devices – automatic sprinklers and alarms that directly link to response personnel – new regulations regarding fire safety are being instituted.

These regulations will also be explained to resident advisors and students in clearer, more precise detail than in past years, with the hope of removing confusion from residence halls during drills and actual emergencies.

Associate Vice Chancellor for Business Eli Shorak said that over the years, some misunderstandings about fire prevention systems have circulated, resulting in a revised and specific set of instructions.

If an alarm sounds on the fifth floor of Litchfield Tower A, for instance, only floors four, five and six would be required to evacuate.

“While the fire suppression systems are important, equally important are the educational and training sessions we provide our students,” Cochran said. “It’s important for residents to know evacuation procedures and routes, and how the safety devices in their residences work.”

Cochran also praised local fire fighters.

“Combining our training programs and systems with the fact that, as an urban University, we enjoy the protection of one of the finest professional fire companies, we believe that Pitt has a well protected campus, in terms of fire safety,” he said.

Pitt and PSU are not the only universities taking a pro-active stance in regards to fire safety.

The University of Michigan is working on a similar prevention plan.

Declan Lugin, Michigan’s captain of public safety, said that they’re shooting to complete their program by 2010.