Pitt’s fire safety center gets hot

Chris Miller woke up to a popping sound on May 20. The sound came from his bathroom and was… Chris Miller woke up to a popping sound on May 20. The sound came from his bathroom and was loud enough to be heard over the noise of his fan and through his closed door.

Roused from his sleep, Miller said he headed downstairs to the bathroom, which seemed to house the source of the noise, only to find the melted remains of a radio, framed by a wall of flames.

What Miller faced that morning fuels the nightmares of college students and parents. According to the National Fire Protection Agency, more than 1,700 fires occur each year in residences and Greek housing. Since 2000, 66 students across the country have died in fires, according to the Center for Campus Fire Safety.

Fortunately for Pitt students, there is not a history of such tragedy on their campus. There have been no fire-related deaths in University residence halls in recent years, according to Jay Frerotte, Pitt’s director of environmental health and safety. He added that there has not been a fire-related injury in the last two years, and he was unable to recall the last injury to a Pitt student.

“Incidents have gone down across the board, from fires to false alarms,” Frerotte said.

He credits the decrease mostly to preventative measures, including training, equipment and regulations. Resident directors and assistants are trained each year in various fire safety programs, including basic use of a fire extinguisher.

“We train them to use [a fire extinguisher] in an incipient stage fire, such as one in a small trash can,” he said.

According to Frerotte, 56 percent of all fire deaths across the country occurred when the victim was trying to put out a fire using a fire extinguisher.

“Let the trained professionals handle the fire,” he advised students. “Pull the fire alarm if you discover something.”

Resident directors and assistants are also responsible for checking that everyone from their floors made it outside during a drill or evacuation. If people are unaccounted for, Frerotte said, firemen are instructed to search more thoroughly in that area.

“I haven’t heard about anyone not evacuating,” he said when asked if he had heard of students not being able to hear fire alarms. “We test each alarm for an audible sound level. If anyone is having that problem, we can assist with [not being able to hear alarms].”

Residence Life employees are not ultimately responsible for the exit of students. While they are permitted to assist students out of the residence halls, Frerotte said there is a misconception that RAs are supposed to knock on everyone’s door to make sure they evacuate of the building.

“It’s not someone’s job to get you out,” he said. “We don’t expect the RAs and RDs to run up and down a smoke-filled corridor, dragging people out of their rooms. Just because you’re an RA doesn’t mean you need to put your life in danger.”

He added that students who deliberately fail to evacuate during either an exercise or an actual fire can be cited.

Despite University regulations that prohibit smoking and candle or incense use in residence halls, Frerotte said that most campus fires are a result of smoking and candle use.

“Anything with an open flame, don’t use it in the dorm,” he said. “Probably over half of the fires at universities nationwide are caused by smoking. Student housing does have restrictions.”

With all of the clothing, books and other loose items in a residence hall room, a single spark from a cigarette, a candle or malfunctioning electrical equipment can result in disaster. For that reason, students are prohibited from burning candles and incense in their room, smoking in most residence halls, bringing halogen lamps to campus, and having open electrical elements, such as open space heaters and hot plates.

Since January 2003, there have been 32 fires on campus, including the fire intentionally set in Clapp Hall L9 Auditorium last spring. During 2004, there have been no fires in campus housing.

According to Frerotte, of the 11 fires reported during 2004, seven were exterior fires, occurring in trash cans or other areas with accumulated debris. One incident was a roof fire caused by construction activity, and another started in a teaching facility when someone left a plastic lid on an unattended stove. Yesterday brought the first campus fire of the fall semester, when a minor fire was found on the roof of Salk Hall during construction. The most prominent fire of 2004 was the March fire that kept Clapp L9 closed for approximately one week.

False alarms are still a problem on Pitt’s campus. By June 2004, there had already been 26 incidents of unfounded fire alarms for 2004, putting the University on pace for 52 incidents this year.

“Some years, that number is up to 90,” Frerotte said. “We’re doing quite good this year. We’ve never had a big problem with that since I’ve been here.”

He added that some of the alarms could be unfounded and caused by dust in the alarms, someone smelling smoke from something like burnt popcorn, or other incidents where someone may have pulled the alarm without malice.

When a fire alarm goes off in one of the residence halls, Pitt police are automatically notified. Within minutes, the city’s fire department is also alerted and is on its way within three to five minutes.

Students who maliciously pull false fire alarms can be subject to severe penalties from the city for violation of city ordinances and state laws. The University attempts to prosecute most offenders internally under the University judicial system.

The department of environmental health and safety has various programs to ensure that students living on campus know what to do in case of a fire. At least once a semester, fire evacuation exercises are held. Every aspect of the evacuation is reviewed, Frerotte said, and if officials feel there is severe room for improvement, a second drill is held that semester. He added that all drills have gone well since he joined the University staff in 2002.

When students move into their residence halls, they receive pamphlets on fire safety in the buildings and maps of evacuation routes. Frerotte said they want to make sure students know what procedures to follow if they come upon a fire.

During the first week of October, the department also sponsors a fire safety day for students. Trained professionals are on hand to demonstrate how to use a fire extinguisher properly and to make various pamphlets and information on fire safety available. One unusual experience offered to students is a walk through a smoke tunnel. A corridor set up with high levels of smoke in it, the tunnel is designed to let students know what to expect if they open their doors and walk into a smoke-filled hall.

The smoke tunnel gives students the same experience Chris Miller and his roommates experienced that May morning. All four of them escaped safely, with the roommates suffering minimal smoke inhalation and Miller suffering only slight burns on his hands from trying to extinguish the fire himself with water. In retrospect, Miller reportedly realized he should not have tried to put out the fire himself.

Miller could not be reached for comment.