When freshman Christina Vasquez decided to stay the night with friends Tuesday in the Knotts/ Edwards tower of LaFollette Complex, she never expected to be woken up in the early morning hours by screeching fire alarms.
In fact, Vasquez was so unsuspecting that when she heard the alarm, she and her friends ignored it for close to 20 minutes before evacuating. She realized that this time, it wasn't a drill.
By the time Vasquez reached the ground floor of the building, she could smell smoke coming from the study lounge and the lower level of the residence hall, she said.
Vasquez said the reason for her initial skepticism was because of several drills she had been a part of in Brayton/ Clevenger, her own residence hall.
Robert Fey, associate director of public safety, said from January 1, 2008 to now there have been 85 fire alarms in Ball State University's residence halls. Of these, only four alarms were because of a fire.
However, students and Muncie's Fire Department usually respond to these alarms as if they were actual fires.
"In most cases, the fire department is dispatched immediately upon receipt of the alarm," Fey said.
Tony Proudfoot, associate vice president for marketing and communications, said students living in the residence halls are well-informed about the importance of fire safety. On Tuesday, a video about fire safety was sent out to all of Ball State's residence halls. The message: If you hear an alarm, get out.
"Students are trained to respond to fire alarms every time they hear it, and get out as soon as possible," Proudfoot said.
This training makes it much more likely for residents of the halls to become too comfortable with the sound of fire alarms.
David Miller, investigator for the Muncie Fire Department, said a lack of urgency was a problem during the evacuation for many students in LaFollette Complex.
"It's not unusual, especially in this weather, to have people ignore the alarm," Miller said.
To combat this, Miller said, firefighters checked every floor for residents.
"Our protocol is to always check the floors," he said. "It's hard to account for everybody in a mass exiting like that, so we'd rather be safe."
After the fire had subsided, members of the fire department assessed the situation and identified new problems brought by this generation, Miller said. One firefighter pointed out that students sleeping with iPods on could affect awareness of their surroundings.
Regardless of these potential hazards, Miller said the fire was successfully contained and kept a minor incident.
"All things considered, the whole thing went over pretty smoothly," Miller said.
Fire alarmsThere have been 85 fire alarms in BSU residence halls since Jan. 1, 2008. Four of those were because of a fire.
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