By the numbers:
30 fire alarms
have caused residence halls to evacuate this academic year.
0 alarms
were the result of fires needing to be extinguished.
14 alarms
were fire drills required by Indiana law.
Pull quotes:
“I feel like most of the time when it goes off, it’s not because I’m in danger. It’s because someone did something stupid, and they had to clear the whole building out. It just distracts you.” – Allison Bennett, a freshman exercise science major
• Fire alarms have evacuated residence halls 30 times this academic year.
• No alarms have been caused by fires needing to be extinguished.
• Students question efficacy of fire drills and false alarms.
Fire alarms have caused students to evacuate campus residence halls 30 times since the beginning of the 2013-14 academic year.
None of them were a result of a fire that needed to be extinguished.
In two weeks, Kinghorn Hall had three false fire alarms this semester.
About 14 of the 30 alarms were fire drills, which assistant director of housing and residence life Jeff Shoup said are required by law. The university holds a drill in each residence hall once per semester.
“Most students have grown up having fire drills from the time they were in kindergarten or first grade,” Shoup said. “To do that in a residence hall may not have been a natural kind of thought process, but for me it is a natural progression throughout your life.”
Allison Bennett, a freshman exercise science major, said she thinks the drills and false alarms are too numerous.
“I think that since they have them in every room, any time someone burns something or leaves on a straightener they go off without them needing to,” Bennett said.
In the past few weeks, another problem has been the cold. Sprinkler systems outside Park Hall and Kinghorn Hall can freeze in low temperatures, causing the entire system to activate and set off the alarm.
Shoup said Ball State is trying to fix the problem by installing heaters and adding more installation.
Zach Bretz, a sophomore visual communications major, said residents were annoyed by the most recent Park fire alarm due to the weather.
“It’s a good thing [fire alarms] happen so that we know what to do in case of an actual fire,” Bretz said. “But I think that you should only need one practice or false fire alarm a semester.”
Timothy Kurby, a university safety specialist, said he doesn’t think the alarms go off too often, considering the number of buildings on campus, Campus includes nine residence complexes.
The LaFollette Complex has had five fire alarms this academic year, not including drills. Studebaker Hall East and Kinghorn Hall both have had three.
After the third alarm sounded in Kinghorn this year, Residence Hall Director Dillon Wyatt sent out an email thanking students for being patient and reminding them to continue exiting the building when an alarm sounds.
Bennett said sometimes when the alarms go off, she considers not leaving because it is most likely false.
“I feel like most of the time when it goes off, it’s not because I’m in danger,” she said. “It’s because someone did something stupid, and they had to clear the whole building out. It just distracts you.”
Shoup said it was rare for students to be documented or punished for ignoring alarms.
Ball State attorney John Connor said if a student were to stay in their residence hall during a real fire and sustain injuries, there is no specific statute or case to determine whether the student or university would be held liable.
“Assuming the university is taking all proper precautions and the students just ignore [the alarm], I think the university would have a very strong case that the student assumed potential risk, and acted in a negligent manner, thereby contributing to their own injuries,” Connor said.
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