Since the beginning of classes on Aug. 27, 11 fire alarms have gone off in Gray Court, a co-ed upper-class residence hall on campus that houses 294 students, primarily sophomores.
According to the University of Richmond safety protocol available online, there should be only two fire drills per semester.
Patrick Benner, director of residence life and undergraduate student housing, said he was aware the alarms were going off and acknowledged they were disruptive, but he emphasized that none of the alarms had been under false circumstances.
“The fire alarms are all being triggered by students taking really long and hot showers that occurred over the holiday (Labor Day) weekend," Benner stated in an email. "The steam was setting off our newer/updated systems...our Facilities staff has evaluated the placement of all the detectors and has checked/adjusted each one that was alerting as well.
"The facilities staff … did find that the exhaust system was not functioning properly that weekend and that too has been remedied."
The extreme sensitivity of the alarm system was apparently at fault. Each student living in Gray was alerted about this issue, and the resident assistants discussed it in hall meetings at the start of the year.
Lauren Mandt, a sophomore living in Gray, commented on this issue and the effect it has had on her on Sept. 13.
“I stayed in last night because I was very sick and wanted to get a good night’s sleep, but the fire alarm went off at 2:30 a.m. and we were waiting outside until 2:50 a.m.,” Mandt said. “I feel like it is a fire hazard in itself, since no one will evacuate when there actually is a real fire if this continues.”
Resident assistants and members of the University Police Department said during a scheduled fire drill that the alarm issue was fixed, but another alarm occurred later the same night they made the announcement.
Each time an alarm has gone off, one to two police cars and a full fire truck have arrived at the residence hall, and they spend an average of 20 to 30 minutes assessing the situation before the students are allowed to re-enter the building, Mandt said.
Another sophomore in Gray, Josie Anderson, also said that the "alarms had been disruptive and caused sleep deprivation. This could hinder the academic performance of those living in Gray," Anderson said.
Various residents of Gray have complained about the disruption these fire alarms have caused and said they hoped to have this issue completely resolved as soon as possible.
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Gray has also had various power outages throughout the month of October and was placed on a temporary generator on Oct. 4 until 5 p.m. on Oct 5. Benner sent an email the same day to all residents of Gray to provide more information on this issue.
Although there were renovations to Gray over the summer and there were similar issues in Gray during this time last year, Benner said that the renovations had had no effect on the fire alarm or power issues and that last year's issues had been separate.
The Collegian has contacted URPD for information regarding this issue, but they were not available to comment.
Contact news writer Tatum Polite at tatum.polite@richmond.edu.
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