Solutions found for false fire alarm issue
In light of an on-going problem of false alarms in USCA housing buildings, there has finally been a solution.
Students have often complained about the constant irritation of the fire alarms going off in Pacer Commons without provocation. Many students even spoke of considering moving out of the housing building as the alarm would wake them from their sleep and be a constant, unnecessary annoyance.
Stefany Harden, student, said that the fire alarms would go off every other day. Other residents who wish to be unnamed had mentioned their belief that only the alarms on the third and fourth floors were being worked on.
It brings to question the cause of these frequent and non-fire related alarms. According to Bre Nevils, the Assistant Director of University Housing, [the housing team] sent out an email to the entire building regarding fire alarms systems. The company owners of Precision Fire Alarm Solutions said they are going in the entire building and replacing all alarms.
The alarm company started their work from the top floor of Pacer Commons. They pulled out every smoke head, rewired the entire system, and put up new smoke heads throughout the entire building.
The new system has, so far, shown improvements on the occurrences of false fire detections.
Another resident named Samantha Vagoya said that before the new installations, the alarms would go off three times a day and especially at night. They would go off for very hot showers, hair dryers and sometimes for no reason at all. RM’s (residential mentors) would turn them off after a few seconds.
Nevils explained that a lot of it was due to the sensitivity of the smoke heads. “We wanted to have something that was at least sensitive to actual fires rather than steam from showers and steam from hair dryers. We log each fire alarm, and it was almost daily. We finished March 1st before the break and it has decreased significantly. Our biggest things were the sprays, like the glade sprays that were high in the room and it would hit the [smoke] heads, or if you are straightening or blow-drying your hair.”
Other factors can still set off the fire alarms, so it is imperative to follow the regulation codes in the handbook. Avoid using candles, incense and sprays or styling tools near the smoke head. Nevils encourages that if you are cooking, to remember to safely do so. Be sure it’s at an appropriate temperature.
