Fire drills are held in both the dorms and apartments twice a year at the beginning of the fall and spring semester. They are planned and unannounced to the students.
Fire Drill Notes
- Log time and sound alarm
- Use intercom (if you have one) and calmly say, “The fire alarms are sounding, please evacuate immediately." Do not say “This is a fire drill," students will not evacuate.
- Call Campus Police and let them know a fire drill is taking place.
- When R.A. hears alarm sound, he or she should immediately go to Hall Director’s office, pounding on doors as they run. After getting clipboard and/or master key, R.A.s go to every door as quickly as possible, opening it and instructing people to evacuate. They can tell the students to grab their room key and nothing else unless it is a robe. The housing staff’s responsibility is to alert everyone to get out of the building. Hopefully, they already know where to meet when they get outside. The housing staff should not be the first ones out the door, but coming in behind those evacuating with clipboards in hand to take roll.
- Ask your dorm reps or residents you trust to take the initiative to get people out of the building. Obviously, if the fire was bearing down on you, get out. But if all is clear, every door should be opened.
- The goal is not to see how fast we can evacuate. The goal is to make sure the residents are aware of what to do in case of a fire. We need to be as thorough as can be to get the residents and housing staff to safety.
- Your time is to be logged from the moment the alarm sounds to the point everyone is accounted for. For those of you who have people with no curfew - it is especially important that just because you called their name for roll and they didn’t answer, we cannot assume they are sitting safe and sound at IHOP somewhere. We need to know the building is empty. When your staff and helpers come out of the door and tell you “Every room is clear," you need to be able to know it is true.
- Alarm sounds until building is verified empty for sophomore areas or everyone is accounted for in freshmen areas where roll can be taken. Do not let Campus Police shut the alarms off until roll has been taken and the building is clear.
- Keep genders separate. University House should meet at complete opposite ends. Some may not be dressed appropriately.
- Do not let your residents and housing staff congregate in the driveways. In the case of a real fire, fire trucks would be racing in. Teach them correctly NOW while it’s just a drill.
- Before you lay your head down on the pillow, please email a report stating if all the equipment was working, what procedure should be changed, what problems arose, who refused to evacuate and how long it took to evacuate and take roll or make sure building was clear.
Housing Fire Safety Systems
| Dorm/Apt | System | Monitored | Sprinkler |
| Fails | Cox | Yes | Yes |
| Warlick | Simplex | No | No |
| Wilson East | Simplex | No | No |
| Wilson West | Simplex | No | No |
| Tinius East | Cox | Yes | Yes |
| Tinius West | Simplex | No | No |
| Reba Davisson | Simplex | No | No |
| Gunn-Henderson E&W | Simplex | No | No |
| University House N&S | Gamewell | Yes | Yes |
| Phase 2,3,4 | No | No | |
| Phase 5 | Cox | Yes | Yes |
| Phase 6 | Cox | Yes | Yes |
Fire Log
Beginning October 1, 2010, Campus Police are required to keep a Fire Log that is open for public inspection. It will be updated within two days of each report being turned in. It can be accessed by visiting our office Monday through Friday from 8:00 a.m. - 4:30 p.m., or by calling (405) 425-5500.
