Second time in a week that DD had to evacuate her dorm!

[daughtersrus]

DD called me from the stairwell of her dorm about a half hour ago. The fire alarms were going off again and she was on her way down from the 24th floor and stuck in a traffic jam.

She's out now but it's kind of scary. The first fire was last Friday in the room in the basement with a water heater. She doesn't know if this was a drill or if there's really a fire but they're not letting anyone back in the building. She has class in 30 minutes and is freaking out a bit. Not about the alarm but because she can't get back in to get her laptop and books. Did I mention that she's a good student?!

 

[LilyWDW]

DD called me from the stairwell of her dorm about a half hour ago. The fire alarms were going off again and she was on her way down from the 24th floor and stuck in a traffic jam.

She's out now but it's kind of scary. The first fire was last Friday in the room in the basement with a water heater. She doesn't know if this was a drill or if there's really a fire but they're not letting anyone back in the building. She has class in 30 minutes and is freaking out a bit. Not about the alarm but because she can't get back in to get her laptop and books. Did I mention that she's a good student?!

Fire alarms and dorms go hand in hand. They happen way too often because of people burning things, pulling the fire alarms, and who knows what else. The problem is, if the alarm sounds, they have to evac the building and the fire department must check the whole building before anyone is allowed in.

Sadly, she'll just have to get used to it. At least she wasn't in the shower.

 

[dakcp2001]

We had fires a lot in my 22 floor dorm. It was almost always caused by some idiots smoking in their room & tossing the butts in the trash can, fires were usually in the trash room. Our dorm was cement structure so the fires never spread, but those sprinklers do a LOT of damage. One semester I ende dup keeping all of my stuff up on blocks and pulled away from the walls cuz I got sick of replacing my computer. Flood damage is awful, does she have renters insurance?

 

[*BTMRR*]

Fire alarms and dorms go hand in hand. They happen way too often because of people burning things, pulling the fire alarms, and who knows what else. The problem is, if the alarm sounds, they have to evac the building and the fire department must check the whole building before anyone is allowed in.

Sadly, she'll just have to get used to it. At least she wasn't in the shower.

Ah, how well I remember dorm days! One week the fire alarms went off three nights in a row (middle of the night--pranksters!). It happened all the time. If it wasn't a prankster or something with the boiler, it would be microwave popcorn gone bad.

I feel for your DD! It's annoying!

 

[SAHDad]

Fire alarms and dorms go hand in hand. They happen way too often because of people burning things, pulling the fire alarms, and who knows what else. The problem is, if the alarm sounds, they have to evac the building and the fire department must check the whole building before anyone is allowed in.

Sadly, she'll just have to get used to it. At least she wasn't in the shower.

Yep. Years ago, my dorm was part of a group known (affectionately or otherwise) as "The Six Pack." An alarm a week was pretty much the norm, and getting two or three over the course of a weekend was not outside the realm of possibility.

(FWIW, one night when I was the night clerk on duty, I got a phone call because someone had tossed a flaming couch out of one of the third floor lounges.)

 

[bonoriffic]

Girl dorms are even worse as they are constantly putting scarfs and other items over lamps, which quickly burn and start fires. Boys tend to pull alarms late at night on the way home from drinking.

My first day of college we were told when the fire alarm goes off to have appropriate clothes for your girlfriend handy. It was basically implied that the fire alarm will go off, and half naked women standing outside at 2am were common.

 

[NotUrsula]

One of the dorms I lived in was the only women's dorm in that section of campus, and it had a big hill across the street where they had us go when we evac'd. In those days male visitors had to leave by curfew. There were always guys who left late and set off the alarms on the fire doors when they did, and there were always OTHER guys who would hang out of their windows and enjoy the show when we all trooped out and climbed that hill half-dressed.

 

[DawnCt1]

My first thought was does she go to Central Ct. State University. They had an actual dorm fire that started in the utility room and went through the roof. It happened to be in DS#2's old dorm. I guess its more common than I thought.

 

[pigletgirl]

Oooh, thats nothing new. Welcome to dorm life!

 

[hopemax]

Ah, how well I remember dorm days! One week the fire alarms went off three nights in a row (middle of the night--pranksters!). It happened all the time. If it wasn't a prankster or something with the boiler, it would be microwave popcorn gone bad.

I feel for your DD! It's annoying!

We also had a rash of "put a CD in the microwave and turn it on" fire alarms.

 

[daughter_of_amid_chaos]

I kept my shoes and a sweatshirt next to my bed for this reason every single night.
My dorm was across from a fraternity house so the sweatshirt was a necessity.

 

[bonoriffic]

The evacuations will become so common, you may choose not to leave. My junior year a dorm had a hostage situation. The dorm was evacuated. A friend was in the middle of an online game and "doing quite well" so he decided not to leave. He had no idea it was a real evacuation until the swat team busted in with machine guns at his head as they yelled orders at him he couldn't process fast enough. After his identity was confirmed he was shown the way out. He did not have time to change his underwear, as he admitted later to wetting that day.

 

[wendy46001]

Oooh, thats nothing new. Welcome to dorm life!

Ah the Dorm
we used to have fire alarm wed....3am every wed -lasted all semester
they never did find the kid (or group of kids) that pulled that off

 

[ThisIsJason]

Its always stinks when the alarm goes off, especially that high up. Yikes.

When I lived in a dorm (wasn't big, maybe 200 students) the first two weeks of classes each semester we had 3 fire drills each week (morning, afternoon, evening), all on different days. Just timing how long it took to evac.

When I transfered schools and lived in a on campus apartment (all single studios), we never had fire drills, because someone would always set off the smoke alarm in their room, they would open the door to the hall (which we were told not to do) and the whole building went off, fire departments were called, the works. But if you didn't leave your room the city fined the school $500, which they passed onto you. Couple of people got fined when I was there.

 

[bonoriffic]

The evacuations will become so common, you may choose not to leave. My junior year a dorm had a hostage situation. The dorm was evacuated. A friend was in the middle of an online game and "doing quite well" so he decided not to leave. He had no idea it was a real evacuation until the swat team busted in with machine guns at his head as they yelled orders at him he couldn't process fast enough. After his identity was confirmed he was shown the way out. He did not have time to change his underwear, as he admitted later to wetting that day.

 

[My sister's princess]

Being an RA when the fire alarms go off is even more fun!
Where I went to school we had to open and clear every room before the fire department got there.

One night the alarm went off and smoke was pouring out one of the halls. We were in the stairwells screaming to get people out of the buildings because everyone is so used to them going off that they take their time.
We didn't know while we were evacuating that it was a smoke bomb. Probably one of the scariest nights of my life, as we were not able to get through the smoke to clear one end of the hallway.

 

[mickeysgal]

DS joined one of those quirky Facebook groups..."join if you hate the fire alarm at xxx dorm". It's that common. Usually someone's messing around, or microwaved the popcorn too long, etc.

 

[Geoff_M]

Fire alarms and dorms go hand in hand.

Yep, get used to it... or move off campus. We had alarm pulls all the time in my dorm. However, one night the alarm went off after midnight on a weekend and my roommate and I opted to ignore it as yet another drunken prank. Then we heard the door to the hose box outside our room being opened, followed by the hose being pulled out. At that point we said "Hmmm, maybe we ought to check this out!" It was a drunken prank, all right, but it was someone that decided to put paper towels on a sofa in our lounge and then set them afire.

Our daughter was a "1st Year" last year in college and her roommate set off the smoke alarm by putting a bagel in their microwave for 45 and then dashing off to the shower.... unfortunately, she set it for 45 minutes, not seconds!!!

 

[daughtersrus]

I guess this is probably why the only heating items allowed in all of the dorms are curling irons/straighteners and blow dryers. You're not allowed to have a microwave, hot plate, coffee pots...

DD walked up 15 floors and was able to catch an elevator to go up the last 8. She joked that she got her work out done for the day.


Someone mentioned renter insurance. I never really thought about that. I'll have to call State Farm in the morning and see if they offer such a policy for dorms or if her stuff would be covered under our home owners policy.

 

[mickeysgal]

I guess this is probably why the only heating items allowed in all of the dorms are curling irons/straighteners and blow dryers. You're not allowed to have a microwave, hot plate, coffee pots...

DD walked up 15 floors and was able to catch an elevator to go up the last 8. She joked that she got her work out done for the day.


Someone mentioned renter insurance. I never really thought about that. I'll have to call State Farm in the morning and see if they offer such a policy for dorms or if her stuff would be covered under our home owners policy.

Really, no microwaves?

My Chi straightener does not have an automatic shut off. I bought DD another straightener to take with that does have one. That's the thing I worry about - the straightener. Not the microwave.

DD can't have a coffee pot or hot plate either. Microwaves, yes. Go figure.