Within the past nine months, university residence halls have experienced false fire alarms, which officials say put students at risk and cost the Madison Fire Department valuable resources.
Although University Housing Director Paul Evans said false alarms do not occur frequently and do not cost UW-Madison money directly, they do hinder residents' safety.
The concern is that when you have false fire alarms, you desensitize students to the alarm,"" Evans said, adding students have begun to disregard them. ""When there is an actual fire, they won't leave thinking it's another false alarm.""
Those living in residence halls said they do not take the alarms seriously because the alarms are usually false.
""I have started to ignore the alarms because I feel like they will just be false,"" Reema Kavoti, a UW-Madison Sellery Hall resident said. ""[Right now] it is cold out, so I don't want to go outside for no reason.""
Sophomore Shannon Ervin, a former Witte Hall resident, said the fire alarm went off several times last year.
""After constantly being evacuated in the middle of the night people just start staying in,"" Ervin said. ""If there was a real fire, people won't leave which definitely has an impact on their safety.""
Lori Wirth, a public information officer for the Madison Fire Department, said false fire alarms in residence halls use resources that are needed in actual emergencies.
""We have to be careful how we are spending our resources throughout the city,"" she said. ""If we are sending [teams] to false calls, which involves an engine as well as a full rescue crew, these are resources that can't respond to other emergencies in the city.""
According to Wirth, anytime firefighters leave the station they are at risk by simply driving on the road.
""We don't want people leaving to respond to an emergency if it isn't real,"" she said.
Mike Kinderman, assistant director for University Housing, said Housing does not record the actual frequency of false fire alarms, but they are working to reduce the incidences. He said most false fire alarms occur because students trigger the alarms.
""In high traffic areas we put covers on the [fire] alarms that actually have their own alarm, so when somebody lifts the box the alarm goes off draws attention, this usually prevents them from pulling it,"" Evans said.
Housing officials said they enforce strict punishment for those students who pull alarms help decrease the incidents.
The dean of students' office has particularly stressed fire prevention within the last year after three incidents at off-campus residences, including a fatal house fire, one at an apartment complex and another at the Sigma Phi Epsilon fraternity house. Students are encouraged to test fire alarms monthly and evacuate at the sound of an alarm.
