Fire Safety and Dorm Polocies

Fire Safety and Noise Policy in the Residence Halls “The Ann Arbor Fire Department responded to the call at about 10:40 p.m., but by that time the fire had already been contained by the hall’s sprinkler system, officials said. No one was injured” (Calero, 2008). Here we see a fire related incident which took place at a residence hall in Michigan. Something as simple as a small electric fan could lead to large, costly damage. This incident relates to me because I made the decision to have a candle in my dorm room. An unlit candle to most would seem extremely harmless; however, there are many ways that it could put the people around it in danger. One way that a candle could cause a large problem would be if someone were to light it and have the smoke be caught by the smoke detector. Even if the owner did not light the candle, a roommate or friend that comes in the room while the owner is gone could easily light it. Furthermore, when a candle is lit and then in turn burned out smoke is released into the air. The smoke detectors installed in dorm rooms instantly trigger a sprinkler system which floods the room with water when smoke or fire is detected. When a room is flooded with water it affects the surrounding rooms as well. Rooms nearby will most likely have water damage as well which will definitely create a lot of unhappy residents. Not only will residents have to suffer from water damage in their rooms but they will also have to deal with temporary relocation. Students will most likely have to be moved into another dorm hall till the damage can be fixed. Unfortunately, no clean-up crew can replace textbooks, precious pictures or sentiments that could have been damaged from the flood of water or the fire. This is why residence halls have such a strict policy with fire related objects. Another way that candles can be of serious harm to those who surround it is through neglect. Say a resident decided to light a candle and then left it

Cited: Calero, Trevor. "Six Students Displaced after Markley Hall Fire." The Michigan Daily. Students at University of Michigan, 21 Oct. 2008. Web. 2 June 2014. . Fisher, Robin G. "After the Fire | Part One: Burned." The Star-Ledger News. New Jersey On- Line LLC, 17 Sept. 2000. Web. 2 June 2014. .