Home > Student Handbook > Residence Hall Guide > Fire & Fire Drill Procedures
Fire & Fire Drill Procedures
If there is a fire in the residence halls, pull the nearest fire pull box and notify your Resident Assistant, the Residence Hall Director, or the office at once.
During the year, there will be periodic fire drills in the residence hall conducted by University Police. These drills are often unannounced so you should assume that there is a fire whenever you hear the alarm. When a fire alarm sounds, all residents must immediately and completely evacuate the residence hall, and dress appropriately for current outdoor weather conditions.
You are responsible for knowing the proper fire drill procedure including the proper dress, preparation of your room, exit route, and assembly area.
If you are not in your room when the alarm goes off, proceed to the nearest exit and go to the area outside the building assigned to you for roll call. If you are in your room, please adhere to the following rules:
- Open the blinds and leave lights on in the room.
- Close windows if possible.
- Close your room door.
- Wake roommate(s).
- Proceed quickly and quietly to the nearest exit.
- Wait outside the fire exit, away from the building, for further instruction.
- Rooms are checked for evacuation by Residence Life Staff and University Police.
Kennedy Hall Fire Alarm Policy:
Use of cook stoves in Kennedy Hall is a privilege, not a right. If the fire alarm is set off in a suite more than once during the academic year, regardless of the reason, the power to the cook stove in that suite will be shut off for the remainder of the semester, or for a one-month period.
Additionally, if the oven, stove or burners are discovered to be unacceptably dirty or if there is evidence that the smoke detector has been covered or tampered with, the power to the stove will also be shut off immediately.
The purpose of this policy is to reduce the number of fire alarm activations in the building and to prevent potentially dangerous situations.
Please remember:
- When using the stove, never leave it unattended.
- Always keep the oven, burners and stove-top clean.
- To reduce smoke and steam, use lower temperature settings and utilize lids for pots and pans.
- Know the location of the fire extinguisher and know how to use it.
If you set off the alarm in your suite by accident (i.e. cooking) and there is no fire, all occupants of the suite must evacuate the suite and travel down to the first floor lobby, to wait for University Police. If you know there is a fire within your suite, evacuate the suite, pull the nearest fire alarm pull station to sound a general alarm, indicated by flashing strobes within the corridor and common areas, and evaluate the building. If your suite is the only suite in which the fire alarm is sounding, University police will investigate the alarm upon their arrival. If no fire is found by University Police, they will reset the system and let the occupants back into their suite. At all times if the fire alarms sounds and you evacuate your suite and find the building in general alarm you must evacuate the building.