Residence halls have seen a reduction in fire alarm triggers with fewer than 10 this semester, according to Bill Stevenson, University fire marshal.
Stevenson said residence halls had fewer than about 400 alarm triggers last year and that less than 50 were pulled without cause.
“We have a zero tolerance policy [for fake fire alarm triggers],” Stevenson said. “If the person is caught, we give them a campus appearance ticket. People can also be physically arrested and taken to the Wake County jail, but we like to keep it on campus… If we cannot find the person, the whole floor or the whole building does a fire safety class.”
Fire alarms are oftentimes triggered for reasons other than fire, according to Stevenson.
Liz Patton, a freshman in First Year College, said the alarm went off at 8:05 a.m. Tuesday while she was sleeping in her room in Bowen Residence Hall.
“The alarm goes off once every two or three weeks,” Patton said. “I live on the ninth floor so it takes forever to take the stairs down… but we got back in at 8:18 this morning so it wasn’t too long.”
Patton said the alarm went off because “a person was taking a long shower.”
Stevenson said the fire alarms are sensitive not only to smoke but also to steam and water vapor. Along with showers, cooking causes many fire alarms to go off.
“Cooking has a high number [of activating fire alarms],” Stevenson said. “People need to pay attention… cooking is the number-one culprit.”
Zach Tart, a freshman in First Year College, said he has experienced four fire alarms in Tucker Residence Hall this year and said “they are a nuisance.”
“We once had [a fire alarm go off] at 3 a.m.” Tart said. “The cops pretty much just yelled at us to get out of bed.”
Andrew Potter, a sophomore in environmental technology, had a similar experience last year when he lived in Tucker, a hotspot for fire alarm triggers last year.
“My worst experience was at 3 a.m.,” Potter said. “They made us all get out of our rooms for 45 minutes and we never found out why. Fire marshals checked all the rooms so we couldn’t stay in.”
Potter said he experienced six fire alerts and that there were probably more because he went home on the weekends and was in class often.
Stevenson said that compared to other universities, N.C. State has a low rate of fake alert triggers and that he appreciates the maturity of the students who stay in residence halls.
“We praise students for not doing what other places do,” Stevenson said. “I brag about it [at conventions]. I credit the housing staff, and students are good and not that many students abuse it here.”
Most students understand the seriousness of the alarms, he said.
“The majority of students know it’s only for emergencies,” he said. “Fire alarms are not a toy. No where on the [trigger] does it say Mattel.”