Academy Updates Regulations, Begins Dormitory Fire Drills

The first of three fire drills scheduled for the academic year have been conducted at nearly every Exeter dorm during the past two weeks. For the first time in several years, dorm faculty have not been notified when fire drills are scheduled to take place, so that the school can comply closely to National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) regulations.Director of Campus Safety Services Jeffrey Nelson said, “We work to stay current with changes in regulation and their interpretation. Moreover, we work closely with the Exeter Fire Department, which is the local authority regarding NFPA regulations, [to determine] things such as the frequency of drills, how drills are conducted, and sound levels for alarms. The changes we have made are in keeping with such changes and to help make our community safe.”The purpose of fire drills is to ensure that all community members are able to quickly and safely evacuate academy buildings in case of a fire or other emergency. Nelson said, “Fire drills are also an opportunity to test the life safety measures built into the fire alarm systems such as strobe lights and speakers, emergency lighting, sound levels, fire doors, and so forth.”While campus safety works closely with the Exeter Fire Department, the drills usually do not involve the fire department. Nelson said, “We provide documentation of our drills to the fire department on an annual basis.”Exonians are generally understanding of the need for the fire drills. Prep Serena Cho said, “Fire drills can be annoying at times, but I think it’s necessary for our safety. And obviously, it has to be between 10 p.m. to 7 a.m. to ensure that everyone participates. So I don’t really have a complaint about fire drills.”Fellow prep Melissa Lu agreed saying, “It’s a good practice and it’s definitely necessary. The time is perfect for practice. They need to make sure we can get out of the building at any time even in the middle of the night. They accomplished that with the times of the fire drills. Nothing to change for me.”Senior Pat Sukham shared similar sentiments. He said, “The fire drills are never pleasing, but necessary. In addition, they need times when everyone is in the dorm, which happens to be at the night or early in the morning. So, while hearing fire alarms at 6 a.m. in the morning does not excite me, I understand that the school is doing this in the interest of the students.”He went on to say that students are expected to be outside as soon as possible, which typically takes two to four minutes. Students are permitted to return back inside as soon as dorm faculty performs role calls to make sure that everyone is present outside.If a student sleeps through, the dorm failed and so another fire drill has to be scheduled. Upper Mason Pok said, “Last year, during Ewald’s fire alarms, many of us didn’t wake up the dorm mates around us in the hallways so we had to continue to take fire alarms frequently during the first two terms.”Nelson suggested that each student treat each alarm activation as though it were a real emergency. He said, “A loud knock on your neighbor’s door, if you are able, will give an added assurance that they will hear the alarm.”Despite advising students to get out of the dormitory as quickly as possible, Nelson said, “Don’t run. Walk quickly out of the building and if there’s an elevator, don’t use it. Always take the stairs during an emergency.”Not all Exonians were in full agreement with the plan. Lower Kevin Sun said “Exeter already makes sure students don’t have enough sleep and if you have fire drills, it just shortens the amount of sleep students get. I think we should only have one or two fire drills a year. Three is just too many.”Other students had similar concerns. Prep Evan Xiang said, “The first fire drill was really annoying when it went off at 11 p.m. and I was about to fall asleep. I do understand why they’re necessary, but placing them sometime throughout the day would be much better than midnight or super early in the morning. We need our sleep!.”Upper Tim Wongvibulsin said, “I think fire drills are necessary for safety reasons and I don’t really mind having fire drills. Mine was in the morning, but I would rather have it at night because I usually sleep late so I would be awake when the fire drill starts.”Lower Jun Park said, “My fire drill was at 10:30 p.m. I think 10:30 is the best time to have a fire drill because nobody’s sleeping then or rarely anybody’s sleeping. Other times it’s like 1 a.m. and that’s bad because then you can’t go back to sleep and it’s very tiring for the next day. I don’t think it matters the day when a fire drill occurs. The only thing is the time.”Dormitory drills must be conducted between 10 p.m. and 7 a.m. “because that’s when everybody’s in the dorm.” The NFPA regulations also state that drills in dormitories have to be held at unexpected times.According to the NFPA fire departments across the US responded to an estimated average of 3,810 fires in dormitories between 2007 and 2011.  Cooking equipment was involved in 84% of the reported dormitory fires.  Although only 7 percent of the fires began in the bedroom areas, they accounted for more than one quarter (27 percent) of the civilian injuries.Nelson said, “Some common fire hazards in dormitory rooms come from items such as curling irons, flat irons, hot plates and improperly wired items.  A good example of this is having extension cords daisy chained across a dorm room to plug in an electrical device.  These are all things that Campus Safety looks for during dormitory inspections.”