Kitchen Safety Reexamined

In response to reports about fire safety in Wheelwright Hall, a 60-second sensitive timer has been installed on the dorm’s stove and oven, per request of its dorm faculty.After hearing from both Wheelwright custodians and residents that the oven and stovetop had been left on overnight on several occasions, dorm faculty believed that the dorm’s safety was at risk, especially since many students live close to the kitchen on the first floor. After discussing the matter with Campus Safety, the faculty agreed to install a timer on the stove that would turn off the oven after sensing no movement in the room for a set period of time, in Wheelwright's case, 60 seconds.Wheelwright Dorm Head Barbara Desmond said that the timer’s presence benefits students more than it bothers them. “This seemed like a reasonable response that would protect girls but still give them free access to the stove, even late at night,” Desmond said. “Once we learn how to operate this device—I just received the instructions from the electrical services department—I am confident that we can find a way to have both convenience and student safety.”However, after the changes, the timer has been turning off every minute. As a result, many students in Wheelwright complained that the disruption is unnecessary. “It’s really annoying and it makes me feel like I'm living in an old person’s home. Even if you're sitting in another room you can hear the buzzer going off. It’s really unfair to the people living on the first floor,” she said.However, Wheelwright is not the only dorm who has recently had problems with potential kitchen fires. Other dorms have had a few close calls with unattended burners and smoking food.Last year, Webster had an incident in their kitchen in which a pizza, along with the cardboard box, was placed into the communal oven late at night. In response to visible smoke and a strong smell, students sounded the fire alarm and took the burning box outside.Webster dorm faculty and science instructor David Gulick believed that Webster was very fortunate to not have had any serious fire issues during the past seven years he has lived in the dorm. “We haven’t had situations with students with candles and other flammable items that would lead to fire hazards,” Gulick said. “And when we have the drills, everything goes well. Hopefully it would go just as smoothly if we had a real fire.”In Bancroft Hall, the faculty were especially wary of fires and will lock the kitchen as a punishment for students who accidentally leave the stove on. “I would rather not have to lock the kitchen door every night and reopen it in the morning to keep the girls safe,” Tatiana Waterman, science instructor and dorm faculty of Bancroft, said.Similarly, Meg Foley, a current affiliate of Bancroft Hall and who lived in Cilley in past years, remembered when a burner in Cilley was left on all night. “When I found that out, it was really scary,” she said. “On the other hand I feel very safe in dorms in general with all the sprinklers and fire prevention and detection tools. I do like the idea of some sort of safety device on the stove and oven, because I like the kitchen being open and accessible for the students, while knowing they are still being safe, but it would be nicer if it would beep every five minutes.”During his time as dorm head of Cilley Hall, Kenney Chan has experienced a number of small fire safety issues. Three years ago, when the stove was left on for too long, faculty locked the kitchen. For years, students in Cilley had to ask dorm faculty for a key to individually access the room.Director of Campus Safety Services Jeffrey Nelson said that campus safety collaborated closely with the dorms on campus and the Exeter Fire Department to help prevent difficulties. Campus Safety and the Exeter Fire Department have performed joint inspections of the campus buildings, established a fire drill schedule annually to ensure our fire alarm systems are functioning properly and regularly check dorm rooms to resolve any internal fire and safety issues.