By Brendan Sherwood
Three false fire alarms set off over the course of five days at the end of October have left officials frustrated and concerned. The culprit has not yet been identified, the events are under investigation and security is being stepped up.
According to Reinhold Woykowski, RVCC Public Safety Director, alarms were set off four times in October, but the first, on Oct. 9 at the Campus Daycare Facility, may have been the result of an error on the part of the company that monitors the alarms.
The other incidents, all of which were set off by alarms pulled in Somerset Hall, are under investigation.
On Saturday, Oct. 20, Branchburg Police and the North Branch Fire Department responded to a fire alarm here at 8:04 a.m. Officials determined that an alarm in the east-end stairwell of Somerset Hall had been pulled. Police and security personnel checked the area, but found nothing.
The following Wednesday, Oct. 23, at 5:34 p.m., police and firefighters again responded to a alarm pulled at Somerset Hall. Fire officials determined there was no fire, reset the alarm and students were permitted to return to class.
An alarm in Somerset Hall was sounded again the next day, Oct. 24, at 9:28 a.m. Once again Branchburg Police responded along with North Branch and Readington fire departments. Officials determined that the alarm pulled was the one pulled on Oct. 20.
Woykowski said the false alarms create havoc. Deploying emergency vehicles to RVCC endangers firefighters, costs responding municipalities money, potentially puts lives at risk elsewhere by taking emergency attention away from those who might need it, and creates a false sense of security by making alarms seem less serious.
Setting off a false fire alarm is a third degree criminal offense, Woykowski said, and “the (Somerset County) Prosecutor’s Office is investigating this thoroughly.”
Woykowski said there are cameras in strategic locations throughout the RVCC campus and more high definition cameras are to be installed in the future. Special covers have been installed on many alarms, which make a noise to call attention to them. So far, one person has been identified as “inappropriately jeopardizing the safety of students” on camera in the West Building. There is a possible connection between this person and those who pulled the alarm, but no puller has been caught on camera.
When an alarm is pulled at RVCC, security personnel monitoring the campus from the Somerset Hall security office can identify the location of the alarm on a fire panel box. They meet the firefighters when they arrive and escort them to the target area. That’s when students, faculty and all other RVCC staff are instructed to evacuate the building, leaving non-essentials behind, and move to the nearest parking lot or sports field.
Woykowski said that it is the “first time in 17 years of being here that alarms have been activated numerous times in a short period of time.” Possibly the most dangerous effect of false alarms is that people begin to take alarms less seriously. According to Woykowski, some people even become confrontational about not wanting to evacuate during alarms. If this attitude spreads, so does the risk of fire-related deaths or injuries.
People who pull fire alarms are responsible for any deaths or injuries resulting from their actions, Woykowski said.
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