2008 Woodie Awards
Cameras deter fire alarm pranks at UTC Place
By Velvet Taylor
Issue date: 2/21/08 Section: News
Fire safety and awareness is UTC Place officials' main initiative this year for their residents, according to Lisa Gladden, safety inspector supervisor.
Over 300 new cameras were placed in UTC Place's hallways this semester to help prevent prank fire alarms, according to Gladden.
She said the cameras are going to be a major benefit in addressing this problem.
Pulling a prank fire alarm is a federal offense according to Craig Haney, Chattanooga's fire marshal.
"If a student pulls a prank alarm they will be charged for reckless endangerment and disorderly conduct that is a misdemeanor," said Haney.
The fire department must respond to every call, according to Haney.
He said these responses have the potential to cause danger to the community in the form of unnecessary car accidents.
"If a firefighter gets killed in an accident from responding to [a prank] alarm then that person who pulled the alarm will get charged," Haney said.
Although the university is not charged when the fire department responds to a false alarm, someone has to pay for the cost of the trip, according to Haney.
"It's about $1,500 to $2,000 per call of tax payer's money for trucks to come out," Haney said.
According to Haney, each time the fire department responds to an alarm, fire fighters have to check every room in the building to make sure each person is evacuated.
"If a student doesn't evacuate then they will get a citation to court because the fire alarm constitutes a lawful order to evacuate," Haney said.
According to Gladden, the university worries that students will become desensitized to the fire alarms if there are too many false evacuations.
"This is our biggest concern with students thinking that it may be a prank alarm when in fact it could be a real alarm," Gladden said.
Most fires come from a local alarm. These are most often caused by smoke from a stove or steam from a shower, according to Gladden.
Over 300 new cameras were placed in UTC Place's hallways this semester to help prevent prank fire alarms, according to Gladden.
She said the cameras are going to be a major benefit in addressing this problem.
Pulling a prank fire alarm is a federal offense according to Craig Haney, Chattanooga's fire marshal.
"If a student pulls a prank alarm they will be charged for reckless endangerment and disorderly conduct that is a misdemeanor," said Haney.
The fire department must respond to every call, according to Haney.
He said these responses have the potential to cause danger to the community in the form of unnecessary car accidents.
"If a firefighter gets killed in an accident from responding to [a prank] alarm then that person who pulled the alarm will get charged," Haney said.
Although the university is not charged when the fire department responds to a false alarm, someone has to pay for the cost of the trip, according to Haney.
"It's about $1,500 to $2,000 per call of tax payer's money for trucks to come out," Haney said.
According to Haney, each time the fire department responds to an alarm, fire fighters have to check every room in the building to make sure each person is evacuated.
"If a student doesn't evacuate then they will get a citation to court because the fire alarm constitutes a lawful order to evacuate," Haney said.
According to Gladden, the university worries that students will become desensitized to the fire alarms if there are too many false evacuations.
"This is our biggest concern with students thinking that it may be a prank alarm when in fact it could be a real alarm," Gladden said.
Most fires come from a local alarm. These are most often caused by smoke from a stove or steam from a shower, according to Gladden.
