Forced Evacuation Small blaze clears Student Union

At approximately 9:45 A.M. Monday morning, the Smith Brown Memorial Union was evacuated in the wake of a fire that began in the building’s boiler room. The fire was detected when members of the custodial staff smelled smoke, and pinpointed the boiler room as the source of the smoke. The staff then relayed the message of danger to Union Operations Manager Tanisha Cousby. According to Cousby, the evacuation took close to ten minutes.
“Students didn’t take it seriously,” explained Cousby. “Even though there are some false alarms, when someone’s in your face, don’t just look at them.”
No fire alarms sounded during the time of the fire, but officials were contacted, and arrived on the scene promptly.
In the past, students have complained of not being aware of emergencies such as fires because of lack of alarms, or too many false alarms. Periodically, fire alarms in the residential area of campus will sound with no provocation. This has fostered a false sense of safety and disregard for emergency alarms.
“The fire could have been addressed in a more organized fashion,” said Fatimah Henderson, a visitor to the campus.
No damage was reported to the building or its fixtures, and students were able to enter the facility shortly thereafter.