NEWS
Fire alarms alarm officials
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by Rachel Alkon
Wednesday, February 12, 2003
Sunday’s fire at The Towers, 502. N. Frances St., has raised issues about fire safety in campus-area apartments.
At many buildings, University of Wisconsin students find their sleep interrupted weekly by the piercing sound of a fire alarm, almost always pulled as pranks, hindering the effectiveness of the safety measure.
Sub-zero-degree weather and early-morning alarms are both vexing and time-consuming for students.
Lauren Krasnoff, a UW freshman and Towers resident, said she has become conditioned to ignore the warning signals of fire.
“At The Towers, fire alarms occur so frequently that they have become a big joke” Krasnoff said. “The problem is going to occur when I leave Wisconsin, enter the real world, still ignore fire alarms and die in a fire, because I assumed it was just another stupid drunk kid.”
Madison Fire Marshal Edwin J. Ruckriegel blames excessive alcohol consumption and partying for the majority of false fire alarms, citing a significantly higher rate of incidences on the weekends.
A large percentage of the alarms are set off due to students’ reckless behavior.
“Unruly conduct such as smoking in the hallways and busting the extinguisher off the wall often result in the evacuation [of] a hundred or more residents” Ruckriegel said. “Non-residents are also a problem — they simply do not care about the buildings and are less likely to be caught.”
Ruckriegel said a few Madison landlords have taken effective measures to reduce the number of false alarms.
“When building management cracks down by levying fines and withholding deposits, the number of alarms decrease.”
Many newer properties have installed cameras to prevent students from acting irresponsibly.
However, many older structures still lack the costly security systems.
“La Ciel and La Ville are amongst the buildings with the most severe problems,” Ruckriegel said.
UW freshman Samantha Polonsky believes a call for action is necessary to reduce fire-alarm tampering.
“If students are fined or prosecuted, they will realize the serious nature of prank alarms,” she said.
