A fire last week at an apartment complex on West Gilman Street has raised concern among tenants over faulty fire alarm systems in student apartments. Residents in the West Gilman complex had not evacuated because the fire alarm system in the smoke-filled hallway was not working and failed to go off.

Heavy smoke in the third floor hallway prompted a resident to call the Madison Fire Department Sept. 11, and the succeeding investigation found the fire was caused by a mechanical malfunction of an air conditioner.

Residents on the third floor are concerned with what could have been a dangerous situation.

“If the resident (who called the fire department) hadn’t gone in the hallway to go to class right then, no one would have known about the fire. It could have gotten very dangerous,” said a resident who wishes to remain anonymous. “It was irresponsible of the landlord to have an air conditioner that caused a fire and also to not have an adequate smoke alarm.”

Apparently, the building’s smoke alarm system was not in working order, and none of the single-room smoke detectors went off.

“Landlords and tenants share the responsibility of making sure fire alarm systems and single smoke detectors are in safe and working order,” said Megin Hicks, Tenant Resource Center spokesperson. “Landlords have the responsibility to install and maintain fire alarm systems. The tenant has the responsibility to tell the landlord of problems with the smoke alarm,” Hicks said. “Some landlords may have something in the lease for the tenants to change the batteries in their apartments.”

Fire safety is not one of the top-five questions she gets from tenants, but she nonetheless stresses its importance.

“We try to remind people that the landlord is responsible for maintaining smoke alarm systems, and to avoid taking the battery out for something like a burnt pizza,” Hicks said.

Madison Fire Marshall Ed Ruckriegel said while this caused much concern among tenants at 415 W. Gilman St., it has not turned into a major problem around the area. Ruckriegel said it is not often that the department responds to an incident where the fire alarm system is not working.

“It has been before 1990 since a building’s alarm system has failed to go off,” Ruckiegel said. “Single smoke detectors are a different story. The national statistics are that 50 to 60 percent of smoke alarms don’t go off, because they are not maintained.”