Pressure, smoke cause fire evacuations
By Travis Orcutt, News Writing Student and Stephen Sossamon,
Staff Writer
Two fire alarms within one week caused the evacuation of the Main Building, and Science, Engineering and Math Center.
At 3:20 p.m. July 9, a fire alarm sounded from the SEM Center.
According to an incident report filed by Safety and Security officer Larry Lundy, the alarm was triggered in room 2E1 of the SEM Center by a drop in water pressure.
Lundy said he checked the riser closet as the building was evacuated, and the pressure meter read 53 pounds, according to the incident report.
“A normal reading is about 50 pounds,” said Safety and Security Coordinator Keith Bourque.
“The water pressure from the city dropped.”
“Therefore, the sprinkler system thought there was a fire,” Bourque said.
Safety and Security Director Ike Sloas said the alarm sounded because the sprinkler system activated.
“The alarm goes off when the sprinkler system comes on,” Sloas said.
Bourque put out a message on the college’s IT phone system to evacuate the building, according to the incident report, sending everyone in the buildings out into a rainstorm.
“It was a timing issue,” Sloas said. “Unfortunately, we had to evacuate everyone out into the rain.”
Lundy said, once the issue was resolved, the system was put into reset and the alarm silenced.
Bourque also put out the all-clear message on the phone system and all personnel were allowed back into the building, according to the incident report.
A second fire alarm went off Tuesday, July 15, in one of the science labs, causing an evacuation of the Main Building.
Sloas said the alarm sounded when a beaker in a science lab released smoke.
“When a beaker on a hot plate runs out of liquid,” Sloas said, “it creates smoke. That’s what set off the alarm.”
Sloas said there’s no such thing as a false alarm when it comes to OCCC’s system.
“It’s very sensitive,” Sloas said. “Any amount of smoke will trigger the alarm.”
The sensitive system gives OCCC staff and students a good early warning advantage, Sloas said.
Sloas said there is always potential for a fire whenever there is smoke, even if it is from something as small as a beaker.
“When there’s smoke, there’s fire,” Sloas said.
“There’s always potential for a serious issue.”
