Burning popcorn isn’t usually a traumatic event, but having to evacuate a suite or residence hall in the middle of the night can be.
A student happens to be making popcorn late at night in one of the residence halls and doesn’t pay attention to the popping in the microwave. Next thing you know, you’re being woken up by the fire alarm because negligence set the smoke detector off.
Rogers resident Michael Howard was among those woken and outside at 3 a.m. on Tuesday.
“I was ticked off at the person who set the alarm off. I need my full eight hours of sleep and after being woken up and forced outside in the cold, it took me awhile to fall back asleep,” Howard said. “I was not happy.”
On a weeknight, the last thing students want is to be woken up by a fire alarm when there wasn’t a fire at all.
This time it was clearly just an accident, but what about when it’s not? Here at Lyndon, and at most college campuses, there are consequences when a fire alarm is pulled intentionally.
“For pulling a fire alarm in a dorm when there is no fire, the student will be kicked off campus, pay a $500 fine and face potential expulsion,” public safety student officer Chas Legge said.
Even though many young people are tempted to pull a fire alarm just to see what happens, it is not worth it. In some fire alarms on campus, when pulled, ink ‘squirts’ out which would dye the hand of the person who pulled it. This is so if someone tries to pull it unrightfully they can’t get away unnoticed.
This isn’t something to joke around with. Not only will pulling a fire alarm leave a dent in your wallet, but it can compromise the future of your education.