MiddBrief Inspections Light Our Fire

Author: Andrea Gissing, Joshua Carson, Myra Palmero

Fire Safety month kicked off with a spark as each Commons organized and executed an inspection of all rooms, suites and houses on campus. While not all data has been collected, it appears that this year is markedly better in terms of student safety than past years since the number of fire violations were negligible.

During fire safety inspection, a team of commons and facilities management staff entered each room to ensure that the student's quarters were being kept in a manner consistent with the guidelines established in the Middlebury College Handbook. The Handbook delineates rules concerning tapestries, candles, halogen lights, incense, portable heaters and Christmas tree lights. College guidelines prohibit the door from being blocked, fire alarms from being tampered with and the sprinkler apparatus from being obstructed. While the Handbook imposes a $25 dollar fine against anyone who has violated these rules, the fine is waived during the safety inspections. Instead, articles in question are confiscated and the owner is not charged. The items can be collected at the end of this month, before Thanksgiving break, to be brought back home.

If Public Safety discovers a fire safety violation in the future, the officer will issue a fine, depending on the severity of the infringement. The main concern of the fire inspections is to ensure that no objects - like tapestries or posters - are obstructing the fire alarms. Sarah Jones '02, commons residential advisor (CRA) of Wonnacott Commons and Jason Vrooman '03, CRA of Brainerd Commons reported that violations were minimal in their respective commons. Assistant Director of Custodial Services Linda Ross, who has been with the College for over 23 years and inspected the social houses this year, stated that this was one of the safest years of her tenure for the houses.