Fire inspection
Campus safety remains a priority

By Chrissy Braden
Staff Reporter

One year after three students died and 58 others were injured in a residence hall fire at Seton Hall University in New Jersey, TCU officials are still working to increase TCU’s fire safety.

“I don’t really think about a fire happening that much,” said Brooks Zitzmann, a sophomore biology major and Colby Hall resident assistant.

Zitzmann said her biggest concern was not dying in a fire, but being trampled by students on the way out of the building.

Each building, including every residence hall at TCU, must follow the fire safety regulations from the building code set in the year it was built. When buildings are extensively remodeled, they can then be subject to the codes for new buildings.

Most of TCU’s residence halls are under old fire codes, but with the remodeling of each residence hall, fire safety is a primary issue.

Roger Fisher, director of residential services, said fire safety in the residence halls is maintained through sprinkler systems, fire alarms and fire extinguishers.

“I was always skeptical of sprinklers and misuse,” Fisher said. “It seemed that they would be more of a nuisance than a help. I was convinced that students would abuse them and that we’d deal with more damage done by water than they could prevent a fire from doing.”

But now Fisher said he believes sprinkler systems are the most effective measure of fire prevention in residence halls.

“I’ll eat my own words now,” Fisher said. “I haven’t seen anyone abuse the systems. Students of this generation have grown up with sprinkler systems and understand that they’re there for their safety.”

Texas state law does not require sprinkler systems in residence halls. But sprinkler systems are voluntarily being installed in each TCU residence hall as part of renovations that began in 1995.

Fisher said another addition to renovated residence halls are fire-safe doors. If there is a fire in the hallway, it should be contained outside of a room for about two hours with the new door in place, he said.

While sprinkler systems and fire-safe doors are not in each residence hall yet, all residence halls are equipped with fire alarms that are connected to a main system in the Physical Plant, Fisher said.

Alarms in each room are checked each semester, he said, and batteries are replaced every summer.

Fire drills are also done each semester in every residence hall, he said.

Another important measure TCU takes in fire prevention in the residence halls is fire extinguishers, Fisher said.

Willett Stallworth, associate vice chancellor for plant management, said about 1,450 fire extinguishers are located on campus.

Charlie Langham, Fort Worth fire marshal, said extinguishers are required to be inspected at least once a year. Kitchen area extinguishers are required to be inspected twice a year.

Extinguishers are tagged with the date of their last inspection, he said.

Most extinguishers on campus were last inspected in 2000. But an investigation by Skiff staff members, which examined all fire extinguishers in residence halls, found one kitchen extinguisher in Colby Hall with a tag from a July 1999 inspection.

ecause the extinguisher is in a kitchen, it should have been checked twice annually.

Randy Cobb, director of safety, said TCU hires outside contractors to inspect the extinguishers each year.

Cobb said he is not concerned that some extinguishers do not get checked each year.

“During an inspection some extinguishers may be missing or gone, so it may slip off of the list,” Cobb said. “But that’s only a few out of (1,450). It’s not a big deal.”

The Fort Worth Fire Department inspects each lot in the city for fire safety annually, and fines for fire safety violation can carry a penalty of up to $2,000, which applies to TCU, said Langham.

Langham said annual building inspections for fire safety are public record. However, TCU would not provide copies.

Fisher said he did not think a fire like the one at Seton Hall would have the same outcome at TCU because of the level of fire safety. He said people should always be alert.

“The whole system is better when students are doing what they need to be doing and not violating rules on using candles and cooking in the dorms,” Fisher said.

Stallworth said TCU maintains high fire safety measures.

“I think TCU has gone the extra mile by putting in a system that’s not the minimum,” Stallworth said. “We have a ‘built-in suspenders’ approach, especially for residence halls. We protect them to the best of our ability.”

Chrissy Braden
l.c.braden@student.tcu.edu