Thankfully, fires don’t happen very often on campus, but just in case they do, the ETSU Department of Housing and Residence Life go to great lengths to ensure the safety of students living on-campus.
The 2016 Fire Safety Report says only two fires occurred in on-campus housing during 2015.
The report also states the university takes fire safety seriously and has established fire safety programs for students and employees living in on-campus housing. Fire evacuation plans have been developed for residence facilities, which can be found on the inside of the door of each residence hall or apartment.
Resident directors and resident advisors play a large role in ensuring student safety if a fire were to occur in on-campus housing.
According to the report, all resident directors and advisors are trained annually in the proper use of fire extinguishers, fire evacuation procedures and fire prevention practices. This includes hands-on training using a state-of the-art fire simulator.
ETSU Director of Housing and Residence Life Bonnie Burchett said each residence hall generally gives three fire drills per semester.
“All of our housing facilities have fire equipment such as sprinklers, fire alarms, heat detectors and fire extinguishers … and that’s the reason we have fire drills is to be able to check all of our equipment, and to ensure all of our students can evacuate the building in a timely manner, ” she said. “We ask our students to never tamper with the fire equipment, such as covering a smoke detector or heat detector or discharging fire extinguishers … tampering with fire equipment is a criminal act and would be disciplined as such.”
It is also important to the university that fire safety equipment in residence halls are connected to ETSU Public Safety to ensure public safety can promptly respond to any fire in a campus residence hall.
According to the Annual Fire Safety Report, university housing facilities are equipped with automatic fire detection and alarm systems are connected to public safety and monitored by dispatch staff.
The Fire Safety Report also includes directions on what to do if you observe a live fire.
Individuals who observe a live fire must:
• Go to the nearest stairwell or exit door and leave the building immediately.
• Pull the fire alarm while leaving the building.
• If they are not inside the building, notify Public Safety when safe by calling 439-4480.
• Not use the elevators.
• Assist disabled persons out of the building. If they are unable to assist the person out of the building, he or she should be directed to the nearest stairwell landing to await the arrival of emergency personnel.
Notify public safety and the Johnson City Fire Department upon their arrival as to the location of the individual.
