By Nadine Moedt (The Cascade) – Email
Print Edition: October 31, 2012
Classes were evacuated Thursday evening at about 8:15 as fire alarms went off in the A, B and D buildings of UFV’s Abbotsford campus. Two fire trucks responded within 15 minutes, but there was no fire to fight.
The alarm was not a drill, according to UFV’s manager of safety security and parking Dan Sarrasin.
“These things do happen,” Sarrasin said. “It could be anything from water pressure in the sprinklers to someone activating a pull station to dust being in one of the detectors.”
This particular time, Sarrasin says, UFV’s system detected fire but the buildings were never in danger.
“The cause of the alarm was the result of smoke from a nearby farm,” Sarrasin explains. “Abbotsford Fire Service responded to the alarm. The buildings related to the alarm were evacuated.”
The system of fire alarms, Sarrasin explained, is interconnected; an alarm set off in a building will affect b building, for example. This excludes C building which is a “stand alone” building.
Sarrasin stated that sending students home is “up to the instructor.”
“Our responsibility is strictly response,” Sarrasin clarified. “Whenever there is a fire alarm, the fire department responds immediately. The alarms are investigated by both Abbotsford Fire Rescue Service and facilities staff. Security and facilities staff are responsible for the response to all building emergencies and are very good at doing so.”
Once the cause of the alarm is investigated, by security facilities and the fire department the system is reset. The fire department then indicates that it is safe to enter the building.
