Fire alarm causes COM evacuation

Alisa Pacer, Emergency Preparedness Manager, coordinates with Building Emergency Leaders. during the recent fire alarm in COM. Photo by Eric Halleran.

Fire alarms in COM sent everyone outside at about 1:25 this afternoon. The smoke alarms in the kitchen activated the entire building's alarm system causing the emergency evacuation.

"We were grilling tenderloins for tomorrow," said Jay Glatz, manager, Dining Services. "This happens sometimes...just got a little smokey."

Everyone was able to exit the building calmly and without injury. Once the building was completely evacuated and the false alarm was confirmed, Alisa Pacer, manager, Emergency Preparedness gave the "all-clear" to the Building Emergency Leaders (BEL) at about 1:45 p.m.

Pacer is in charge of organizing and over-seeing emergency procedures and initiating and maintaining communication with the campus BELs.

The BEL program has been an effective way to communicate with the whole campus during an emergency situation for many years. The Emergency Preparedness Department assigns a BEL team to each building. A BEL team consists of one person responsible for the entire building and an individual in charge of each floor, all of whom carry a radio and a beeper for constant communication.

Evacuation procedures and all other information about severe weather instructions can be found on the red and white signs by every classroom door or in certain locations around campus.