The Montclair State University fire alarms in Dinallo Heights have gone off multiple times since the beginning of the semester, leaving frustrated students standing in the cold and in the dark as to what is going on.
The Little Falls fire department responds to the alarm at Dinallo Heights.
Video courtesy of Maceo Thompson
Every residence hall at Montclair State is required to have two fire drills with the Montclair State University Fire Safety Team per semester, and Dinallo Heights has already completed both this fall. Despite this, residents have heard the computerized voice on the fire alarm tell them to evacuate more than two times already.
Students wait outside Dinallo Heights at night during a fire drill.
Video courtesy of Aniya Butler
Leonardo DaSilva, a senior jurisprudence, law and society major, and a resident of Dinallo Heights, talked about how the alarms are annoying, but a necessary evil.
“It just sucks [because] nobody wants to get out a couple times a week to do the fire drills,” DaSilva said. “It’s understandable though if there is a fire. People just need to stop cooking in their rooms.”
Leonardo DaSilva said the drills are annoying but necessary.
Paul Thomas | The Montclarion
Some students, like DaSilva, think these drills are occurring because people are cooking too close to the smoke detectors in their rooms. Brent Johnson, the community director at Dinallo Heights, cleared the smoke regarding what has been going on.
“The alarms have been triggered by students smoking in their rooms, shower steam, dust on or inside of HVAC units and small appliance malfunction and misuse,” Johnson said.
Students wait outside Dinallo Heights during a fire drill.
Video courtesy of Aniya Butler
Johnson also added that within 24 hours of an alarm going off, an email is sent to resident students explaining the cause.
The Residence Life team at Dinallo Heights is doing everything they can to make sure this does not keep happening. Johnson was able to share some of these plans to fix the situation.
“Health and Safety checks are completed monthly by our resident assistant staff to ensure that students do not have items in their room that will cause fires,” Johnson said. “Any students found to be smoking in their rooms go through a conduct process to prevent further instances of the behavior within our halls. Capstone Management has been cleaning out ventilation systems and doing preventative maintenance on HVAC systems.”
Tyreese Barfield, a senior exercise science major and a resident assistant (RA) at Dinallo Heights, gave some perspective about everything going on.
Tyreese Barfield is a resident assistant at Dinallo Heights.
Paul Thomas | The Montclarion
“As these fire alarms progressed, I noticed that people have started to come out later than usual,” Barfield said. “I know the fire alarms are annoying and an inconvenience, but they are there to save lives.”
