Page 10 THE BATTALION
TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 29, 1977
Twenty-two percent of city’s alarms at Ai?M
Campus fire prevention may ‘fall short’
By JEANNE GRAHAM
Editor s note: This is the first in a
two-part series on fire prevention in
College Station. In Wednesday’s
Battalion, Dave Tewes looks at fire
code enforcement in local busi
nesses.
The College Station Fire De
partment, also on call to Texas A&M
University, uses fire trucks with
ladders that reach only three
stories.
High rise buildings on campus
(defined as any building with more
than three stories) such as Rudder
Tower and the Oceanography and
Meteorology building must have
built-in fire prevention measures for
maximum safety. Fire Chief Doug
Landua says that in some areas
Texas A&M falls short.
“Last year there were a total of
599 alarms with 22 percent of those
on the Texas A&M campus,” Chief
Landua said recently. “With our
limited manpower and equipment,
good built-in protection is a must.”
Rudder Tower and the O&M
building, as well as the Memorial
Student Center, have, within the
last year, added fire prevention sys
tems that include fire alarms and de
tectors, standpipes, and sprinklers.
Safety and Health Department
Head, James Presswood, explained
that the buildings feature automatic
fire detection and alarm systems
that are set off when any particle of
combustion interrupts the circuit.
“The alarm systems work by radio
transmission and will set off an
alarm in both the emergency
operator’s office and the Texas A&M
Police Department,” he said.
Standpipes systems, consisting of
pipes extending from ground level
to the building’s ceiling with a valve
and hose available on each floor,
have also been installed in each
high-rise and in some dorms.
These would allow a trained oc
cupant to pull the hose and fight a
fire himself, Presswood said. They
also give firemen a place to tie on
their hoses when they arrive.
SAY
“MERRY CHRISTMAS FROM
A TEXAS AGGIE”
AGGIE CHRISTMAS CARDS
“Sprinkler systems are installed
in all of the trash chutes of the
dorms and in the Health Center,”
Presswood said, “and we are in the
process of putting them in the MSC
basement and coffeehouse. The
MSC crafts shop and storage room
under the large auditorium and the
backstage area in the theater will
also be equipped.”
1st FLOOR MSC OR
RUDDER BOX OFFICE
NOVEMBER 28 - DECEMBER 12
In addition to the built-in de
vices, the high-rises and enclosed
dorms have fire-safe stairs that will
remain “intact and sturdy” for 90
minutes after a fire starts and will
keep heat and smoke from persons
escaping the fire, Presswood said.
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Castro and
Cuba —
A People Betrayed
A discussion by
Dr. Jorge
Mas Canosa
Thursday, December 1, 1977
8:00 p.m.
Room 601 Rudder Tower
Presented by:
Political Forum
/tep into the m/c
to get to a fire on the fourth floor
would be to hand-carry fire hoses up
the stairs. We don’t have the man
power to do that effectively.”
All of the dorms on campus have
working standpipes except the
Corps dorms, and they were dis
connected several years ago due to a
little too much “good Aggie bull,”
Landua said. The standpipe systems
in the other dorms were made inac
cessible to students for that reason.
“There is a device on each door,”
Landua explained, “that, when
heat-activated, will snap, allowing
the door to close. But if the device
malfunctioned during a fire, leaving
any door open, the purpose of keep
ing smoke out would be defeated.
And the smoke that the carpets and
foams in the dorms would create is
lethal.”
“The ideal situation,” he said,
“would be to have complete
standpipe and sprinkler systems in
every vulnerable building on cam
pus.”
But Presswood says extra systems
would be impractical. “We just
haven’t seen the need for them.”
The buildings that do not have
standpipe and-or sprinkler systems
are equipped with portable fire ex
tinguishers and have enclosed, fire-
safe stairwells.
“I definitely feel that additional
precaution could be taken,” Landua
said, “specifically with more com
plete standpipe and sprinkler sys
tems.”
Landua said it does no good to
partially protect a building with
sprinklers because fire can easily
spread to unprotected areas.
A sprinkler system should be in
stalled throughout a complex,
Landua said, and though it would be
a major cost to the university, the
cost could possibly be equalled by a
good insurance premium obtained
in return.
The standpipe system is an asset
to the fire department because it
gives firemen a place to hook up
their hoses. But there are buildings
on campus that lack such a system.
“In the Academic building, for in
stance,” Landua said, “the only way
“There are 5,000 portable extin
guishers on campus,” Presswood
said,” and we inspect them
monthly.”
He explained, “we hold fire ex
tinguishing programs during the
summer with hands-on demon
strations for all resident advisers
(R.A. ’s) and many staff members. ”
“We spent hours learning fire ex
tinguishing procedures,” said Gene
Fisseler, resident adviser on the
first floor of Aston Hall.
There are four carbon dioxide-
type extinguishers on each floor of
the dorms. They are located behind
locked doors, but only the RA’s have
a key.
Fisseler said the RA’s have been
given instructions about what to do
in case of fire, but he’s not sure how
aware dorm residents are.
“Fire drills were talked about,
but we haven’t had one yet. I’m not
sure anyone except the RA’s in this
dorm would know what to do in case
of fire,” he said.
The dorms have enclosed stair
wells, but the doors normally re
main open for the general flow of
traffic.
“When the university is planning
a new building,” Landua added,
“we ought to be able to voice our
opinion about what goes into it.
“We try our durnedest to get
every safeguard, he said. “We
make recommendations, but what
we recommend and what they do
sometimes vary.”
The Department of Philosophy
and
The Department of Sociology
present
Professor David Miller
The University of Texas at Austin
“The Sociology of George Herbert Mead”
Thursday December 1, 3:00 p.m. Rudder 701
“Process, Time and History”
Friday December 2, 4:00 p.m. Rudder 404
The Public is Invited
Coming: December 15 Angelelli on
The History of Logic
!p<
f'Startin
Jch j"
■ashmen'
The stairwells in Rudder Tower
and the O&M building are more ef
fective because they remain closed
all the time. In addition, evacuation
plans are posted on each floor of the
buildings. The O&M building has
several fire drills each year.
I Coach S
than
Lincemt
Chuck Cargill, director of Rudder
Tower, says that fire protection in
that complex is adequate.
“Fire protection is a major item of
concern with us because of all the
off-campus guests we have coming
through the building,” he said.
I"
The Tower has standpipes with
out the sprinkler systems that Chief
Landua suggests. But on Oct. 10,
fire prevention experts finished a
study of the Tower and approved
the system as it is.
m
m*
If the fire precautions in univer
sity buildings do fail, and the fire
department is needed, Landua says
that it is sometimes a problem get
ting the major fire equipment (fire
trucks) on campus.
“The university needs to check
with us to find out how much area
we need. Any building over 150 feet
from a public road or street must
have a fire lane (with no parking)
that is 20 feet in width with a 14-foot
height clearance. Because of the
crowded parking situation on cam
pus, this amount of space cannot al
ways be provided,” Landua said.
Battalion photo by David fc
‘Tis the season
Christmas is coming, and trees are being sold on carnpuslliii
year for students who want to make their dorms or apart
ments a little more like home. John Haverer displays tre«
sold by the Forestry Club in front of the Commons
area. Lambda Sigma honor society is also selling Christmai
trees.
Safe use of med
equipment taught
Texas <3
Doctors, nurses, therapists, tech
nicians and administrators will
gather from around the state for a
course on “Selection and Safe Oper
ation of Medical Equipment” to be
held in the Rudder Tower Conven
tion Center Dec. 9-10.
Temple’s Scott and White Memo
rial Hospital, along with Texas
A&M’s Colleges of Medicine and
Engineering will present the pro
gram according to co-director. Dr.
William Hyman of the bioengineer
ing program.
“The course will provide the par
ticipants with a practical knowledge
of techniques for medical in
strumentation, of the legal liabilities
associated with the use of medical
devices, as well as hospital mechan
ical, environmental, radiological
and electrical .safety, ” explained
Hyman.
“The increasingly widespread
of advanced medical equipment
chiding direct connections to
hospital patient, offers newci
lenges to hospital personnel,
went on.
The course content include!:
physiological effects of electril
basic electronics; medical
ment selection, maintenance
use; electrical, mechani
radiological and environmei
safety; and legal liabilities
The program begins withal
a.m. registration Dec. 9inthelj
der Tower Convention Center
will end at noon Dec. 10.
Scott and White Memorial Hi
tal certifies that this contii
medical education course meets)
criteria for 11 credit hours for
Physicians Recognition Awardol
AMA.
BEAT THE HELL OUT
OF HOUSTON DANCE
featuring
DENNIS IVY
at
LAKEVIEW
TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 29
TICKETS $2.00
\ Sponsored by Texas A&M Century Singers... Tickets available hv
members, vocal music office, table in MSC concourse and at the door
Want to Avoid 3 Lines?
Want to receive your grades, fee receipt and
class schedule at the correct address?
It’s easy — just carefully check the printed information on the
“Address Card” in your registration card packet. If it is correct
just turn it in as is. BUT, if it’s wrong, correct it on the reverse
side and the Registrar’s Office will send your final grades, fee
receipt and class schedule to the right place. That makes three
lines you can avoid.