Campus Fire and Security

"I'm angry, I'm angry, I'm angry," said Quincy House Allston Burr Resident Dean Judith F. Chapman. "It's so destructive to the community. Maybe it was ignorance. Now everyone who reads The Crimson will know: Don't play with the fire extinguisher."

Readers of this blog know that vandalism of fire extinguishers on college and university campuses is very common - except in those places where they use en-Gauge electronically monitored fire extinguishers. There vandalism is scant, clean-up costs nil and working fire extinguishers are assured.

Vandals are at it again. Breaking into a school and setting off fire extinguishers. A fire alarm also went off causing the fire department to respond, despite the fact there was no fire. Electronically monitored fire extinguishers would have notified authorities when an extinguisher was removed perhaps helping the police catch the vandals in the act.

Here we go again. This time in Alabama where four young men vandalized a high school with a fire extinguisher and caused more than $10,000 in damages and clean-up costs.

Monitored extinguishers may have resulted in quicker response time from authorities and less damage to the school.

Thank goodness for that fast acting safety officer and his trusty fire extinguisher or the damage could have been worse. The accidental fire required the evacuation of 600+ students, but thankfully no one was hurt.

You just have to love it when school officials act fast and avert a dangerous situation. Kudos to the folks in Peoria for using a nearby fire extinguisher to knock down a fire before it spread.

What was probably considered a silly Frat house prank caused a disturbance and fire response. If that extinguisher had been electronically monitored the student may have thought twice before maliciously discharging it.

 Friday, 2/26

1:56 a.m.: A fire alarm at 88 Broad Street (Beta Theta Pi Fraternity) was caused by a maliciously discharged fire extinguisher.

What a mess! The eight extinguishers were set off in the kitchen, kitchen closet, hallway and gym. School personnel cleaned up most of the mess, but an outside crew was needed to clean-up the kitchen due to the extent of the damage.

Police only became aware of the break-in and vandalism after the fog from the extinguishers set off fire alarms. If those extinguishers had been electronically monitored, security could have been notified as soon as the first one was taken from its hook. That immediate notification might have prevented such extensive damage.

Whether real or a hoax, sadly this isn't the first time students have used a fire extinguisher as an IED (improvised explosive device).

Taking a common, "friendly" item, such as a fire extinguisher, and turning it into a dangerous weapon is becoming more and more prevalent. No one suspects a safety device would be used for anything other than safety; so it creates a great way to hide something very dangerous in plain site.