Asking a Fraternity to put on blindfolds and find their way out of their house may sound more like an act of hazing than an informative presentation, but this is part of Fire Safety Coordinator Dan Cunning’s campus-wide education program.
To start off Fire Prevention Safety Month this past Wednesday, Cunning went to Sigma Phi Epsilon to educate the brothers. In his second presentation to a Greek organization, Cunning began with an explanation of how building construction, such as old wiring and unused dumb waiter shafts, can work for or against the inhabitants’ safety. He then showed two films – one staged by students from Stockton College and the other from the Station fire in Rhode Island where cell phone footage showed 100 people dying due to the rapid spreading of a fire.
“When we say get out fast, we mean it,” said Cunning.
According to Cunning, everybody that died in the Station fire failed to reach the exit. He then had the brothers practice a blind evacuation drill.
“That’s how fast things get going,” said Cunning, in reference to how quickly a fire can spread. “[You could be] sitting in the frat house having a beer, not even knowing.”
So far this year, the only alarm has been from a burnt Pop-Tart; every other alarm was due to a system malfunction which Cunning is working to fix.
“We’ve gotten a lot done [since June],” he said, referring to $17,000 spent to replace older detection systems, including replacing battery-powered alarms with hard-wired alarms in two of the fraternity houses, and educating both students and local authorities.
He plans to educate every off-campus Greek organization and have every Hoboken firefighter come through each of the off-campus houses. In addition, he has been pre-fire planning each of the buildings with maps and floor plans, including the number of students per room, which will be found on every fire truck.
Cunning emphasized that if there is an alarm and a student knows anything about the cause, he or she should not hesitate to approach the authorities – no matter how minor the cause.
“No one will get mad,” said Cunning. “We know the systems are sensitive.”
Additionally, he added that if a student sees anything suspicious, he shouldn’t hesitate to pull the alarm as “that’s what they’re there for.”
Cunning started his new position this past June and has implemented a plan which revolves around the “three E’s – education, enforcement, and engineering.”
With regards to the two alarms at Pierce last month, Cunning said those were resolved with a combination of two of the “E’s.” He has replaced the smoke detector with a less sensitive heat detector, is checking the hood system, and has educated the staff on safer grill cleaning techniques.
“[My goal is] to make everybody more responsible for their own safety,” said Cunning.
If any student has any questions or concerns, he or she should contact Dan Cunning at dcunning@stevens.edu.
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