Skyline students, staff and faculty should be very concerned about the fire over the Veterans Day weekend at the Pacific Heights campus.
Not because there was a fire to begin with, or that the cause of the fire remains unknown, or even that Coach Dino Nomicos, who discovered the fire, could not get into the locked room where the fire was. No, the most disturbing part of this story is that no fire alarms were actually triggered, despite the fact that he pulled three separate alarms.
During such a crucial phase during the rebuilding of Skyline College, one might think safety would be high on the priority list, but an incident such as this should be a huge red flag. This is not the first time there has been a fire on campus, nor will it be the last. Still, there should be no excuse for faulty equipment when lives are at steak. Because of such events, The Skyline View feels that fire safety and evacuation plans are something every student should know about, and, in the event of an emergency, adequate actions are taken to keep everyone safe.
Over the summer, many students and staff may recall the fire at the ridge. A strong wind blew the dense and hot smoke cloud directly towards the campus, and most students left quickly of their own volition. In case the students did not notice the smoke, campus security walked around informing people the campus was being evacuated. For the most part, this went off without a hitch, however, a fire alarm was not sounded.
One reason it might not have been triggered was because the fire was not in any building, or perhaps security did not want to cause a panic. While these are good reasons, there might have been staff in isolated rooms in the buildings, such as offices or students thinking the smoke was just fog. Though they do the best they can, security cannot check all rooms of all buildings on campus. It would have made perfect sense to use the alarm that day, but not a single bell sounded. Such bells can be the difference between life and death.
As luck would have it, no one on campus during the summer fire was in harm’s way. Skyline was also lucky when no one but other than Coach Nomicos was on the Pacific Heights campus when the fire broke out, due to the holiday weekend. But let’s face it, luck is not something that is consistent. What if the fire had started during the regular school week? Though many might shudder at the thought of what could have happened, shuddering will also do no good.
The only sure-fire method to keeping students and staff safe during fires is to have working fire alarm equipment, as well as clearly marked extinguishers. If those are still not sufficient, a clear evacuation plan should be posted near every building entrance. It is heartening to hear that the faulty Pacific Heights alarms will be replaced and hooked into the main alarm system for Skyline, and The View applauds this decision.
Again, though every precaution may be taken to prevent fires from happening, accidents still happen. This can be especially true in construction zones. The Pacific Heights campus is set to be remodeled soon-the old building is in desperate need of renovation. Perhaps it is also time to renovate the current fire safety standards throughout the entire campus. Safe students and staff are happy students and staff.