At Moravian College Fire safety is a campus wide priority,
and we benefit from a strong partnership with the Bethlehem Fire Department.
Several years ago, the City of Bethlehem adopted a new
fire code. As part of the review and implementation process, the Bethlehem
Fire Department determined earlier this summer that the current code
requires a fire department response to every fire alarm received by
campus police, including those in all residential, academic and office
buildings.
This is a departure from the previous procedure. In the
past, Moravian College Police immediately responded to and assessed
all alarms before contacting the Bethlehem Fire Department. This procedure
has been in
effect for 17 years, with an excellent average response time of less
than one minute from campus police.
While the previous procedure worked well, the Bethlehem
Fire Department believes this change will reduce the chance of danger
or injury due to fire. A positive aspect of this change will be a quicker
and more timely response by fire personnel in case of a true emergency.
As many of you are aware, recent fires on campuses of other universities
and colleges have heightened awareness regarding fire safety. The City
of Bethlehem feels this is the prudent approach to take at this time,
and we support any action that offers further protection to our community
members.
You already may have begun to notice changes on campus
as a result of this code. Most noticeable has been an increase in the
frequency of fire trucks and fire personnel on campus. With this increase
in large, heavy equipment on our roadways must come an additional level
of vigilance by our students, faculty and staff while walking or driving
on campus. We ask that you remain aware of your surroundings while
on roadways and follow all requests made by fire personnel, including
vacating buildings quickly.
Our student affairs residential services staff members
as well as police officers from campus safety will work closely with
students to improve fire safety and help reduce the total number of
alarms. The overwhelming number of alarms that the police and/or fire
department responded to on campus in 2001 were alarms triggered by
non-fire situations such as smoke from cooking, fireplaces, cigarettes,
candles, and bath/shower exhaust in residence halls.
You will notice other changes as well. No Parking/Fire
Zones will be clearly marked and strictly enforced to ensure that the
fire trucks can get to all campus destinations easily and safely. Within
a few weeks, an assessment will be completed of all roadways in conjunction
with the fire department at which time we will provide you with information
on all no parking zones on campus. The Dorm Circle, Townhouse and Beck-Deschweinitz
drives will be most affected and since access by fire vehicles to an
emergency site could be hampered, violations will result in fines and
possible towing.
We must stress that the Bethlehem Fire Department takes
the job of life safety very seriously. False alarms are not just an
inconvenience to them, but put lives at risk as well. Any citations
the Bethlehem Fire Department or campus police see fit to serve due
to false alarms or infractions of city or state laws regarding the
condition of fire detection and suppression equipment will result in
fines in addition to any fines or sanctions levied by the College.
We are committed to the safety and well being of our
Moravian community. In addition to these changes we are in the second
year of a five-year program to install sprinkler systems in all residence
halls to further protect our students. We ask for your diligence and
understanding during this time of change, and will keep you updated
on our progress.
