Fire alarm fails to alarm residence hall

Officials found the dormitory's sirens inoperative, said Colleen Morgan of the UA's department of Risk Management and Safety.

Fire sensing and alarm activation systems worked, and appropriate signals were sent to university police, but the 153 occupants of the hall had no indication anything was amiss.

Risk management set up an interim procedure for police to notify the resident director at the hall in case a fire were to break out before the siren could be fixed.

That procedure called for the director to notify resident assistants, who would then run through the hall notifying and evacuating students in case of fire.

"The RA's would alert students with noisemakers, whistles, and knocking on doors and assist in evacuating the building," Morgan said.

However, none of those procedures were needed before the alarm was repaired yesterday morning, said Fire Safety Supervisor Jim Quediruga of the University of Arizona's department of Facilities Management.

The problem was traced to a faulty electronic circuit board in the alarm's main control panel, which was replaced, Quediruga said.

The malfunction occurred sometime within the week prior to Monday's failed fire drill. The system was fully tested last week, before students began moving into the residence hall, and was working properly, Quediruga said.

Following repairs, a successful fire drill was conducted last night, with residents safely evacuating and then returning to the hall.