Fire alarms in the Harry Fairhurst building failed to activate last week, while students in the main library were evacuated after a small outdoor fire was detected.
On Thursday afternoon, students in the main library were evacuated when fire alarms were activated. Later it was discovered that smoke from a small outdoor fire, near the library, had managed to activate the alarms. Meanwhile, students in the brand new Harry Fairhurst building were unaware of the evacuation.
A second-year history student told Vision that she “noticed some people staring out the window so to procrastinate we went to see what the fuss was about and there were loads of people outside the library.”
She continued: “We guessed it must have been the fire alarm going off but we couldn’t hear it.” The student described how the alarm did eventually go off in the Harry Fairhurst building but only very briefly, for “just a few seconds,” and not nearly loud enough.
On trying to exit the building with her friends a security guard walking back into the building with the evacuated students asked them why they hadn’t left. Clearly, she told Vision, “there is a problem with the fire alarms and it needs fixing.”