Comments on: Harvard Hall Fire Inquiry

By: Pennywise

Pennywise — Tue, 24 Feb 2009 20:46:06 +0000

Ultimately it seems this was a small fire, which was relatively quickly brought under control. Though it was probably intense for people close to it, and for the injured of course, my guess is that the responding firefighters decided an evacuation was not warranted. An evac would bring possibly broken legs, hypothermia, and other problems, which they probably judged to be a worse risk than the fire. A valid question might be why a resident didn’t pull the fire alarm as soon as they saw smoke, but in such situations its hard to second guess people’s actions.

By: PetworthRes

PetworthRes — Tue, 24 Feb 2009 20:22:38 +0000

weird, why didn’t the firefighters just pull the alarm?

By: Lenny

Lenny — Tue, 24 Feb 2009 14:59:43 +0000

I heard on NewsChannel8 this morning that the fire alarms in that building are not directly linked to the smoke detectors. Therefore, the alarms do not go off unless someone pulls them.

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Tue, 24 Feb 2009 14:33:41 +0000

I live in HH too — Fire fighters did do a door-to-door evacuation but not of the whole building, as ontarioreader suggested they told some residents to stay in their apartments — I assume (but don’t know) because at that point the smoke in the hallways was so bad and they knew the fire was contained. I’m guessing (guessing!) that they may not have gone to some floors (like the basement) because they were not in danger.

Aside from why no fire alarms went off is the question of why so much smoke spread through the building, when the fire was contained in one apartment.

We do all have smoke detectors in our apartments, too — but at the time we evacuated, at least, there wasn’t smoke in the apartment, although there was a lot in the hallway. We have pretty solid walls and doors in this old building.

I’m so sad and upset about the resident of the apartment where the fire was, she should be our top concern right now, I think.

By: 2b3s

2b3s — Tue, 24 Feb 2009 14:08:37 +0000

Firefighters evacuated the entire building, by going door to door yelling “fire in the building” — this is the only reason many residents knew there was a fire and they had to leave the building.

By: ontarioroader

ontarioroader — Tue, 24 Feb 2009 13:54:21 +0000

Pretty sure DCFD would have pulled a pull station/gone door-to-door if they needed a full evacuation of the building. It’s not uncommon for firefighters to request many to ‘shelter-in-place’ if the fire is contained, there’s no extension, etc. No reason for folks to freeze their a**es off outside and clog stairways and hallways with themselves and luggage [they always do] when told to evacuate.

By: not telling

not telling — Tue, 24 Feb 2009 13:44:25 +0000

It is always the landlord’s responsibility to provide working smoke detectors in every sleeping area, but if anyone finds their landlord unwilling to comply with this requirement, they can get their own smoke detector. They only cost a few bucks and its worth it if it means you stay alive.

If you can’t afford one, local firehouses keep a stock of them and give them away free for anyone who stops by and asks.

By: pia

pia — Tue, 24 Feb 2009 13:10:37 +0000

I’m sadly not surprised at all…so many of my friends live in apartments throughout that area that, while paying a premium to live in A/M are about a step above a slum. I hope this building owner pays the price for not having a safe building!