As Stouffer College House residents found out earlier this week, sometimes fire alarms are real. But an unfortunate rash of recent alarms in the building -- not to mention a spate of unwarranted wake-up calls in other campus residences -- could put everyone living there in serious danger.
Stouffer residents were needlessly evacuated again Wednesday night thanks to an error in the alarm system. When people's lives are at stake, these systems need to work reliably, and that includes avoiding false alarms.
Many residents who have suffered through repeated erroneous alarms in the past are likely to become complacent and are less likely to respond in the event of an actual emergency. When this happens, everyone is at risk.
Stouffer residents are fortunate that the fire prevention system that was installed in their building did its job Tuesday night to prevent the fire that started in one room from spreading to others.
But if the system continues to malfunction and create false alarms that residents cannot distinguish from actual emergencies, something needs to be done about it. Make the company that installed it five months ago fix the problem so that students are not at risk in the future.
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