In light of resident complaints about a faulty fire alarm system at The Varsity, a Prince George’s County fire official responded to the building last night to ensure the system was running properly.
Along with a number of other issues, Varsity residents have dealt with erratic fire alarms since the beginning of last semester. According to Prince George’s County Fire Department Battalion Chief Paul Gomez, the alarm sounded five times in January and once so far in February, forcing some residents to take matters into their hands to cope with the piercing noises.
“It was bad enough to the point where we had a pot covering the fire alarm to muffle the sound a little bit,” said junior mechanical engineering major Chris Holman. He added that the alarms would sound as early as 8 a.m., in some cases.
After first hearing about fire alarm misfires last night, the Prince George’s County Fire Department sent an inspector to the building to determine whether the alarms were fully functional. They concluded the alarms were running properly but have planned a second follow-up inspection tomorrow, Gomez said.
During the inspection, fire department officials will ensure the fire alarm has been properly tested and determine what instructions Varsity management staff gave residents during the alarms.
“[We’ll] find out what the directions were and if they were in compliance with the law,” he said.
According to a message posted by staff member Braxton Jones on The Varsity’s Facebook page, the high number of false alarms is a result of construction on retail spaces attached to the building as they attempt to sync alarm systems between the apartments and the stores. The message reads that Varsity management couldn’t control the alarms because they were coming from retail spaces, which are leased out separately to companies. But Gomez said in the event of a potential emergency, the fire department would disregard exactly who controls the spaces.
“We usually cut right through there and get to the point and get it fixed,” he said.
Varsity staff could not be reached for comment.
Looney’s Pub general manager Nick Tweed said the building cannot possibly coordinate with all the residents’ personal schedules when testing the alarm system.
“They did what they could,” Tweed said. “It’s tough for them to pick a time when everybody’s happy to set off the alarm.”
However, according to Gomez, Varsity management would be required to alert the fire department if alarms were not functioning properly, and the department would then place the building under “fire watch,” physically monitoring the building in place of the fire alarm.
“The reality is that they do need to be prepared,” Gomez said. “It’s our desire to have the fire alarms working all the time.”
Management staff members also posted messages to residents to disregard the fire alarms, saying they would notify students on the intercom system in the event of an actual fire.
“Someone will come over the intercom and say when there is a real emergency the same way they say to disregard the alarm,” Varsity staff member Courtney Elise Whitmire wrote on the Facebook page.
Some students, such as junior communication major Tommy Gatzionis, said completely disregarding the system caused uncertainty over whether the alarm was legitimate and some residents have become desensitized to the alerts.
“I never knew if was real or not, as a lot of students, which is dangerous because we disregarded the alarms as a false alarm,” Gatzionis said.
The fire alarms weren’t the only complaints Varsity residents have raised throughout the academic year. Several students they’ve been kept awake because of noise from Looney’s Pub, while others never received guest parking promised to them when they signed the lease.
“From The Varsity being the newest [building] a lot of people feel like the money is being cheated from them,” Gatzionis said. “If you look at the money you pay, you don’t feel like you’re getting taken care of.”
Holman said he also frequently deals with faulty Internet service.
“It’s basically any given day whether or not it’ll work,” he said. “This week, it was an inconvenience — I was taking an online quiz and it gave out on me.”
But Holman added he plans to move into a less expensive unit and resign his lease next year.
“The convenience of how close it is to campus is really, really nice,” he said, adding that the building’s decreasing rates convinced him to stay. “It’s a substantial enough difference that we think we’re going to resign here.”
foley@umdbk.com
