Any dorm resident knows what it is like to wake up in the middle of the night to the sound of a fire alarm.
Since the Fall 2000 semester, the Memphis Fire Department has responded to over 20 calls of fires at Richardson Towers, many which have been false fire alarms.
A combined total of 21 calls have been recorded at both Richardson Towers South and North. Only three were recorded last semester as real fires while only one real fire was reported this semester.
Geoff Fenlong, assistant area coordinator of Richardson Towers South, said he believes residents during the fall semester are a little more prone to pulling alarms than during the spring semester.
"I think what it is, in the fall, people are a little more rambunctious," Fenlong said. "It just tapers off when they realize what a pain in the butt it is."
Mark Wolfe, undecided sophomore, said the fake fire alarms are irritating to all residents, but he has found some comical relief to his inconvenience.
"I think they are annoying," Wolfe said. "It does, however, give me a chance to meet my neighbors."
Perhaps one of the most interesting aspects of pulling the fire alarms is a certain department is called each time. Firehouse 18 is called to cover the entire University of Memphis campus.
Fenlong said if students are caught in their rooms during a fire alarm, they may be escorted out of the building, and possibly arrested for trespassing.
"If students stay in their rooms during a fire drill and we find them, they will be sent to judicial and ethical programs for processing," Fenlong said. "It is a validation of their housing contract, and they can be evicted from the building. If the fire department finds them, the fire department has the ability to physically remove them from the building and put them in jail. It's a federal offense."
Firefighters are not the only ones inconvenienced by the late-night fire alarms. Charles McLemore, sophomore music major, said he believes the fire department may not respond to Richardson Tower calls if false alarms keep happening.
"I think they are annoying too," McLemore said. "The alarms wake me up in the middle of the night, and we have go downstairs in the cold. They need to stop because one night, the fire department will decide not to come."
Fire officials said although Firehouse 18 receives many false alarms from U of M dormitories, each call is taken seriously.
When asked if firefighters reach a certain point when they do not respond to possible false calls, one official said no.
"No, it's not what they pay me to do," he said. "I hope it is not a real fire, but we treat each call as a real one."
