Jan 6 2011
The residence halls on the East and South greens have been incorporated with Safe-T-sensors by the fire protection engineers at Ohio University for lowering the number of nuisance alarms.
The OU Environmental Health and Safety Department has conducted a study to explore the cause of these nuisance alarms on the campus and found that most of such alarms were caused by burnt food in microwaves.
The Federal Emergency Management Agency provided a $387,848 grant to buy nearly 4,500 Safe-T-sensors. These sensors identify the smoke arsing from the microwave and disconnect its power prior to the activation of the smoke detector and alarm systems in the building. The microwave will restart automatically after 30 seconds.
Brent Auker, a fire protection engineer, remarked that the major issue they had to face was the time taken for the installation of the sensors. It took two to three minutes for each room. He added that information about the sensors have been provided on all microwaves. They are also trying to give general awareness, he added. If the sensors are damaged, the university and the city will punish the students, he warned.
The Ohio University also has plans to integrate the sensing devices in West Green residence halls. The grant from the agency demands the university to accomplish the sensor installation within one year.
Source: http://www.ohio.edu