Fire suppression updated in South Quad
Three South Quad Halls are starting the school year with new fire suppression systems.
The $2.96 million project installed suppression updates to Merrill, Thorpe and Beddow Halls as well as Merrill Residential Restaurant. Installations included 2,150 fire alarms and 2,200 sprinkler heads.
They also added 4.92 miles of fire suppression pipe and 5.98 miles of electrical conduit for the alarms.
Sweeney was the only resident hall in South campus not included in the updates. The fire suppression system was updated in 2007 after the building experienced water damage.
Stephen Lawrence, associate vice president of Facilities Management, said the project was completed on August 1. It took 42 skilled tradesman 14,000 hours to complete.
“When these older buildings were built, fire suppression systems were not required,” Lawrence said. “Since a fire pump is already there, we thought we would put systems in the rest of the (South) Quad.”
Rebecca Bizek, a Westland and resident of South campus for the last two years, said although she had never seen any problems with the fire alarms, she thinks the updates are for the best.
“I think the fire alarms were fine; they didn’t seem to be updated,” Bizek said. “As far the sprinklers, I appreciate the school the putting the safety of their students first.”
