The new and temporary fire alarm system at Park Library may be a little different from the norm, but it can still save lives.
Gerald Edgar, manager of Library Business Services, said the pull-fire-alarm system was disabled during demolition work at the library some time during the summer and will not be working again until the expansion project is completed.
"We tried to figure out how to hook it back up, but found out it wasn't possible," he said.
The occupied library is now equipped with six or seven air horns on the first and second floors, in place of the former fire alarms. Edgar said the horns give long, loud blasts and can be heard up to a mile away.
"This is an interim measure to provide some kind of notification," said Mel Remus, director of plant engineering and planning for Facilities Management.
Remus said only part of the library is occupied by construction workers and employees, with no students inside.
"That's one of the reasons why we're able to do this. We couldn't put the system back together as it is, and it will be some time before it is back," Remus said.
Remus said the air horns work just as well as standard pull-fire alarms.
"A fire alarm doesn't go off if there's a fire, it goes off if someone pulls the alarm. A fire alarm is basically human-operated," Remus said.
"The building doesn't have the number of students it had since we entered the construction mode. The occupied section is a small area. It's mainly an administrative building now," he said.
The library staff at Park Library know how to use the air horns, Edgar said, but plans for fire drills need to be updated because of the various relocations of the library.
The air horns are so easy to use, "a monkey could do it," Edgar said. "It's not a complicated thing. There's no real training for it. It's a real no-brainer.
"Right now, everyone knows, if someone discovers a fire, a warning gets passed along by word of mouth. Someone gives a blast on the air horn, long and loud, and calls 911."
Staff at Finch Fieldhouse, home to part of the library during the library expansion, have the use of pull-fire-alarm stations and strobe lights also warn the employees of fires, Edgar said.
"Whatever system you use has to alert people," Edgar said.
The temporary option of calling people on the telephone to warn them of a fire was dropped by Edgar and Facilities Management because it was not a fast enough warning, Edgar said.
"The air horns will let a lot of people at one time know of a possible fire," he said.
Edgar said an air horn is also easy to use because "you can walk around with it and get close to people to warn them."
Mount Pleasant Fire Department Captain Andy Theisen said the Park Library's fire code falls under the jurisdiction of the State Fire Marshal Pat Foster.
Foster was unavailable for comment.
Theisen said jurisdiction "depends on the type of project. Some things are under (Foster's) jurisdiction, some are under mine. The library expansion is a state-funded project so it's (Foster). After the project it becomes mine."
Edgar said the library didn't need permission to use the air horns. He said the supervisor of construction of the library project suggested the air horns because they had been used effectively in past projects.
"We didn't feel we needed anyone's permission," Edgar said. "We used our initiative and that made sense."
This past summer, library staff and construction workers were subject to a tornado warning, Edgar said.
"The staff knew what to do," he said. "We didn't need a plan. Everyone knew to go into the hall and made calls, telling the construction crew to get inside.
"Just because a plan doesn't exist doesn't mean we don't know what to do in an emergency."
Prior to the demolition, the library did not have a fire detection or sprinkler system, only fire alarms, Edgar said.
The renovated library will have a new detection system, sprinklers and alarms when it opens in 2002.
"The contractor is scheduled to be done in October 2001, and we're hoping to be all set up and moved in by January 2002, for the spring semester," Edgar said.