Fire alarm! Everyone out!

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Being in a multipurpose building as mine, every so often the kitchen has a grease fire and...the LOUD ALARMS! The FLASHING LIGHTS! Just had to evacuate the building and then allow everyone back in fifteen minutes later. What was the last fire drill you went through...and was it just a drill?

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Wednesday, 5 February 2003 19:43 (twenty-two years ago)

We used to have regular fire drills back when I worked for the deaf social services agency. I was one of the fire captains, and had to theoretically risk my life wandering around making sure everyone evacuated. (We had flashing lights as well as a noise alarm, lest anyone think we were alerting the deaf people by hand or something...)

I can't remember ever being in a "real" fire alarm situation, but we did have a few bomb scares back in high school. Whee!

― Chris P (Chris P), Wednesday, 5 February 2003 19:47 (twenty-two years ago)

There's a fire alarm in my bedroom(!). No grease fires in my complex yet, but when it happens, I'm gonna get that frying pan and get all Aunt Esther on someone's ass.

― donut bitch (donut), Wednesday, 5 February 2003 19:49 (twenty-two years ago)

Haven't been in a building in which the fire alarms went off for a couple of years, since I was with washingtonpost.com. We were the first group to occupy a brand-new building, so the engineers were still testing the alarms while we were settling in. And then as the other floors were prepared for tenants a blowtorch or something would set off the alarms (nothing serious, however).

― j.lu (j.lu), Wednesday, 5 February 2003 19:51 (twenty-two years ago)

my freshman year we used to have fire alarms all the time, because those crazy funny guys in the basement used to think it would be the greatest joke of all time if they pulled the alarm at oh, 3:30am on a Tuesday. In the middle of winter. Bah! But since then, I've been relatively fire-alarm free, and i think i'd like it to stay that way.

― stolenbus (stolenbus), Wednesday, 5 February 2003 19:54 (twenty-two years ago)

They test the fire alarm every week at my work, they come around and say they are testing it. We don't have to do anything. I guess if the alarm goes off without warning, we'll have to leg it.

― jel -- (jel), Wednesday, 5 February 2003 19:55 (twenty-two years ago)

There was a fire drill in the middle of the trial last week (I was on the jury). The judge was not amused. Apparenly it's only the second they've had since September 11, 2001--and this is a major federal office building.

― Amateurist (amateurist), Wednesday, 5 February 2003 19:58 (twenty-two years ago)

We've had alarms but only one drill where they made us walk down 27 stories of stairs on one of the hottest days of summer.

― Mr Noodles (Mr Noodles), Wednesday, 5 February 2003 20:00 (twenty-two years ago)

Our work fire alarm goes off on a regular basis, I think it smells toast. It's really loud, and all the doors throughout the house slam shut.. horrid.
Last time I was involved in a real fire was when I worked at a factory. My mate strolled out 20 minutes after the alarms started. He'd been in the toilets and the alarm wasn't working in there. He was very confused when he came out, as the alarms had been turned off, but the building was still empty. He hadn't lived it down by the time I left there.

― Celeste (Celeste), Wednesday, 5 February 2003 20:03 (twenty-two years ago)

Right, Noodles, and I'm sure it wouldn't be hot IF THERE WAS A REAL FIRE!

― Nick A. (Nick A.), Wednesday, 5 February 2003 20:04 (twenty-two years ago)

The last one I had was when I was living in the dorms at Hampshire in 1994, and it went off the same reason it went off all the time: someone was smoking pot near a fire alarm.

That was the same winter that there was a problem with the alarms, though, that made them go off any time it got below 20 or so degrees out. Gosh how I hated living there.

― Tep (ktepi), Wednesday, 5 February 2003 20:21 (twenty-two years ago)

We had a fire alarm this morning at 8am. Good excuse to go out for coffee.

― zaxxon25 (zaxxon25), Wednesday, 5 February 2003 20:50 (twenty-two years ago)

God, thankfully I've yet to have to evacuate the library during a fire alarm yet. You've gotta wear a little red vest and stuff. Even more absurd is the list of questions you have to ask people who phone in bomb threats. I've just been really lucky on both counts.

Fire alarms were I-guess-you-could-call common in the dorms back in college. They never were serious, and a lot of people just locked their doors and didn't leave. I always lived on the first floor, so the one or two times I did that I figured I could just leap out the window if it turned out to be legit. Rather than stand outside like a shmuck in my PJ's freezing my ass off, I'd usually just use the alarm as an excuse to go for a walk or get some food.

― Anthony Miccio (Anthony Miccio), Wednesday, 5 February 2003 20:52 (twenty-two years ago)

You've gotta wear a little red vest and stuff.

Stylish.

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Wednesday, 5 February 2003 20:53 (twenty-two years ago)

Right, Noodles, and I'm sure it wouldn't be hot IF THERE WAS A REAL FIRE!

If there was a real fire we're toast. I was complaining about standing around in the hot midday sun till they finished their little drill.

― Mr Noodles (Mr Noodles), Wednesday, 5 February 2003 20:59 (twenty-two years ago)

We have a fire drill every two months or so. The fire test database system is maintained by the guy diagonally opposite me, so he's always very informed when they are coming. I used to like them when I was a smoker, as they were a free bonus fag break, but now they are just a minor (unless cold/raining) nuisance.

― Martin Skidmore (Martin Skidmore), Wednesday, 5 February 2003 21:34 (twenty-two years ago)

when i first moved into my apartment, i used to set off the smoke alarm in my kitchen all the time. that's when i discovered that you can take the batteries outta the motherfucker when yer cooking something smoky.

we used to have biannual fire alarms where i used to work -- the building superintendent reminded us all of Fire Marshal Bob.

― Tad (llamasfur), Wednesday, 5 February 2003 21:51 (twenty-two years ago)

Obligatory sexual confession:
I was once in bed with "a friend" late at night. Whe the alarm went off, we decided to just stay put and hope that we wouldn't burn up.
(This was not as stupid as it sounds--it was a dorm, and the alarm regualarly went off for no reason whatsoever.)

― since it includes a taboo subject, Thursday, 6 February 2003 06:16 (twenty-two years ago)

we have to have so many per month but b/c our principal is a fuck-up this often means we'll have two or three per day, the last day of the month!!

Our fire drills consist of shrill burglar alarm sounds, having to usher the whole class to stand, and stop still, in single file line, securing my class room, taking my gradebook, directing them outside, gathering them together, taking roll, not returning inside until every child is accounted for. They often try to run off campus during this time and I have been publicly humilated by my principal (who was carrying a large paddle at the time) during fire drills b/c my kids were talking.

I hate fire drills.

― That Girl (thatgirl), Thursday, 6 February 2003 06:45 (twenty-two years ago)

I sprained my ankle at work coz somebody had left the top off one of those underfloorboxeswhatyouplugstuffinto so they were all worried in cased I sued them. They took me to A& and left me there,by myself, holding my shoe and looking sore. Next thing the fire alram in A&E goes off and I had to hop outside and stand in the cold with one freezing foot. They were wheeling really ill folk out in beds, it was chaos. It was coz one of the nurses was making toast apparently.

In my old house there was the Smoke Detector That Wouldn’t Die. It just kept going off for no reason, I’d go out shopping and come back and the damn thing would be going mental! One morning I had the mother of all hangovers when this thing starts up again so I stared hitting it with a broom handle (it made sense at the time OK?). That didn’t help so I got ladders, climbed up & took the battery out - and it kept f*cking beeping!! So I went to the fuse box and flicked the switch which said “Smoke Alarms”, and the f*cker still kept bleeping!! Eventually I had to turn off all the electricity in the house and cut the b*starding wires. I smashed it into a thousand tiny pieces…and it felt good….

― smee (smee), Thursday, 6 February 2003 13:53 (twenty-two years ago)

I'm not even sure there are batteries in our smoke detector any more. We kept taking them out for use elsewhere. We consume lots of batteries. Mmm... Tasty...

― Sarah McLusky (coco), Thursday, 6 February 2003 14:11 (twenty-two years ago)

I was working in my firm's DC office, one more hour to go until VACATION, and the alarm went. Not a drill, the stink of creosote everywhere, two and a half hours before I could get back into the building and instead of leaving for vacation a 5, I finally was got on a train at 10.

― Colin Meeder (Mert), Thursday, 6 February 2003 14:18 (twenty-two years ago)

every once in a while here we have an test. And each dpeartment has its own designated "fire marshall" who gets to wear the coolest neon orange vest and direct the department approximately 5 miles accross the parking lot.

― Chris V. (Chris V), Thursday, 6 February 2003 14:34 (twenty-two years ago)

I don't recall any college dorm fire alarms going off while I was in bed with anyone, but once they did go off while I was in the shower. This was in January, so I had to go outside in winter weather soaking wet, in just my nightgown.

― j.lu (j.lu), Thursday, 6 February 2003 14:39 (twenty-two years ago)

Cockfarmer fire alarm is going off but luckily this time we don't have to leave the building. Headphones are up to 11 at the moment. I feel like Chewbacca in that scene in the jail cell in Cloud City.

― Aaron W (Aaron W), Thursday, 13 February 2003 14:56 (twenty-two years ago)

we had a fire alarm test this morning and were expressly told *not* to leave the building. However, our new offices (unlike the old ones) don't have a tannoy, so the instruction was given by e-mail. I can only imagine that those staff away from their desks and those who don't use computers (eg in the canteen) would've left the building anyway only to be standing around in the cold wondering where everyone else was.

― MarkH (MarkH), Thursday, 13 February 2003 15:19 (twenty-two years ago)

I think some people actually left our building too but I was stalling (some cockfarmer was like, "hey Meg, Rachel, and [pointing at me] you dude [DUDE!!! Oh c'mon, I've worked here for a YEAR and my name is outside my cubicle] we have to leave"). By the time I finally got on my coat the people from outside had come back in and said we didn't need to leave. That showed 'em! Luckily the alarm also stopped a while ago.

― Aaron W (Aaron W), Thursday, 13 February 2003 15:23 (twenty-two years ago)

we don't have cubicles here, it's all far more open plan, but strangely enough, the namecard which used to sit atop one of my monitors was the only thing of mine which went missing when we moved offices, allowing for understandable "hey you!" situations. I'm not sure *how* it went missing, seeing as when I waved bye-bye to the old office on Christmas Eve there were at least four tea crates stacked on top of mine and anyway, who'd want to nick it?

― MarkH (MarkH), Thursday, 13 February 2003 15:42 (twenty-two years ago)

I'm very very sorry Mark.

― Graham (graham), Thursday, 13 February 2003 18:21 (twenty-two years ago)

good. it's annoying!

― MarkH (MarkH), Saturday, 15 February 2003 12:21 (twenty-two years ago)

five months pass...

Goddamned fire alarms! Mine just went off & it's 2:30AM and you have no idea how loud and annoying it is. This happens all the time. I am not happy about this.

― s1utsky (slutsky), Monday, 21 July 2003 05:18 (twenty-two years ago)

The worst is, apart from being incredibly loud, it's letting off this really smokey smell too.

― s1utsky (slutsky), Monday, 21 July 2003 05:19 (twenty-two years ago)

ten months pass...

JEBUS CRIPES!!! Our "fire drill" just turned out to be a bomb scare. Crikey. We filed obediently out of the building to find POLICE CARS screaming up Blackfriars Road and half the block taped off.

Apparently the client who is with my officemate left his taxi in the fire lane, and this caused an AMBER STATE OF EMERGENCY. Crikey! Will get the goss from her when she finishes with them.

― Apostrophe Catastrophe (kate), Wednesday, 16 June 2004 15:13 (twenty-one years ago)

There have been at least three in the last two weeks, allegedly to do with 'water pressure' in the building. Uh-huh.

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Wednesday, 16 June 2004 15:15 (twenty-one years ago)

Last week the fire alarm started going off for no reason, so we opened it up, and found that, for the last nine months, the reset button has been held down with sellotape.

― Gregory Henry (Gregory Henry), Wednesday, 16 June 2004 15:18 (twenty-one years ago)

one year passes...

Hurrah, I just got to spend half an hour standing outside. The painters in the staff stairwell set it off.

― Sick Mouthy (Nick Southall), Wednesday, 11 January 2006 15:07 (nineteen years ago)

Were they painting with... fire?

― Archel (Archel), Wednesday, 11 January 2006 15:19 (nineteen years ago)

And again! Only ten minutes this time, and no fire engine.

― Sick Mouthy (Nick Southall), Wednesday, 11 January 2006 15:38 (nineteen years ago)

The ash tray on the wall outside my office caught fire (again) yesterday. No alarms or anything. And yet it goes off all the time for no reason at all.

― Archel (Archel), Wednesday, 11 January 2006 15:39 (nineteen years ago)

one year passes...

So the thing about the alarm just now was that the extremely heavy rain this morning had happily tapered off a lot. Otherwise we'd all be really cranky.

― Ned Raggett, Tuesday, 27 February 2007 17:10 (eighteen years ago)

Oh god how i hated fire alarms while i was in boarding school. We'd have drills in the middle of the night and you HAD to go outsides. I remember staying out in the cold (like -1 C) with just shorts and a blanket while they were checking if every one had come out. Also this one guy managed to sleep through the alarm. I still have no idea how he managed to do that. Those alarms were right above our beds and excruciatingly loud. We got to spend an extra 20mn outside (in the rain that time urg) till they found who the missing guy was and where he was.

― Jibe, Tuesday, 27 February 2007 23:24 (eighteen years ago)

Though actually, i also remember a fire alarm going off unexpectedly during a test. Obviously everyone grabbed the opportunity and started exchanging answers.

Also at the end of the year the people who graduated would celebrate by letting all hell loose in the school. One year this involved washing the corridor outside a number of classes with soap and water and then setting off the fire alarm and laugh at the people who rushed out of the classes onto the slippery hallways.

― Jibe, Tuesday, 27 February 2007 23:27 (eighteen years ago)

We had a proper fire drill last year (as opposed to the weekly "test the alarms and annoy the shit out of everyone" thing). This involved filing out of the building as one would if there was an emergency.

I'm 27 floors up. Have you ever tried walking down 27 flights of stairs when you never do any exercise? It used such weird muscles, I couldnt walk properly for a week :(

And half the bastards in my office ducked out early for coffee and avoided the whole thing damn them.

― Trayce, Tuesday, 27 February 2007 23:28 (eighteen years ago)

UH.
them = thing. Wheres my glasses.

― Trayce, Tuesday, 27 February 2007 23:30 (eighteen years ago)

Wait scratch that.

I'm not having a good day :(

― Trayce, Tuesday, 27 February 2007 23:31 (eighteen years ago)

27 floors! A marathoner would be sore! Can't you just hide in the bathroom if you don't actually smell smoke?

― Beth Parker, Wednesday, 28 February 2007 02:20 (eighteen years ago)

An ALARM went off at my studio apt. once and I could not get it to stop. No matter how I pressed its buttons, jostled it, etc., it just kept screaming its constant high tone.

After a few minutes I became convinced it was a horrible hallucination, so I covered my ears and ran outside. Fortunately it was real.

― Abbott, Wednesday, 28 February 2007 02:22 (eighteen years ago)

Smoke alarms are mandatory in homes where I live - but mine are all hanging off the ceiling sans batteries at the moment cos every time I cook something big like steak it sets the fucker off.

― Trayce, Wednesday, 28 February 2007 02:24 (eighteen years ago)

Yeah, that and lamb chops. Pulling out the batteries is easier than having to fan the shit out of it with a tea towel every time it goes off.

I was finally conned into being a fire warden after managing to dodge it for 3 years. Turns out it's pretty cruisy - it gets me out of work for "training" sessions where I can perve on the fireman instructor. Nice.

― Hard like armour, Wednesday, 28 February 2007 02:51 (eighteen years ago)

one year passes...

just met some neighbors-- it was fun. plus someone i know was walking down the street and i now have person to watch the germany match today with

― dell, Wednesday, 25 June 2008 17:13 (seventeen years ago)

You basically kidnapped them, didn't you?

― snoball, Wednesday, 25 June 2008 17:16 (seventeen years ago)

i would ask them to chime in on the subject matter, but their hands are duct-taped at the moment

― dell, Wednesday, 25 June 2008 17:17 (seventeen years ago)

"basically"

― dell, Wednesday, 25 June 2008 17:18 (seventeen years ago)

the alarm is still beeping. also i am paranoid that my landlord busted into my place and was alarmed by the detritus within

― dell, Wednesday, 25 June 2008 21:15 (seventeen years ago)

three months pass...

BEEP BEEP BEEP
everybody out
some punk kid at the sign language convention pulled it

― jergins, Saturday, 18 October 2008 23:51 (sixteen years ago)

What's sign language for "let's see how punk you are after we clip you around the ear"?
Also plz sign language for "I remember when you could kick a ball in the street"...

― snoball, Sunday, 19 October 2008 00:02 (sixteen years ago)

how did anybody hear it!?

― The Cursed Return of the Dastardly Thermo Thinwall, Sunday, 19 October 2008 01:32 (sixteen years ago)

haha i wondered that. they all ended up on the sidewalk. musta been family there that could hear

― jergins, Sunday, 19 October 2008 01:41 (sixteen years ago)

those things have strobes on them for the deafs

― harbl, Sunday, 19 October 2008 01:46 (sixteen years ago)

oh yaa!

― jergins, Sunday, 19 October 2008 01:54 (sixteen years ago)

siren.jpg

― abusive comments (PappaWheelie V), Sunday, 19 October 2008 03:46 (sixteen years ago)

one year passes...

And here we go again.

Beautiful day, though.

― Ned Raggett, Thursday, 1 July 2010 20:24 (fifteen years ago)

Those who complain about fire alarms deserve neither

― lowwave (S-), Friday, 2 July 2010 05:28 (fifteen years ago)

Again?

― Ned Raggett, Monday, 12 July 2010 20:07 (fifteen years ago)

three years pass...

Why the fuck is this cunt chirping every minute? Changed the battery and everything. Next step is to destroy it with the brush handle (like i did the last one iirc)

― clique- your heels, together (darraghmac), Sunday, 28 July 2013 17:56 (twelve years ago)

haw

― maven with rockabilly glasses (Matt P), Sunday, 28 July 2013 17:58 (twelve years ago)

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