Fire Alarm Set Off in Stevens Hall

By Autumn McPherson

On November 14th, 2023, around 3:30pm, the fire alarm went off in the Stevens Dorm Hall on the University of Alaska Fairbanks campus.

After the situation was handled by the university fire team, who contracts with the bureau to provide services for the university and the surrounding areas, Kyle Green, the fire marshal for UAF, stated “It was burnt food in the microwave. It started to smoke when it was burning and it set off the smoke detection in the dorms which alerted us so we could come down automatically.”

While the firefighters were taking care of the smell in the dorms, it became apparent that the microwave was in a dorm on the second floor.

Photo by Autumn McPherson

The individual who set off the alarm, who chooses to remain anonymous, stated “I will not state how long I put the honey bun in the microwave, but it was a honey bun that I bought from the vending machine in the dorm. I was hungry so I put a honey bun in the microwave, went to the bathroom, then came back and the room was smokey. While my roommate was in the room studying, the white glaze on the honeybun had turned a solid black and the food was charred. We have really crappy microwaves in the dorms. I think the school should provide better microwaves because it will either not heat up your food at all or completely burn your food. I think there should be microwaves with a balance in between.”

After the individual was allowed back into their dorm to assess the damage, it was clear there was no damage done to the surroundings of their room, however, the microwave itself had smoke and yellow substance from the incident.

“In the spur of the moment I didn’t know what to do with the burnt honey bun, so I put it with the plate in a shoe box, brought it outside, and put it in the trash can.”

This experience not only harmed the individual's and their roommate’s time, it also harmed those around them. Statements were made by a hallmate that they were in the middle of playing a game in their room when they noticed smoke and came out to the entire hallway having a bad smell and smoke surrounding it. Other individuals were late to class as the RA’s had to kick everybody out once the alarms went off, making it hard to grab their essentials like keys, work clothes, computers, etc.

At the end of the day this incident was an honest mistake that could have been resolved with better and newer microwaves within the dorm as well as not leaving cooking food unattended. Nevertheless, even with the issue of older and sometimes malfunctioning microwaves on campus, it is important to note how the campus fire department was quick and prompt in acting as they were on the scene within minutes.