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Fire and Life Safety Programs

Environmental Health and Safety

The fire and life safety program at UT Tyler involves numerous activities, programs, and procedures to help ensure that our campus is a safe place to work, live, and play. These program areas include fire prevention, fire suppression, emergency preparedness, preplanning, education, and response. The following information is provided as a general guideline for activities associated with fire and life safety.

Fire and Life Safety Inspections

Fire and life safety inspections are conducted at least annually in UT Tyler facilities. The goal of these inspections is to help identify potentially unsafe practices and conditions. These are not surprise inspections. The Fire and Life Safety Manager will notify the building proctor or facility coordinator prior to inspecting a facility. We want to work with building occupants to help ensure a fire safe environment in which to work.

Common concerns are:

  • Unapproved storage in hallways and stairwells
  • Blocked emergency exits
  • Permanent use of extension cords
  • Propped open fire doors
  • "Daisy-Chaining" surge protectors
  • Candles-The use of candles and other open flame devices (including incense and potpourri burners, torches, fueled lamps, etc.) is prohibited

Fire Evacuation Drills

Fire drills are conducted to familiarize the building occupants with the sound of the fire alarm, the emergency exits that are available and the procedure for safely evacuating the building. It is important and mandatory that all occupants of any building on campus participate in scheduled fire drills.

Occupants normally enter the elevator from the lobby, ride to a particular floor and walk along known paths to their destination. They usually make no effort to discover other means of egress which could be used in a fire or other emergency situation. The fire drill creates the opportunity to plan ahead for such emergencies and decreases the chances of confusion and panic that can cause injuries or fatalities.

All fire drills are announced in advance and your reaction to the fire alarm should be as though it was an actual fire. These exercises are conducted at least twice a year in all student housing, and once a year in campus buildings. Fire drills may seem a nuisance, but in many fires victims have panicked and reverted to foolish actions. In student housing, for instance, people have hidden in closets when a safe exit was very nearby. Victims have been found under beds and crouched in shower stalls. Many have jumped to their deaths from rooms where no fire had penetrated, and only seconds before a fire department ladder had reached the window. Perhaps if these people had been more familiar with escape routes or had not delayed escape, they would have survived the toxic smoke and fire.

All occupants must vacate the building whenever a fire alarm sounds. If you have any questions, please contact us at 7011.

Residential Fire Safety

Most fire injuries and fatalities occur in residential settings. Fires can start and grow very rapidly, making us most vulnerable in areas where we cook and sleep. On-campus housing facilities have policies in place to prevent fires. They are also equipped with fire suppression systems and smoke/fire detection devices.

Students, staff and faculty who live off campus are encouraged to conduct a review of their homes to ensure minimum safety requirements are met. Refer to the National Fire Protection Association for information on residential fire safety prevention and response.

False Alarms

False alarms are disruptive to the teaching and research mission of the University and contribute to a dangerous complacency in occupants, who may be slower to evacuate in an actual emergency. There are a number of safeguards that can prevent or lessen the number of false alarms. Cooking is one of the leading causes of unwanted fire alarms.

UT Tyler EH&S maintains a log of fires that have occurred in on-campus student housing in accordance with federal regulations (34 CFR §668.49).

 

Date of Incident Time Nature of Incident Location

23-Jan-22

5:33 AM

Debris in HVAC System

Patriot Village 1230

13-Apr-21

1:57 AM

Unattended Cooking

Liberty Landing 931

26-Apr-21

7:08 PM

Cooking

Patriot Village 1200

11-Jan-21

7:18 PM

Unattended Cooking

Patriot Village 2370C

8-Dec-20

2:30 PM

Unattended Cooking

Patriot Village 1280

18-Nov-20

6:32 AM

Cooking

Patriot Village 1390

20-Oct-20

5:30 PM

Cooking

Patriot Village 2121

6-Oct-20

6:00 PM

Unattended Cooking

Liberty Landing 215

5-Sep-20

11:00 AM

Electrical Short - Power supply

Liberty Landing 117

3-Mar-20

8:28 PM

Accidental - Hair straightener

Ornelas Hall 2108

22-Feb-2

12:30 PM

Unattended Cooking

Patriot Village 2290

18-Feb-20

9:20 PM

Unattended Smoking materials

Patriot Village 1200

14-Feb-20

7:58 PM

Unattended Cooking

Patriot Village 2270

24-Jan-20

9:30 PM

Unattended Smoking materials

Patriot Village 2360D