Imagine my shock when I was returning to my dorm room and the fire alarm went off, just as I was about to head into my dorm and eat dinner!

Despite the potential danger I did not panic. My thought process was basically, “What’s the chance of this being an actual fire? Someone probably just burned something and set the alarm off.” I then unlocked the door to my dorm and set my food down before heading outside. Once outside, I stood by the McGoldrick Center and updated my friends on our group chat about the situation. I was then told to move away from the building. It seemed everyone was migrating to the field outside of the McGoldrick Center. I suppose all throughout their school careers, students have been instilled with mantra: “if there’s a fire go stand on a field by the building”.

On Tuesday, October 3rd at 7:30 p.m. the fire alarm was pulled at the USM Portland Commons. In addition to the usual loud beeping, this fire alarm also had a recording of someone telling you to get out of the building. I ran into two acquaintances of mine from the learning center.  We debated what was going on. Was this a drill? On one hand, the building didn’t seem to be on fire but on the other hand, there was a firetruck that wouldn’t be there for a drill. After a bit one of the RA’s shouted “Back up 100 ft from the building! This is not a drill!”. So that answered that question for us.  Everyone was waiting outside with no idea why the fire alarm was pulled. Luckily no one seemed to panic. The general vibe seemed to be less “Oh god the building is on fire!” and more “Oh great we have to wait around outside now”. 

At the RA’s instructions, everyone started shuffling away from the building. At this point, two fire trucks and an ambulance showed up, despite there being no visible sign of danger. We waited. We kept ourselves busy by discussing the situation. If the building burns down do you think we’ll get refunded on our housing payments?

After about twenty minutes, one of the RAs spoke up, said something about needing the gas company to look at things and that we were free to wait in the Mcgoaldric center if we wanted. This was confusing. If our dorm was on fire surely they wouldn’t let us go into the attached building. But if our dorm isn’t on fire why can’t we go back inside?

Eventually, we got the all-clear to head back in. 

Portland Commons Residents heading back to their dorms

I was still unsure about what exactly happened, but USM’s Office of Residential Life would soon clarify that in an email later that night:

“Hello, Portland Commons Residents,

We are contacting you to let you know that today, October 3rd, at approximately 7:30 pm, there was a report of a suspicious smell. Once alerted, it was determined that the fire alarm needed to be pulled and all occupants of the building needed to evacuate. The fire department responded along with the gas company and there were no readings that indicated that there was a gas leak of any kind in the building. 

Residents were allowed back into the building at 8pm. Thank you to everyone for your quick evacuation from the building. Your quick response ensures the safety of yourself and the first responders.

Best, Office of Residential Life”.

So there you have it! Mystery solved. The fire alarm was pulled over a false report of a gas leak.  While having to wait outside for thirty minutes was certainly inconvenient, I’m glad that there was no actual danger. I’m also glad that I was finally able to eat my dinner! Nothing like a potential fire to work up an appetite!