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Campus Fire Safety
The Office of Environmental Health and Safety is responsible for maintaining and enforcing standards of quality and safety throughout the Fairfield University campus. Staffed by a Connecticut state certified Fire Marshall, the Environmental Health and Safety office provides professional advice to campus departments on all aspects of health and life safety.
The goal of the Office of Environmental Health and Safety is to maintain and constantly strive to improve the safety and well-being of the students, faculty/staff, and visitors to Fairfield University's campus.
The campus Fire Marshal is the authority having jurisdiction on fire-safety and life-safety issues for the Fairfield University campus. The duties of the Fire Marshall include conducting routine inspections of campus buildings and addressing both fire and life safety concerns and questions.
The fire marshal is in direct communication with the town of Fairfield Fire Marshall on a consistent basis in reviewing documents for new construction, remodeling/renovations and keeping the local fire department up to speed with changes going on at campus.
If you have an environmental, health or safety concern, or if you want or need information or training in a particular area, please contact Joseph M. Bouchard.
Life of a Sprinkler
The Fire Marshal's Office is serious when it comes to fire protection and safety. One of the major accomplishments of the department is the installation of sprinkler systems that exist in all of the student residence halls. The sprinkler system is the first line of defense when it comes to unnoticed fires. Over the years we have had several small fires that showed the importance and critical need to have sprinklers installed on campus. In 1998, there was an intentionally set fire that occurred in the common bathroom of Jogues Hall.
Three years later, almost to the day of the fire occurrence, a second fire happened in the same bathroom. The only difference between the two was the presence of a sprinkler system installed in the dormitory before the second occurrence. The presence of the sprinkler system is what made the difference in the aftermath of the second fire. As you can see from the pictures provided, the first fire that was set created extensive smoke and heat damage in the bathroom. Without the presence of a sprinkler system, this fire burned freely until the fire department personnel arrived and extinguished it. The second fire that occurred in the same location, again in a garbage can, was successfully extinguished due to the activation of the sprinklers in that bathroom that went off immediately.
The presence of this sprinkler system greatly reduced the smoke and heat damage to a minimum. The only problem that had to be dealt with was the small amount of water on the floor due to the sprinkler discharge. You can see from the differences in these two pictures when comparing them just how valuable these fire suppression sprinklers are to Fairfield University in further contributing to the safety of students, faculty, and staff.