MSU
STUDENTS:
Tyler Matteson, psychology sophomore
“Yeah. Just one.”
“I don’t think so. Mine is relatively new. I don’t use all of them (plugged in appliances) at the same time.”
“I don’t really think about it much.”
Jillian Craighead, theatre freshman
"I do use extention cords and power strips! I use them because (there are) not enough plugs around the dorm room to plug everything in. And some plugs are not 3prong plug ports. Besides, I heard using power strips (is) safer than using a whole bunch of extension cords."
"The number I use, I don't think it's a fire hazard. I mean of course it is, but I don't have a ridiculous amount where I feel like it's going to catch on fire. Besides, I turn off my power strip when I'm not using it. And I unplug my extention cords when necessary."
Theatre and music composition senior, Mark Schenfisch
"Yes I do. We have a lot of things that need plugged in, lights, power cords, and my piano. Microwave, fridge, etc. My bed is lofted, too, so I use an extension cord to get power to my phone at night.
I would not say it's a fire hazard. There's only one daisy chain and that's to get up to my bed. Mythbusters did a thing about extension cords - well it was actually about Christmas tree lights, but talked about extension cords too - and while they said you still shouldn't be ridiculous about daisy chaining extension cords and power strips, if I remember correctly the only thing that was truly a danger were short circuits.
So I'm not particularly concerned about any precautions, though if I were to take them, I think it'd probably be looking for short circuits, but the Internet seems to suggest circuit breakers should take care of that anyway, unless the short is in the wall."
Name: Denis Zietlow
Title: MSU Fire Marshal MSU PD
Contact: 517-432—1587
What would you say are the most prevalent type of fire-hazard or cause of residence hall fires?
Don’t get a lot of calls on it. Often times small issues are handled by staff.
Gen guidelines – extension cords should be hardwired or plugged into an outlet. Safety strip have circuit breakers – UL approved. Shouldn’t piggy back strips together.
Older dorms are “Not set up to handle all of the electronic stuff that people have in their rooms.”
Want students to use power strips that have shut offs on them. Surge protectors. We don’t like to see people using lamp cord type extension cords. They’re not safe.
Candles are not allowed – housing contract prohibits things like candles and hot plates and such. We don’t like to see any type of cooking appliance except for microwave.
Dorm staff usually works to make sure that type of things doesn’t happen.
One thing we’ve done as we renovate buildings is put automatic sprinklers in. Huge life safety feature. As we renovate the buildings, we try to get. Sprinkler heads considered to be a key component of a safe building.
Smoking in rooms – sometimes disable smoke detectors. Not safe thing to do and not supposed to do that. Do not disable smoke detectors or cover them. Unsafe thing to do. Often times do not reconnect them. Newer systems report back to PD if an issue with detector is found.
No open flames in the rooms and make sure curling irons are unplugged or against anything that can catch fire. Even unplug hair dryers. Anything can produce heat, unplug when done with it.
“We’ve had a very good fire safe year.” Fortunate we haven’t had many large fires in the dorms. “We hope to keep it that way.”
MSU Maintenance – Infrastructure Planning & Facilities
Name: Andrew Smith
Title: Occupational Safety Compliance officer.
Contact: 517-353-1760
We have people daisy chain them and overheat – mixed daisy chains. People buying cheap power sources. Look for UL – tested and approved. Can also be a trip hazard when maintenance tries to work. Don’t put them underneath carpets or put stress on them by hanging them. Make sure you put them somewhere you won’t have water dripping on them. Only so many ways to set up a dorm room, but try to find the best power strips with longest cords. Try and only use so many items per power cord.