Mailbox: Fire Hazard
Philip A. Watkins
Issue date: 10/24/05 Section: Editorials
I Philip A. Watkins, a student janitor in the C.R.O.B., am afraid to go to work because there is a terrible fire hazard. The main door to the band room is chained shut, which scares me to death.
If a fire broke out, the people inside would be cooked, or trampled to death trying to escape from a single side exit doorway.
I reported this safety problem to public safety but they did not unchain the doors.
I even threatened to call the fire marshal, but still nobody acted.
Then yesterday I was scared stupid when I became trapped in the band room. The side door was propped open, so I went in to clean with my cleaning partner Nicholas L. Vandercook. He changed the trash bag, while I doodle dusted the chalkboard. He finished first, so he took the trash out of the room while I continued doodle dusting.
When he left the room, the door closed behind him. That is when I became a prisoner, here at the University of Michigan-Flint. The side door that I entered through had no doorknob on the inside, so I could not open the door.
Mr. Vandercook could not let me out because he did not have a key to get back in the room. The main door was chained shut, so it was not an escape option.
I was in hell at this time.
I wanted to kick the door down, but I have terrible bunions that are painful and they prevented me from kicking my way out.
I had to wait for fifteen frightening minutes until public safety arrived. If there had been a fire I would have been burned alive. I am now contacting a lawyer so that I can sue the pants off of this university.
If a fire broke out, the people inside would be cooked, or trampled to death trying to escape from a single side exit doorway.
I reported this safety problem to public safety but they did not unchain the doors.
I even threatened to call the fire marshal, but still nobody acted.
Then yesterday I was scared stupid when I became trapped in the band room. The side door was propped open, so I went in to clean with my cleaning partner Nicholas L. Vandercook. He changed the trash bag, while I doodle dusted the chalkboard. He finished first, so he took the trash out of the room while I continued doodle dusting.
When he left the room, the door closed behind him. That is when I became a prisoner, here at the University of Michigan-Flint. The side door that I entered through had no doorknob on the inside, so I could not open the door.
Mr. Vandercook could not let me out because he did not have a key to get back in the room. The main door was chained shut, so it was not an escape option.
I was in hell at this time.
I wanted to kick the door down, but I have terrible bunions that are painful and they prevented me from kicking my way out.
I had to wait for fifteen frightening minutes until public safety arrived. If there had been a fire I would have been burned alive. I am now contacting a lawyer so that I can sue the pants off of this university.