Students Report Fire Alarm, Plumbing, Other Issues in Dorms

University staff removed this dorm’s fire alarm. Photo by Patrick D. Lewis/The Tower

By Patrick D. Lewis

Residents of St. Lawrence Village (SLV), the group of “modular housing” buildings near the north end of Catholic University’s campus, as well as residents in Caldwell Hall, report that they have experienced frequent problems with facilities at the complex, including fire alarm problems, plumbing issues, and more. In one case, they say university staff removed some smoke alarms entirely.

The “trailers,” as many students refer to SLV, sit between Aquinas Hall and O’Boyle Hall. Many of them house four students each, although some house more. They were installed last summer due to what university officials said was a heightened period of need for more housing.

Many residents, including some staff members of The Tower, live in the dorms and spoke to us about the conditions there.

Last semester, false fire alarms became so common that residents reported university facilities personnel took down some alarms entirely in SLV. One student, who was granted anonymity because the incident described included possible building code violations, said the alarms were removed by staff who told the residents that “the sprinklers will still work” should a fire break out.

When asked about the incident last fall, University Facilities and Operations said, “There is no violation of building code. The cottages were provided with a code-compliant fire alarm system that was permitted, inspected, and accepted by the District of Columbia… Any removed devices (and any devices found to be creating troubles within the system) were replaced in kind.”

However, the student reported that the replacement did not happen immediately.

Anthony Curioso, a Tower reporter who lives in SLV, said, “Last semester, there was at least one night where the fire alarm went off randomly once at 2:30 AM and again at 5:30 AM. None of the people living in my unit at the time (all of whom except me have since moved out) can remember having done anything specific that would be a likely cause for the fire alarm to go off. Thankfully, my unit hasn’t had any problems this spring, even with me now being the only person living in there.”

Residents of the Seton Wing of Caldwell Hall also reported fire alarm issues last semester and this semester. Another fire alarm issue happened during one afternoon last week.

Alexandra Berrick, a Tower reporter who lives in Caldwell, said, “As I understand it, other residents received an email that there would be fire alarm testing. The actual tests, however, ended up being on a different day and time than the email said. I never received an email, probably because I am a new resident this semester. The alarm woke me up about an hour earlier than I had planned, and was at first somewhat distressing, as I have autism and do not handle sudden loud noises the best.

“The biggest issue I faced was with the staircase. Since I did not know it was only a drill, and I live on the second floor, I took the staircase to leave the building—under the assumption that there could have been an actual fire, and that I was not supposed to take the elevator. Had I known it was only a drill, I would have taken the elevator. The issue is that I am in crutches at the moment, so the staircase is much more difficult and dangerous. Combined with the fact that there were a lot of people on the staircase, and that everyone was rushing, I am grateful that I was able to maintain my safety during the incident.”

The fire alarm issues are only one problem at the “trailers.” During this semester’s historic period of cold temperatures, pipes froze in St. Lawrence, leaving residents unable to do laundry. 

Another Tower reporter, Tim McGuire, lives in one of the communal dorms and said, “It’s been fine until it started to get colder. The pipes to our laundry and kitchen sink froze, so we had to go [to] other dorms in Centennial Village (while it’s still cold, mind you) with our laundry and dishes. Thankfully, the bathroom sinks and showers worked (somehow), but it was still really annoying to have to gear up in my winter layers just to have clean clothes and towels for tomorrow, or cook food when campus closes for the night. A lot of us were dissatisfied with how it was handled; one of my friends/neighbors sent a screenshot of a strongly worded dissatisfied email he was thinking of sending for a few laughs in our dorm’s group chat.”

In a statement, University Facilities told The Tower, “The recent fire alarm and plumbing issues in Caldwell Hall and St. Lawrence Village were mostly related to a contractor punch list and warranty work. 

“In St. Lawrence Village, there were also several cases of frozen piping during the recent snow event. Facilities sent out messages to the community directors in those areas about scheduling the remedial and repair work that needed to take place.”