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Photos by Devin Courtright/The Advocate
Four evacuations have taken place on the Gresham campus within the past week.The two most recent alarms — Wednesday night and Thursday afternoon — were reportedly pulled before or during rallies pertaining to the full-time faculty contract negotiations.
Campus evacuated 4 times in a week
The Advocate
Students and staff were evacuated Thursday just after 1 p.m. when an alarm in the cosmetology area was pulled by an unidentified person, according to Wayne Feagle, lead public safety officer.
This was the fourth time in one week that an evacuation occurred, and two of these were during rallies being held by faculty and the Associated Student Government regarding the board and full-time faculty contract negotiations.
Another evacuation occurred Wednesday at 5:57 p.m. also as the result of an unidentified person pulling a fire alarm in the 1500 area hallway, according to Feagle. The faculty was rallying outside an MHCC District board dinner in the library.
"It is a crime and we do file a crime report," Feagle said about maliciously pulling a fire alarm.
On Monday, the fire alarm sounded and the buildings were evacuated at 10:40 a.m. An Advocate reporter said firefighters were seen leaving AC 1394, a facilities service closet next to the photo lab, and another reported that a firefighter said the alarm was caused by a malfunctioning sprinkler.
"A 10-15 psi surge was discovered in the water main pressure detector check valve which could have caused the alarm to activate," said Gale Blessing, director of institutional safety and security, in an email. "Fluctuation in water main pressure can happen due to several unidentifiable causes."
Gresham Fire Department issued the all-clear message at 10:51 a.m.
Last Friday's evacuation was triggered at 11:46 a.m. by burnt microwave popcorn in Room AC 150, according to an email sent to faculty by Maggie Huffman, MHCC director of communications.
The custodial staff called public safety to advise of the problem at 11:48 a.m. Officer Cherilyn Nederhiser arrived on scene a minute later and requested a fan from custodial to dissipate the smoke. The fire department arrived at 11:50 and issued the all-clear signal at 11:55.
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