Students at Hertford College were left with ringing in their ears after a mishap with the college’s fire detection system caused alarms to sound continuously for nearly two hours, disturbing students until after midnight last Sunday.
The sirens were first activated at around half past nine on Sunday morning on Hertford’s two residential quads, which house first years and some finalists. Students sheltered from the morning drizzle in staircase porches before being told by porters that the alarm would likely be ringing for up to an hour, awaiting the arrival of an electrician.
An email sent to students from the Home Bursar on Sunday morning offered apologies for the disruption and stated, “As you might be able to hear, we’ve suffered a fairly serious issue with the fire detection system on the main site this morning. We are trying to correct it ASAP, but are awaiting specialist engineers.”
Florence Kettle, a first year studying English, noted the disastrous timing of the disturbance. She said, “Hertford students put in an excellent showing at the Purple Turtle on Saturday night, and this brutal disturbance of the required Sunday morning recovery period is very serious indeed.”
Though the alarms had stopped ringing by mid-morning, students were again forced to vacate their rooms at around quarter past eleven that evening as the electrical error, thought to have been fixed, persisted.
A fire engine was spotted outside the college and students also took shelter in the college library or in the nearby King’s Arms as the sirens sounded for a further hour. There were reports of students attempting to sleep in corridors to escape the noise of the powerful alarms installed in their bedrooms.
Another fresher, who did not wish to be named, expressed despair as the fiasco disrupted his meticulous study regime, complaining, “When are we supposed to write our vacation essays if Hertford sounds like it’s preparing for a nuclear apocalypse all night on Sunday of 0th week? It’s outrageous.”
A spokesperson for Hertford College told Cherwell, “The college has systematically updated its fire detection systems over the past few years, across both its residential and non-residential portfolio. With over 500 bedrooms, and in excess of 600 fire detectors, we have occasional failures, and they are usually addressed quickly. Such repairs take longer outside of ordinary working hours, as I’m sure you can imagine.”
