>
fo. 4
AROUND
T’^WTh
World
„.and back
Compiled hy Maryellen Corbett
International
■ The fighting has ceased in
Bosnia, but the tragedy is far from
over. NATO reports that Muslim
Bosnians are being kept from re
turning to their homes by Serbs.
NATO-led peacekeeping forces
have had to break up riots.
■ The fighting continues in Leba
non. The Israelis have been trying
to pin down Hezbollah guerrillas.
Hezbollah is a Syria-based group
that opposes the Middle East peace
process. The Israelis have also at
tacked the headquarters of the
Popular Front for the Liberation of
Palestine.
National
■ Popular humor columnist Erma
Bombeck dies on April 22 due to
complications from a kidney trans
plant. Bombeck has been delight
ing people with her wry look at sub
urban life since 1965. She was 69.
continued on p. 8
INSIDE THIS ISSUE
■ Fire F6rum: Students
address concerns related
to the First Beall fire,
page 3.
■ Judicial Change: Pro
posal fdr a judicial board
with students drawn up
and submitted to Director
of Student Life, page 5
■ DUMA: Visiting the
Duke University Musem
of Art.,
page 7
tentorian
The North Carolina School of Science and Mathematics
May 10,1996
BeaQ fire extinguished quickly despite delays
Daniel Davenport
and Monica Dev
Editors-in-Chief
“It’s real! It’s real!”
screamed Second Beall D.A.
Jamie Joyner as she ran down
Second and Third Beall on April
24 at 10:42 p.m. This snapped 90
Beall girls into attention while a
fire grew below them in room
109.
Senior and First Beall resi
dent Erin Anderson pulled the
fire alarm after realizing that the
fire was too big to smother. “It
was Just a tiny fire when it
started,” she said.
She had to pull the alarm, as
the smoke had not yet reached
the hall to activate the smoke
detectors. First Beall SLI Amy
Wheeler said that by the time she
reached the hall, there was a layer
of smoke accumulating on the
ceiling.
Three minutes after the
alarm was sounded firefighters
from the Second District fire sta
tion on Ninth Street arrived.
According to the Capt.
Randy L. Baker’s report, twenty-
five firefighters from all over
Durham worked to extinguish
the fire. With four fire engines,
two aerials, and a rescue vehicle,
the fire department had the fire
out in time to prevent irreparable
damage to other parts of the
Beall/Bryan Complex.
O Fire starts in room 109.
@ 10:42 p.m.—alarm pulled.
® 10:45 p.m.—firefighters arrive.
O 250 ft. of 1 3/4-inch hose taken
inside, but only reaches the
opening of the Beall hallway.
"At this time the doors to the
hallway were opened where we
were met by heavy fire, smoke and
heat."—from the incident report by
Captain Randy L. Baker.
© 200 ft. of 3-inch hose taken
inside in order to reach down the
hallway. Fire extinguished.
based on incident report filed by
Captain Randy L. ^ker
Bryan
Beall Pavilion
f
UJ
hose hooked to truck
connected to hydrant at
comer of Club and
Maryland
The fire department, however,
initially had trouble getting water
to the fire. Beall contains a pressur
ized water system to which a fire
hose can be hooked up, but the
firefighters could not access this
water.
“It is very possible that the heat
caused the valve to the water main
to [remain] shut,” said Ken Home,
head of security.
The firefighters instead used
the fire hydrant on the comer of
Club Blvd. and Maryland Ave. Ac
cording to Baker’s report, the hose
brought into the building was not
long enough to reach into the hall
way, and a second hose was brought
and connected to the first.
Fireman H. S. Tumage of the
Second District station said that the
fire was put out relatively quickly
under the conditions. First Beall has
been closed for the rest of the year
due to the extensive damage in the
hallway and many of the rooms. Ev
erything except for personal be
longings of staff and students is
Illustration by Daniel Davenport
covered by the State Insurance Of
fice.
Most personal items, except for
those in the two rooms where the
fire entered, were damaged by
smoke and heat, so some were sal
vageable. These items fall under
individual homeowner policies.
“[Fortunately] my mom has
insurance that is going to pay for
everything,” said Anderson.
Fire sparks interest in student safety
News Feature
Daniel Davenport and
Monica Dev
Editors-in-Chief
Occurring only a few months after the Second
Bryan fire, the much more severe fire on First
Beall made fire safety issues a top priority at
NCSSM. Unfortunately, rumors have spread,
making it difficult to know what is and what
isn't the truth. We present here some of the ru
mors and the facts behind them.
Rumor 1: The fire was caused by a student’s
extension cord.
TVuth: Fire Marshal Charles Ottaway has not
yet determined whether or not anything
caused the fire in addition to a faulty lamp.
Rumor 2: The ventilation system in Hunt
Dorm does not shut off when a fire alarm is
sounded. This would cause fire to spread
quickly throughout the building.
TVuth: At one point two of five air modula
tors in Hunt were not turning off when fire
alarms were sounded. These had previously
broken down and been replaced by York, the
company that maintains them.
“York failed to tie the fire alarm into
[these] units...that [was] corrected two months
ago,” said Head of Plant Facilities Joe Clifton.
Rumor 3: Firemen have been denied tours of
the school to become familiar with the building.
TVuth: Firefighter H.S. Tumage of the Second
District fire station said that seeing the building
beforehand helps in the process of fighting a fire,
but tours of the school have dwindled in the last
few years. “The administration didn't want us
[firefighters] walking around there...but I have
not been turned down personally.”
Capt. Randy L. Baker, who wrote the inci
dent report for the April 24 fire, said that he has
not toured the school in the last six or seven years
for unspecified reasons. He did say the reasons
see fire safety, page 8