BRIEF: Fire fighters respond to false alarm

Battalion 11 Chief John Devlin said last night that someone called the fire company reporting smoke on the eighth floor of the 39th Street building between Sansom and Chestnut Streets. Devlin said after investigating all the floors of the building, the firefighters could not locate the source of the smoke. But from the smell he said the source was probably burnt food. He said the smoke dissipated on its own. Devlin added the people who had the cooking accident seemed to have "resolved the situation and don't want to own up to it." Another Battalion 11 member said that a discharged fire extinguisher was also found. Students waiting in Chestnut Hall's lobby were skeptical that the fire alarm was legitimate, saying they are frequently awakened by false alarms. College senior Jodi Wolf, a resident of the building, said last night that she thought the situation was a false alarm saying that they happen almost "every other day." "Everytime [the alarm] goes off, I just sit in my apartment," she said. Fire officials expressed doubt in Chestnut Hall's fire alarm system, saying it is possible that the building's smoke detection system should have been activated by this incident. The officials are currently investigating the system. -- Kenneth Baer

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