Maintenace examines HRS fire exit

In response to several student reports that the fire exit door in High Rise South's center stairwell would not open during a weekend evacuation, Residential Maintenance workers investigated the situation Monday afternoon. But according to Joseph Worton, a safety specialist in the Fire and Occupational Safety Office who responded to the problem on Monday morning, the door was functional when he arrived. "I pushed it twice and it opened," he said. "You had to jiggle it a little." But when College freshman Bruce Frey encountered the door as the fire alarm sounded Sunday after a small fire broke out in the HRS rooftop lounge, he found opening it a problem. "We walked down 21 flights and tried to get out of the center staircase fire exit, but it was locked," he said. College freshman Joseph BonZe was with Frey and tried repeatedly to open the door. "I tried with all my might, but I couldn't open the door," he said yesterday. "Maybe Superman could have done it." Associate Director of Residential Maintenance Al Zuino said that he does not know why the students had difficulty opening the door. He said workers made adjustments, although the door was already operational. "We had no difficulty opening the door," Zuino said. He said he hoped that students would not encounter the same problem again, adding that this is the "third or fourth complaint" his department has received. "Every time we respond to a problem, we take some preventative actions," he added. These actions often include adjusting the door frame and lubricating its hinges. Zuino said that he has repeatedly responded to problems with the stairwell's exit door. HRS resident and College sophomore Jess McGrath said the problem had been going on for at least a year-and-a-half. McGrath said he encountered the jammed door during an unannounced fire drill last semester. "I tried to open the door," he said. "I kicked it and kicked it and kicked and it still wouldn't open." Zuino said his office tried to contact the person who filed the recent complaint, hoping to find out why the student had trouble opening the door. Frey said if the door was jammed again, it could pose a safety hazard to students. "I thought it was kind of unsafe," he said. "If it was a really big fire, people could get trapped in there." Zuino added that working fire exits are a priority for his department, noting that reports of inoperable fire doors are usually attended to on the same day they are filed.