Fire inspections began for SUNY Oswego students the week of Feb. 15. The usually pain-free visits by the fire marshal to residence halls has caused more anxiety for students this year, however, due to new regulations.

In an email sent by Shaun Crisler, the Assistant Vice President for Residence Life and Housing, on Feb. 15, students were told they would be asked to leave their room while inspectors looked for prohibited items, and a new rule against foam mattress pads would be implemented. If found, they would be confiscated.

As the random fire inspections happened, students found that they were not as strict as expected and did not seem to follow some of the guidelines in the email.

Ken Ayhens, the SUNY Oswego Chief of Environmental Health and Safety and fire marshall, said that mattress pads would fall under the same category as the rest of the prohibited items, which are only taken if they are in the open or if they are obviously a fire hazard.

“We don’t tear people’s mattresses apart looking for these things,” Ayhens said. “If we see it, we write it as a violation.”

SUNY Oswego implemented the ban on foam mattress pads starting this semester after an incident in Onondaga Hall last semester resulted in a small fire.

“It is the fire chief’s belief and my belief that if that fire had gone on for about another minute, it would have caught a foam mattress topper on fire,” Ayhens said. “Those foam-rubber pads are made out of flammable materials, so when they burn, they not only burn hot, but they burn very smokey. We probably would have lost that room if that mattress pad had caught on fire.”

Ayhens also said there are laws against foam and rubber mattress pads in the New York state fire code and after the commotion in Onondaga Hall, “we took a harder look into the laws.”

“This law has been in existence for some time,” Ayhens said. “But when they write something in like that, it’s not because someone thinks there will be a problem, it’s that they have had a problem.”

Students also found that contrary to the email, they were not asked to leave their rooms during the fire inspections and the inspection itself was very brief.

Ayhens said inspections typically take between a minute and a minute and a half because they “are only doing quick checks.”

Ayhens, the assistant hall director or any resident assistant that is assisting during the fire inspections do not open drawers or go through students’ personal items. The most common violations they look for are tapestries, extension cords or smoke detectors that are covered.

Due to COVID-19, the amount of rooms that are checked during fire inspections was significantly decreased, though the rooms chosen were still completely random.

In previous years, between 35-40% of each residence hall would be checked but this semester only 10-15% were, according to Ayhens.

Though fire inspections only cover a small percentage of rooms, RAs do their own room checks of every room on their floor. In order to maintain social distancing, room checks will be completely virtual this semester.

According to the email, students will schedule a time in March to meet with their RA via Zoom to “identify safety hazards.”

One RA, Alanna Hill, who also assisted with fire inspections, is unsure of  how effective virtual room checks will be, as students actively hide prohibited items when the checks are in person. Over Zoom, they can control what is seen with even less effort.

“When you knock on a door for a fire inspection, there is a delay, a really obvious delay, before the student opens the door, so you know they are hiding things that they don’t want confiscated,” Hill said. “I think that delay will still happen over Zoom. It will be easier for them to delay it because they have control over when we can see their room.”

COVID-19 restrictions have caused changes in how students’ rooms are checked for prohibited items and though the fire inspections played out differently than expected, Ayhens said he hopes residents will continue to take room checks seriously.

“We tell people not to bring these things to the [residence] halls for a reason, and that’s part of the reason,” Ayhens said. “They cause problems for other people if they get out of hand.”

Virtual room checks have not started and students should expect more information about the process before they begin this month.

The Oswegonian file photo from 2019