An unannounced fire drill Oct. 22 caught inhabitants of Boebel, Doudna, Ottensman and Russell halls by surprise.

“I think it went pretty well,” Laurel Skrede, campus police director, said. “I guess the only thing I saw was that some people didn’t get away from the buildings. I’d like to think in a real fire they would.”

According to UW System code, “no person may remain in any university facility or on university lands when an audible or visual fire alarm has been activated or upon being notified by fire fighting, law enforcement or security personnel to evacuate.” UW System code is state code that governs conduct within the System and carries with it the force of the law.

People who don’t leave buildings could face a $186 fine, Skrede said.

“Most people will comply,” Skrede said. “They maybe are a little slow and resent the fact they are being interrupted, but usually people comply.”

Announcing the drill to the public could degrade the quality of the exercise, Dave Langkamp, custodial supervisor and second assistant fire chief for the City of Platteville, said. “Fire drills are used to make sure people get out so we don’t have to go in and drag them out.”

“All of the deans were notified,” Tom Pritchett, safety and risk management office director, said. “We left it up to the deans to figure out if they wanted to notify faculty.”

Two years ago a fire drill was announced and ended up with a less than 50 percent participation rate, Pritchett said.

“The next time it might be real, you have to be prepared,” Pritchett said.

A fire protection class taught by Lynda Bouck, associate professor of industrial technology management, participated in the drill.

“What I wanted to do was involve my students in a meaningful fire protection activity,” Bouck said.

Students in the class split up into teams, where their primary role was observing things like if all the doors were closed, if everyone evacuated the buildings and how long it took to do so, Bouck said. The teams will give presentations on their findings, and those findings will be forwarded to Pritchett.

“Every year we hear a lot of grumbling about it, though it wasn’t nearly as bad as two years ago,” Pritchett said. “We know where to go from here. It was very useful.”