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🇮🇸 Iceland /Culture & Society

Student housing fire alarms trigger at night due to steam

From Morgunblaðið · () Icelandic

Translated from Icelandic, summarized and contextualized by DistantNews.

At a glance

News Sources not specified Context piece
  • Residents of student housing at Sæmundargata are demanding repairs to the building's fire alarm system, which frequently triggers false alarms due to steam from showers and cooking.
  • Over 100 residents have signed a petition expressing dissatisfaction with the response from the Student Facilities Association (FS), stating that repairs are not planned.
  • A resident reported the alarm activating 19 times in April while she was home, highlighting concerns about complacency due to frequent false alarms.

Residents of student housing at Sæmundargata are fed up with the fire alarm system's frequent false alarms, often triggered by steam from showers and cooking, disrupting their sleep in the middle of the night. They are demanding that the system be repaired or replaced with a more reliable one.

He sends a repair request to FS and they ask us to understand the matter better because the fire alarm system is so sensitive to steam.

— Matthildur María KristínardóttirMatthildur María Kristínardóttir, a resident and organizer of the petition, described the initial response from the Student Facilities Association (FS) regarding the sensitive fire alarm system.

A petition signed by over 100 residents expresses their dissatisfaction with the Student Facilities Association's (FS) response to the issue. Matthildur María Kristínardóttir, a resident and organizer of the petition, stated that FS initially asked her to better understand the system's sensitivity to steam, implying that residents should avoid activities like showering or cooking.

"If we see a red light turn on, we should be quicker to turn off the system so it doesn't go off in the whole building. We should take better measures to prevent false alarms. Which I understand as we should stop showering and boiling potatoes," Kristínardóttir said, expressing her frustration with the FS's stance.

If we see a red light turn on, we should be quicker to turn off the system so it doesn't go off in the whole building. We should take better measures to prevent false alarms. Which I understand as we should stop showering and boiling potatoes.

— Matthildur María KristínardóttirKristínardóttir expressed her frustration with the FS's response, which she felt implied residents should alter their daily routines to avoid triggering the alarm.

Kristínardóttir meticulously documented the false alarms, recording 19 instances in April alone while she was home. One of these was triggered by cooking fish and potatoes, with another false alarm occurring later that same evening for an unspecified reason. The FS, represented by Elín Ásbjarnardóttir Strandberg, maintains that the current system meets required standards for a large building with many residents and that repairs are not planned due to a lack of authorization.

The fire alarm system we have, like at Mýrargarður, which is this building on Sæmundargata, is basically just according to the standards we are required to follow when we have such a large building and many residents.

— Elín Ásbjarnardóttir StrandbergElín Ásbjarnardóttir Strandberg, service and communications representative for FS, explained the rationale behind the current system's sensitivity.
DistantNews Editorial

Originally published by Morgunblaðið in Icelandic. Translated, summarized, and contextualized by our editorial team with added local perspective. Read our editorial standards.

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