Imagine hearing the fire alarm in your dorm or apartment. Where do you go? Do you know where the fire exits are? You only have a few seconds, so you better think on your feet.

I’m sure we all remember the scene from “The Office” when Dwight takes matters into his own hands to teach his co-workers a lesson on fire safety. His methods include throwing a lit cigarette in a trash can doused in lighter fluid and yelling “fire.” Panic in the office ensues.

Now, I am not endorsing the way Dwight went about teaching his co-workers fire safety; however, I do believe fire exits too often go unnoticed. For example, today I was at the ARC and noticed a large garbage can and other objects blocking a fire exit. At first glance I didn’t think anything of it, but then it clicked: If there was a fire, that was my closest escape, and it was visibly blocked.

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration requires that businesses “ensure that exit routes are unobstructed such as by materials, equipment, locked doors, or dead-end corridors.” There are many other regulations put on businesses as far as safety exits are concerned. Besides what a business should do to keep its occupants safe, it is also the responsibility of those in the building to know where exits are.

In my entire college experience I have only had one professor point out the fire exits. Professor Quick showed the class in Lincoln Hall auditorium a video on classroom safety and exit awareness. I am not under the impression that this is common among professors.

When I walk into buildings, I will admit that I do not pay attention to all of my exits. For instance, when I’m in a building and can’t find the stairs, instead of looking into it, I just take the elevator.

We should all know where the closest exits are in the case of an emergency. What if there was a fire in a building? I would want to know where I should go instead of rushing to a far exit that many people are already trying to get through.

In 2003, The New York Times wrote a story about a fire in a nightclub leaving 96 dead. “(A)lthough there were four doors in the club,” it stated, “many of the patrons tried to rush out the front door.” People did not go toward the closest exit, but the door they came in from. Was that the smartest move? There were four exits, but when the fire happened, most people only had their sights on one.

If you have the “it won’t happen to me” mentality, you could be wrong. The National Fire Protection Association stated that “from 2011-2015, U.S. fire departments responded to an estimated annual average of 4,100 structure fires in dormitories, fraternities, sororities, and other related properties.”

Therefore, we should all pay attention to our exits. One day we may need to know where they are. You wouldn’t want to react like those in “The Office.” Grabbing belongings like Phyllis, climbing through the ceiling like Oscar or throwing things out of a window like Michael are not the smartest ways to handle this situation. You should be prepared, so when someone yells “fire!” you know where to go.

Delayne is a junior in LAS.

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