Wallingford Fire Department responds to a call on the Choate campus.
Wallingford Fire Department awaits for emergency calls to ensure safety of town residents.
By Rachel Fan ’27
The echo of fire alarms has become a familiar sound at Choate, blaring through learning and living facilities alike. With each incident, Wallingford’s firefighters have swiftly arrived on campus, ensuring the safety of students and faculty.
The Wallingford Fire Department handles about 8,000 calls annually. They actively respond to incidents across town, covering fire alarms, fire calls, and medical calls.
The Wallingford Fire Department has a minimum of 17 firefighters, paramedics, and Emergency Medical Technicians on duty for each of the four shifts of the 24-hour day. They also operate three fire engines dispersed throughout the town.
“Depending on the location of an incident, a fire engine, our ladder truck, and the battalion chief in his own vehicle will respond to fire alarms,” Battalion Chief Mr. Jeff Dingler said. “In the case of a confirmed fire, such as a structure or house fire, all our engines and apparatus respond.”
Boarding schools like Choate have fire alarms triggered for a myriad of reasons. A common cause is the activation of heating systems during the transition into colder months. According to Mr. Dingler, the fire alarms are set off frequently because switching on heating systems in late autumn disturbs the accumulated dust in the ductwork, setting off the fire alarms. During this period in between seasons, the fire department often sees a spike in such false alarms, which still require a thorough check to ensure that no harm is brought to the students and staff.
Because of the residential nature of Choate, culinary blunders have also become an issue that frequently invites the fire department to campus. “Students residing on campus sometimes experience cooking mishaps like burnt popcorn, which trigger the alarms,” Mr. Dingler shared with a laugh.
The intentional yet non-malicious triggering of alarms is also quite common, but more so in schools for younger students. “Curious kids often pull the fire alarms, leading to false alerts,” he said. Although these are false alarms, the fire department still responds to ensure that there is no real danger.
When dealing with fire alarm rings in Choate dorms, the Wallingford Fire Department has a systematic protocol. Mr. Dingler described that their first engine, stationed nearby on North Main Street, will respond first. Upon arrival, firefighters coordinate with Choate’s Community Safety personnel, who guide them through the campus to the affected building. Once they ensure that everyone is safe, they access the building’s alarm panel to pinpoint the source of the alarm. As crews investigate the issue, they communicate with the battalion chief, signaling whether they need further aid.
Mr. Dingler recalled one incident that occurred a few winters back, now passed around as a humorous story within the fire department. “This occurred around or just after Christmas in a residence hall,” he said. A staff member at Choate decided to burn their Christmas tree in the fireplace. However, the fireplace was non-functional, and this attempt filled the entire building with smoke.
Recent events at Choate have also shown the challenges of dorm life regarding fire safety. Kaylin Lam ’27, a resident of Nichols House, was in the midst of preparing for her orchestra concert when a malfunctioning hairdryer in her dorm triggered the fire alarm. “One of the dorm’s resident’s hairdryers became smoky … it just set off the alarm,” she recounted.
Lam and the other Nichols residents had to evacuate the building, which she found frustrating: “It was loud, it took so long waiting outside, and I had somewhere to be.”
On a different occasion, a fire alarm triggered by a microwave mishap interrupted Logan Munroe House resident Ethan Sun ’27’s nighttime study session. However, Sun saw this mishap as an opportunity for growth, suggesting the need for better appliance usage instructions to prevent such occurrences in the future. “We should teach students how to use the microwaves properly and have clearer instructions,” he said.
At a boarding school like Choate, having fire alarm incidents is inevitable. Thankfully, Mr. Dingler and the Wallingford Fire Department are always ready to ensure students’ safety and shut down those alarms, whether they are real or not.
