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Holding Fire

A top-notch fire department and good technology keep Harvard buildings safe from fire--but are students the weak link?

Last summer, the nation's fire insurance industry named CFD an Insurance Services Office "Class One" department--a designation based on the department's structure and performance.

It is the only Massachusetts department to earn the rank, and one of only 33 in the nation.

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And with one of the top fire departments in the nation responding to a portion of the University's 700-plus fire alarms each year, Harvard's fire safety programs have a leg up on other colleges.

After spending millions of dollars on recent upgrades to the University's fire suppression and warning systems, Harvard looks very safe, according to CFD.

"I don't see any deficiency at the University," says deputy chief Reardon.

But all of that--the sprinklers, the extinguishers, the alarms, and the CFD firefighters--doesn't matter if students ignore the warnings.

Not Stopping and Dropping

What many students don't realize, CFD officials say, is that if a real fire breaks out, they may have less than two minutes to evacuate a building before it becomes dangerous. Ignoring the alarms--or showing any hesitation at all in exiting--can prove deadly.

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