Fire Alarm in Daughter's Sem!!!

amother

Natural

Sat, Oct 20 2018, 9:45 pm

So, my daughter is in a Sem in Yerushalayim and about an hour or two ago the fire alarm went off. All the girls panicked and ran out of the building. They could all smell something burning.

I last spoke to her 20 minutes ago and she told me they were all still out on the street, the fire department had not bothered to show up at all, nor any of the teachers/heads of the Sem. There were some madrichos who live there with them (girls).

Obviously I'm grateful to Hashem that they're all ok, but I don't know whether to furious at the Sem for not having any responsible adult come to check on the girls (yes, I know it's the middle of the night), and even more at the pathetic Israeli emergency services.

Rant over.

shabbatiscoming

Sun, Oct 21 2018, 2:06 am

Did they call the eim bayit? Did anyone call the fire department more than once?
Also, if there was no actual fire, maybe the girls or madrichot figured it out. Maybe someone burned something in the toaster or something like that. Did your daughter call you back after it was all over to tell you what had happened in the end?

salt

Sun, Oct 21 2018, 4:18 am

amother wrote:

I hope everything was ok in the end. But please don't call the Israeli emergency services pathetic.
Israeli emergency services are excellent and many other first world Western countries learn from the Israeli army, rescue services, etc.
When the Children of Israel were in the desert, after yetziat mizrayim, they 'badmouthed' Eretz Yisrael, and that sin led to many many bad things happening to Am Yisrael.

Speak to the management of your DD's seminary, and find out what exactly happened so as to prevent this kind of balagan in the future. Insist that they have adults on site at all times, that know what to do in emergency situations.

amother

Copper

Sun, Oct 21 2018, 6:25 am

Honestly, this why I'm glad that cell phones weren't yet a thing when I was in Israel for the year. Something (in the grand scheme of things) relatively minor happened and now someone thousands of miles away is worrying. Let dd learn how to handle incidents like this on her own and for you to let go.

A year in sem is a great opportunity for self growth, self reliance and to start individuation. These types of incidents are perfect for that.

Metukah

Sun, Oct 21 2018, 6:31 am

salt wrote:

I hope everything was ok in the end. But please don't call the Israeli emergency services pathetic.
...
When the Children of Israel were in the desert, after yetziat mizrayim, they 'badmouthed' Eretz Yisrael, and that sin led to many many bad things happening to Am Yisrael.

Let's not exaggerate here. Mocking Israeli fire service is no more dibas ('bad mouthing') eretz yisroel than mocking NY fire service. The Israeli fire service has nothing to do with the amazing and holy eretz yisroel.

Let's also not overdo this, Israel operates as an amazing first world country and many things, medicine included, surpass many first world countries. But, their fire service (the organisation, not people) leaves a lot to be desired.

BH for amazingly built buildings and structures. NY (and many other places) would not survive one day with the Israeli fire service.

etky

Sun, Oct 21 2018, 8:53 am

amother wrote:

Well I would just be happy that there is a fire alarm in the dorms and that it works. I could think of worse scenarios...

DD just started studying at BGU down in Be'er Sheva, where she's living in the dorms.
One of the first thing we noticed when we bought her down there last week was that there are no fire extinguishers, anywhere, in the building:no instructions what to do in the case of fire, no signage whatsoever, no visible smoke or fire alarms, no other exit to the building than the main one etc.
First thing DH did was to affix a smoke alarm that we had bought with us, to the ceiling of her room.
Today she went down to Be'er Sheva equipped with 2 new fire extinguishers that we ordered for her on line.
She also went down with instructions from us to make it her business to inquire about fire safety procedures at the dorm office. Hopefully she will actually do it.
We fervently hope that be"h we will never have to know how capable the fire department in Be'er Sheva actually is.
It would be nice though if fire awareness and preparedness was a priority across all areas of society here and in all institutions. In the army for example, they had regular fire drills at her base. I really was not prepared for this lackadaisical approach at the university.
Same goes for missile attacks btw. Last Tuesday night, when the missile hit Be'er Sheva, there was mayhem in the dorm when the siren went off at 03:40 in the morning. No one made it down to the miklat on time. All the students just clustered in the stairwell and hoped for the best. No explanation had been offered about what to do/where to go in the event of a missile attack when the term started on Sunday.

amother

Purple

Sun, Oct 21 2018, 11:03 pm

amother wrote:

In my Sem, 20+ years ago, the Madrichos would lock the doors from the inside, take the keys upstairs to the second level and go to sleep. I always used to think how dangerous that would be if there was a fire in the building. And there were metal grates on all the windows!!

Same here. But there was an alarmed box next to the door with a key in it for emergencies.

imasoftov

Mon, Oct 22 2018, 8:26 am

amother wrote:

No words (that I can post here)

FranticFrummie

Mon, Oct 22 2018, 2:45 pm

If you can't afford a fire extinguisher, or don't know where to get one, always keep a large bag of table salt or baking soda handy. It will smother the fire until help can arrive, and can buy you precious minutes while you get everybody out.

If you have a grease fire and can't get the salt, then put a tight lid on it. Take the whole pot outside, and DO NOT OPEN IT until it has completely cooled off.

Fire safety in the kitchen should be taught to children at the same time you teach them how to cook.

Know all your escape routes, meet up places, and practice regularly. Every kid should know this by heart. You may think they know, but if you give them a random quiz, they might forget, so make sure they have it memorized.

With Chanukah coming up, the chance for tipped over candles and oil fires goes up, CVS. This is a great time to review your fire safety knowledge and have a family meeting.