Smoldering cigarette causes fire scare

Rebecca Jordan
Editor-in-Chief

Smoke in the Administration Building last Tuesday night was due to a smoldering cigarette.

Fire trucks, an ambulance and Public Safety personnel appeared at the Administration building to investigate the smell of smoke in the building. After officers had inspected the building for signs of fire and found the source of the smell, the area was deemed safe around 9:30 p.m.

According to Dennis Kennedy, director of communications and marketing, in an email interview the response to the situation went as planned.

“The college has public safety protocols and emergency response plans to deal with such a situation. Should there be a fire on campus, local fire departments and law enforcement agencies are immediately notified. Buildings are alarmed and evacuated immediately if necessary. Fire drills are routinely practiced,” he said.

According to Kennedy, the resulting damage was very minimal.

“There was a small amount of sheet rock and part of the face of a door that needed to be removed… I believe our Physical Plant will be able to address this without new cost to the college,” he said.

Hudson Valley implemented its tobacco-free campus policy in 2013 in response to a resolution passed by SUNY schools. The code bans cigarettes and tobacco in all of its forms, including e-Cigarettes, chew and tobacco-flavored products.

However, smoking still occurs on campus, as is evidenced by the incident last Tuesday.

Kennedy said, “The college has plans to continue to educate our community and visitors of our smoke/tobacco-free policy. Existing plans call for adding some additional signage and communications that indicate the college policy.”

He continued, “Overall, the college’s transition to becoming a tobacco-free campus has been extremely successful. Hudson Valley was one of the first SUNY community colleges to go smoke and tobacco free, and most others have now followed suit.”