Columbia may rest in a concrete jungle, but fires remain a very real threat. Fires in Nussbaum and McBain and have caused students to doubt the safety of Columbia residence halls. CTV sat down with Jim McCormick, Associate Director of Fire Safety.

"As far as actual fires, we have very few fires at Columbia. Within residence halls, we’re looking at probably maybe 10 to 15 fires a year, ranging from food on the stove to pizza boxes in the oven," McCormick explained.

Although some fire alerts are real, students experience many unwarranted alarms.

"The fire alarm systems are very sensitive and they react to products of combustion which include steam, smoke, heat, and vapors. So if you're cooking a big pot of pasta or something and put a lid on it and open it up and there's a cloud of steam that comes up, the smoke can trigger a fire alarm. What we've done, we've tried to investigate the alarm and determine patterns and modify the systems as needed."

Some students opt to stay in their room while these alarms are going off, but the Department of Public Safety stressses the importance of leaving the building whether the fire alert is serious or accidental.

"We keep stressing to people, please leave the building because it's very important since the fire can double in intensity every 30 seconds. When the alarm goes off, it's very important to get out quickly. We ask people not to linger, wait, or hide in their rooms. Unless you have an amazing reason why you didn't leave, it is kind of hard to justify not leaving the building. This is a person's life you're talking about."

Last week's fire at McBain Hall started in front of Deluxe Restaurant. McCormick explained that Columbia will be working with store owners to prevent future fires. Compared to the number of alarms activated per year, the number of residence hall fires is relatively small.