Lauren W., our College blogger, experienced a dorm “fire” at her university. Here’s what she learned:
About a month ago, 414 students were rudely awoken at two-thirty in the morning from their slumber to a chaotic scene. The students were pulled out of bed by loud alarms and ceiling sprinklers going berserk and had to trudge across the street to the other dorm. What caused this scene?
Three male students threw cigarettes in the bathroom’s trash bin without putting them out and the sprinklers immediately went off as soon as they sensed the smoke. They not only went off on the boy’s floor, but the other three floors of the dorm. It did not help when pipes burst and more water exploded into the hallways.
With all of this water coming into the hallways, it was unavoidable that innocent students would receive lots of water damage to their things in their dorms. One of my friends woke up to three inches of standing water, a destroyed laptop, and soaking wet clothing. Not only did he have to evacuate his room for four nights but he also had to bring his clothing to a dry cleaner and figure out the laptop dilemma.
My friend was not the only one who was put in this situation because of a group of boys who were not thinking about consequences. Thankfully, the university volunteered to reimburse all of the students who had property damage. However, it is still important to be aware that fires and other incidents can happen and how to protect your things if something were to happen.
So what can you do? Here are some steps you can take:
Plan Ahead: One of the top ways to guarantee your college belongings are safe is to talk to your insurance companies. Mine covers any damages to electronics and computers without any question for a low price every month. Most large electronic or computer companies will also offer insurance packages as well.
Keep Things Safe: When leaving the room, make sure to look around at what damage could possibly happen while you’re gone. Electronics being plugged in when they receive water damage can be harmful to the object as well as possibly letting of dangerous sparks to the rest of the room. If necessary, put you’re computer tucked away into a drawer. This way it will avoid damage and the possibility of it being stolen.
Organize: Keep as many things off the floor as possible. The floor is the first place where water damage would hit, so the less on the floor the better. Also, keep important items of clothing you wouldn’t want anything to happen in waterproof bins or dress bags.
College life brings along a lot more troubles than just school work - even other students cause a mini-disaster at any moment! When approaching college life, make sure your important belongings are safe from these unexpected twists and turns.
Thanks Lauren!! Have a tip or question for Lauren? Post it below!
It’s the last day of our spring cleaning series! Looking for a few easy projects to tackle over the weekend? Look no further!!
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