Almost all students have been in a situation where a fire alarm is pulled or a fire drill is planned. But how to decipher the real from the fake can be difficult.

According to Council of Governments (COG) Fire Prevention Program records, 189 false alarms and 162 legitimate alarms were reported to the Alpha Fire Co. in State College in 2001.

The figure for legitimate alarms includes vehicle fires, brush fires, forest fires and others. Of the 189 false alarms, 15 were considered malicious because they were pulled when no fire was present.

Most malicious alarms are pulled in multi-family housing units like double homes or apartment buildings, said Jackie Richardson, administrative assistant for the program.

Because many fire alarms are false, some students do not react to them.

"I just sit there," Jesse Shapiro (junior-anthropology) said. "The first time I left, but when it starts happening four times in a night, I just don't do anything. Sometimes I stick my head out."

Richardson said most pulled fire alarms go unpunished.

Unless there is an investigation, they don't usually find out who is responsible for these alarms, she said.

"Someone pulled an alarm my freshman year; I saw him," Jacob Kosoff (senior-economics) said. "He did it with his elbow. He didn't want to put his fingers on it. He just did it to be tough guy."

Fire drills are conducted in dorms on campus every month except August, said John Hurst, assistant director of residence life. Hurst said he does not hear many complaints about the drills unless they are held in inclement weather.

"So many fire drills are like 'crying wolf,' " Kosoff said. "I support them but not because they prepare students for fires. They force students to interact with their neighbors."

Fire drills usually take place between 4 and 8 p.m. on weekdays. Coordinators try to avoid Sundays on football weekends, evenings when students are studying and days with bad weather, Hurst said.

Not all students support the drills.

"Always lock your door," Danielle Jacobs (senior-mathematics) said. "In England, people set fire alarms off so they know it's fake and go around and steal things."

This semester, Hurst is not aware of any malicious false alarms on campus. His main concern is students who don't leave the building during drills.

"We take [fire safety] very seriously," he said. "It's a challenge to educate students because everyone thinks they know everything about fire safety. ... Fires don't kill people; smoke kills people, and smoke spreads quickly."

Students who don't leave the building after an alarm sounds can get punishments including a verbal warning, a housing contract review and an educational program such as having the student assist in running the drill the following month, Hurst said. The goal is to keep students from being careless, he said.