This afternoon I was at a pretty crowded Chestnut Hill Mall when a strobe light started flashing and a siren started honking.
It took me a few seconds to realize that — it wasn’t that someone just left a store with a security tag on — but that this was a fire alarm. And it wasn’t just in the store I was in. Lights were flashing and a siren was going of in whole mall.
So I did what I was taught to do in kindergarten, which was head for the nearest exit. Many other people did too.
But surprisingly not that many. In fact, I’d say that about 50-60 percent of the shoppers left, while the other 40-50 percent kept on shopping, including some folks with small children.
Because my car was parked on the opposite side of the building, I had to walk around outside the whole mall. I noticed that that not that many people seemed to be leaving the upper level stores either. In fact, through the window of the new Pepe’s Pizza, I could see quite a few people, sitting and enjoying their lunch. One shopper told me the store clerk where she was told everyone they had to leave, but that not everyone seemed to be in much of a hurry.
I didn’t smell or see any smoke. No one outside appeared to have seen anything either. Off in the distance I could hear fire trucks heading in our direction so I knew this was going to take a while and left. But I called the mall about 45 minutes later and they said they were open again, so I’m assuming it was a false alarm.
But I’m still puzzled why more people didn’t leave. Perhaps I’m overly sensitized after the attacks in Paris, Colorado and San Bernardino but why take a chance?
Am I over reacting?
An alarm went off, sirens were wailing, lights were flashing, and employees were telling people to leave the premises – and people kept eating pizza! At some point, personal responsibility needs to kick in and this seems to be one of those moments.
What Jane said.
A family member works at a mall (not this one), and at least four times a week full time employees at the mall hear the fire alarm go off. . . . and not one mall employee (retail) does anything about it. . . . . It is really sad to see that there are so many false alarms that the employees don’t even hear it. I have been at that mall twice during an alarm, and the customer service person was sitting there and not panicking. . . . the rep told me that it was a false alarm.
So what happens when the nearly false alarm isn’t a false alarm but truly a real fire?
The people who don’t leave may very well be in serious trouble and are surely putting firefighters at risk as well. That’s why you leave a building when an alarm goes off.
Unbelievable? Where is the mall management? It must be very illegal for a shop or restaurant to allow customers to stay during a fire alarm.
This response is a critical issue in other hazardous situations, as well. The very large tornado outbreak in the Southeast in April 2011 is a tragic example, with hundreds of additional injuries and even some deaths because people did not take the tornado warnings seriously enough. Everyone there has likely been through many, many watches and warnings for their area when they weren’t hit by the storm, or that the damage wasn’t devastating, so they don’t take it as seriously as they should, every time.
The after-action investigation and report following the event found that people wait for a second source, especially a social connection, to verify the threat is real before responding. If you hear it on TV and talk to your co-worker about it, you are more likely to respond in the appropriate manner. Or from a trusted TV meteorologist and a fired, or from three trusted websites, etc. They also discount warnings that do not specifically list the area that they are in.
So, they have made some adjustments to the warning communication system: refined the geographical locations so that each warning covers a smaller area with more towns and areas named; they have engaged more outlets in more types of media (severe weather apps and reports available through every local TV and radio station, each news network, popular websites, social media, etc) to report warnings and watches; encouraged people to tell others around them if there is severe weather approaching. They have also made educational efforts through these same sources to encourage people to pay attention to potentially bad weather, to seek out sources for warnings, and to pay attention.
It seems to be working.
We are inured to alarms because of our exposure to too many false ones, especially in the city, where we hear sirens and car alarms and warning beeps and so much else that is supposed to make us pay attention.
It sounds like we need to consider some changes and outreach for fire, too, especially in the current climate.
I want to be clear that I’m not criticizing the mall or mall employees for any of this. I did not remain inside long enough to observe anyone giving — or not giving — directions. I did what one is supposed to do, which is leave and get out of the way of anyone who might have a job to do.
What I was able to observe is that many fellow shoppers seemed entirely oblivious to what was happening and were just browsing or milling about as if nothing was happening.