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| | Smoking paper shredder leads to courthouse evacuation
JOHN SOWELL, jsowell@newsreview.info
November 4, 2007
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A smoldering shredder provided a good test Friday morning for a new alarm system installed about a year ago in the Douglas County Courthouse.
Friction from the shredder used in the fourth-floor office of the Douglas Interagency Narcotics Team caused some paper to start smoking at about 8:40 a.m., a Douglas County Sheriff's Office dispatcher said. The smoke triggered an alarm that led to the evacuation of the building.
Building maintenance officials were able to pinpoint the location of the smoke through a computer program that links each of the alarm sensors located in the building. The monitoring system also showed a second sensor outside the DINT office was triggered after employees dragged the smoldering bin into the hall, said Tommy Neyhart, the county's building facilities manager.
"Everything worked perfectly," Neyhart said.
The Roseburg Fire Department was called to the scene, but the smoldering paper was put out by DINT employees using a chemical extinguisher before fire crews arrived, Neyhart said. No damage was reported.
During the evacuation, employees went to one of several designated locations across the street from the courthouse. Each office has a team leader who is responsible for ensuring that all employees have made it safely out of the building and are present at the waiting area.
Other employees place warning signs in front of courthouse entrances to ensure that no one else who is unaware of the evacuation enters the building and possibly subjects themselves to danger.
The alarm system is also tied to the adjacent Justice Building, which contains the sheriff's office, the Douglas County Jail and the criminal courtrooms.
You can reach reporter John Sowell at 957-4209 or by e-mail at jsowell@newsreview.info | |
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