South Carolina College Found Lax in Fire Safety

Columbia’s fire chief says there’s more work to be done on fire alarms and sprinkler systems at a South Carolina college following a new inspection.

Fire Chief Bradley Anderson said alarms at the Benedict College dorms are working but deficiencies remain at one dorm.

Anderson told WIS-TV the system in one dorm doesn’t automatically call the fire department when an alarm goes off. The fire department says someone must monitor the dorm around the clock until that is fixed.

A fire department inspection last month of 24 buildings found nearly 200 violations of fire and maintenance codes.

Inspections in 2008 and 2009 found major deficiencies with the dorm systems across the campus at the historically black college.

The school moved some students to an apartment complex last fall because of the problems.