Alec Rodriguez EDINBURG – In honor of fire prevention week, UTRGV Police and the Environmental Health, Safety, and Risk Management department are offering free training on protocols to follow If you ever find yourself near a fire.
Marco Huerta, a university police officer, said to be mindful and know the evacuation route in case of a fire.
“They should have the exit plan, and how to get out of the building safely,” Huerta said. “And usually, those plans are posted all inside. The rooms are in our buildings, and they’ll say that, they’ll show you the, the fire exit, how to get to it.”
Huerta said officers are trained to find fire panels on campus; he shares some advice for students about fire pull stations.
“Those are those pull station that say fire, pull for fire,” Huerta said. “Do not pull them as horse playing around. We ask them to respect that. Those is only for emergency. As you know. So, you’ll see some fire pulls along, especially at the dorms.”
Saul Jauregui, the program manager for the Environmental Health, Safety, and Risk Management department, manages the fire and life safety program and oversees all the fire alarm systems on campus, including smoke detectors and fire extinguishers.
He said people should be knowledgeable of the building they are in because it may impair their ability to get out.
“And, what you can do to prepare yourself and be aware beforehand of what to do in case of a fire, you know, not know where the exits are, know where the fire extinguishers are,” Jauregui said. “If there is a sprinkler system, know you know that it’s there, that it’s going to work for you.”
A fire safety training was held on the Edinburg campus on Oct. 6.
Brownsville will host another fire safety training on Oct. 23 from 9 to 10:45 a.m.
Another training was scheduled in Brownsville on Oct. 9 but was cancelled as of today. Signups are available via the UTRGV training website.
