The DeKalb Fire Department shouldn’t be trying to sacrifice safety for safety, it’s a no-win situation.

The department is saying the crash doors in the residence halls could pose a possible threat to students if smoke travels up the stairwells. The students then would be forced to go up to their floor, which they have a key for, or to the basement, which a key is not needed for.

The department has the idea to hook the crash doors to the fire alarm so that when the alarm goes off, the doors will open automatically.

There are many problems with this idea. The doors were implemented in the first place for safety. Who’s to say that someone wouldn’t pull the alarm just to get the doors to unlock and go and rob residence hall rooms?

NIU Safety Officer Robert Vest, Jr. had a good point when he said there are more police emergencies than fire.

The doors were installed long ago to protect people from theft, not flames.

The doors have been working fine for protecting students and there have been many fires and fire drills to prove the system works pretty well the way it is now.

The fire department should be commended for looking out for students and checking to see if the residence halls are up to code with the fire department.

The residence halls seem to be pretty safe and secure in case of either emergency, theft or fire. If isn’t broken, don’t fix it.