The University Park Fire Marshall Carl McMurphy and SMU’sRisk Management staff wants you to wake up early and get outquickly. They’re conducting emergency evacuations this month,and if students don’t comply, they may have to pay afine.

“We’re not doing it for the fun and games of it. Iwould much rather be the bad guy and have every student mad at methan to pick up one body and put it in a body bag,” McMurphysaid.

Students living in residence halls will have to evacuate thebuilding in four minutes or less. Those in greek houses have threeminutes.

If students don’t evacuate within that time, they get todo it again the week after. Exercises will continue until studentsmeet the requirements.

If students don’t evacuate, they can be issued aUniversity Park citation that usually carries up to a $350 fine. Anordinance passed in December requires anyone in a building toevacuate when a fire alarm sounds.

“The importance of this is the fact that most [students]are used to living at home… It’s a much smaller house, andit’s no hassle,” McMurphy said.

Getting out of a residence hall like McElvaney, which houses 260students, poses different problems.

“You can be standing in one wing and not see the fire orthe smoke, so its important that [students] react when that firealarm goes off,” McMurphy said.

When students evacuate, they are usually cold and disoriented,so McMurphy suggests that students shouldn’t waste timechanging clothes, but should come out with what they have on andjust bring a blanket outside with them.

Once outside, students must stand and wait in a designated area.How long it takes them to get out determines how long students willstay outside, SMU fire inspector James Oravsky said.

While students are standing outside in sometimes 40-degreeweather, Oravsky and resident assistants are inside making sure allthe alarms are working and the students are out.

“My goal is to make sure everyone gets out alive,”he said.