Text messages alert CU

Text message alerts are gaining popularity at CU after a fire broke out in Cristol Chemistry Tuesday (Sept. 29).

A 30-day science experiment is allegedly the cause for a fume hood fire in room 120 of the building. The fire was contained quickly but there was water damage due to the sprinkler system.

Many students, staff and faculty received two text message alerts from CU asking them to avoid the area surrounding Cristol Chemistry the morning of the fire. The text messages are part of an emergency notification system. In order to receive the alerts you must register your phone with the university.

"In the last two days we've had about 300 people sign up," said Bronson Hilliard, CU's director of media relations. "Every time we've had a campus emergency in the past we've seen the numbers bump up on the signup for the CU Learn system."

The alert messages are sent to phones and e-mail accounts when there is an event that affects a large portion of the CU population.

"Generally, we're talking about an emergency that involves a major geographic portion of the university," Hilliard said.

Currently there are 18,000 people signed up for the emergency system. When there is "some kind of major campus emergency like that, where we would need to communicate with all the student body, faculty and staff at one time, this is a quick and efficient way to do it, so absolutely we advise all students to sing up," Hilliard said.