The fire bell, which now sits down the hill from Rollins Hall, was used to alert the students whose job it was to spring into action and fight blazes. When the fire bell sounded, the boarders immediately rushed to retrieve the fire extinguisher to which they were assigned and ran to put out the flames. Donated by the B&O Railroad in 1938, the bell was also used to signal the daily end of athletics.
According to an article in the October 3, 1925, issue of The Week, prior to having the bell, students, faculty, and staff were alerted to a fire by a bugler. The location of the fire determined how many blasts on the bugle. One blast signaled that the fire was in the Main Building or the gymnasium, while seven blasts indicated the blaze was in the cow barn or the piggery.
