"Antifreeze and water leaked out of the system," Dale Ordway, a Troubleshooter of nine years, said. "We had to call the fire department and evacuate the building."
The Troubleshooters team, which operates under the Facilities Operations and Management department, works in teams of two, performing emergency maintenance seven days a week during the hours when FO&M is off duty. Troubleshooters work two eight-hour shifts during the week and three eight-hour shifts over the weekend.
"Once FO&M goes home, we're there until they get back in the morning," Bruce Demers, a Troubleshooter of three years, said. "The campus is never really left alone."
In the Winter the Troubleshooters influence how the College addresses snowstorms, as the crew solicits the aid of "snow teams" once there is more than an inch of snow on the ground, Dermers said.
"If there's freezing rain but no snow on the ground, we have the authority to call in the appropriate teams to sand and salt the campus if needed," Demers said. "We call our supervisors to contact the snow teams and set up a plan of attack."
In the spring, heavy rain and melting snow can lead to flooding, Demers said.
The typical Troubleshooter is a "jack-of-all-trades," Demers said. Troubleshooters have a wide variety of responsibilities, according to Ordway.
"We take care of a million different departments," Ordway said. "We do a little bit of heating, electrical, everything."
Troubleshooters also change locks on dormitory rooms if keys are lost or broken, according to Demers.
All College-owned buildings from residence halls to academic buildings to rental properties are under the Troubleshooters' purview. Even the Dartmouth Skiway requires weekend services from the Troubleshooters, but such situations are "rare," Demers said.
The Troubleshooters work as their own department within the College but collaborate with other departments as necessary, according to Ordway.
"If there's a big flood we may call the custodians," he said. "If it's a heating or furnace issue or a major breakage on the unit, we'll call in heating technicians. We call in a plumber once in awhile."
During Winter term, calls most commonly result from frozen pipes or a lack of heat or hot water in buildings, Demers said.
"There are rental houses that run out of heating oil in the winter, and we'll actually place the order and deliver the oil," he said.
The College's big weekends also lead to more calls.
"Graduation is a busy time," Demers said. "Alumni come back, there are a lot more people on campus and they have different kinds of needs."
Student activity can lead to fluctuations in the number of calls received by Troubleshooters, according to Demers.
"[The workload] comes and it goes," he said. "Some students might get a little rowdy over a particular event since they're done with their midterms and finals and things, so we'll see a little more activity."
For Troubleshooters, there is no such thing as a typical day at the office, Ordway said. The job is always "on the fly."
Demers said his favorite part of the job is its constantly changing nature.
"I kind of enjoy not having to stay in one spot," he said. "You have access to everything on campus you could be plunging a sink one minute and going to a fire alarm the next."
Troubleshooters almost always receive at least one call during a shift, according to Demers, and typically receive eight to 10 calls per shift.
The most common residential dormitory calls involve typical maintenance issues, Ordway said.
"We get calls about toilets not working, sinks not working, plugged drains, lights not working," he said. "This time of year, we get a lot of calls about no heat in the summer, it's refrigeration and the AC."
When a fire alarm sounds, Troubleshooters meet the fire department at the scene, according to Demers. If there is no actual fire, the Troubleshooters enter the building and make any necessary repairs to address the alarm.
Troubleshooters mostly perform technical repairs, but occasionally they receive calls regarding blood or vomit in residence halls. In such cases, the Troubleshooters may call a building supervisor or custodian to address the problem. Calls to the Troubleshooters team are generally "student-generated," Demers said. Students interviewed by The Dartmouth characterized the Troubleshooters as highly responsive.
Brandon DeBot '14 called the Troubleshooters to fix power outlets in his dormitory that had been broken for several weeks.
"They came within a couple hours," he said. "I got my outlets fixed really quickly and everything was all good."
