Mike Larson, interim director of F&S Utilities & Energy Services (UES), was awarded and recognized for strategic campus contingency planning by Brian Brauer from the U. of I. Division of Public Safety (DPS).
Larson saw how strong communication between the City of Champaign and Urbana Fire Departments, DPS, and crafts, trades, and utilities at F&S, is necessary to safely address different types of ongoing emergencies, like fires, utility leaks, or electrical hazards. Brauer took note of recent successes in emergency response, and nominated Larson with the Campus Emergency Planning Recognition Award.
Campus energy operations at Abbott Power Plant account for about 75 percent of all steam and electricity use on campus. Used to power electric turbines, steam is sent across campus in underground tunnels and piping. So, after a steam pipe burst on campus in 2025, Larson advocated for stronger communication between the various emergency responders when he examined how the event was handled.
Brauer said Larson “worked to help us understand the issue, walked us through the spaces involved, and identified the other F&S team members who could have played a role in a more organized and effective emergency response.”
Ironically, in August 2025 while discussing better emergency response, another arose: this time, a chemical spill in the Boneyard Creek. Larson was on top of it, and his “knowledge of the June response led him to notify UIPD to assist with managing the scene at that event,” Brauer recounted. Two more emergencies required response from the city and university, this time two fires, including one at a residence hall, and Brauer says the enhanced communication lifted the quality of the response.
From Brauer’s nomination: “As a result of Mike’s concerns and the training and discussions that arose from the after-action process, the Grainger College of Engineering, F&S, Champaign Fire Department, and DPS all integrated seamlessly and effectively to benefit the university’s population. Changes that were implemented to the Champaign Fire Department response benefited the university and housing as a fire emergency was contained. Emergency Management continues to work with F&S to refine emergency alerts for facilities emergencies, and those ongoing conversations are also a result of the initial concerns Mike raised.”
“If Mike had remained silent, this would not have been addressed as proactively as we were able to,” Brauer said. “I see the U. of I. as having two integrated and intertwined sets of emergency responders: DPS and F&S. One can’t deliver their services to the university without the assistance of the other!”