October is Fire Safety Month, and fire organizations all over the country are encouraging students to brush up on their fire prevention knowledge.
From 2002 to 2005, there were 39 deaths and about 400 injuries in residence halls, fraternities and sororities as a result of fire, according to the National Fire Prevention Association. 72 percent of those fires were caused by students who left cooking food unattended. Smoking-related fires accounted for 40 percent of deaths.
Former NFPA Chief Fire Investigator Ed Comeau said in a phone interview college students lack the basic fire safety knowledge needed to prevent cooking and smoking fire incidents from happening. Comeau created www.campus-firewatch.com, an electronic newsletter focusing solely on campus fire safety, to educate college students and staff.
“When I left the NFPA in 1999, I realized there was a real vacuum in campus fire prevention, so I started the Web site,” said Comeau. “We try to provide the tools to facilitate safety ideas.”
Campus Firewatch encourages universities to use residence hall mockup burns on campuses to demonstrate how fast fires can spread in small rooms. To illustrate the prevalence of fire in residence halls, the Web site also posts dozens of YouTube videos of college students using fire recklessly.
“Students really just need to be aware of their actions,” said Comeau. “They’re being inundated with a lot of messages that might cause them to forget about fire safety, so just having a heightened sense of awareness helps.”
University Fire Protection Manager Chuck Campbell said University Housing takes fire prevention seriously. At the beginning of every school year, Environmental Health and Safety inspects every living space owned by the University for potential fire hazards.
“Housing has been very, very concerned about the fire safety of residences,” said Campbell. “They have declared any items that may cause fires as forbidden in the housing contracts.”
Because housing contracts are strict, the University sees very few fires on campus and in Greek residences. Campbell said the last campus fire occurred almost three years ago.
“We make sure the halls are absolutely the safest they can be, and it pays off,” said Campbell.
Students who live off campus shouldn’t think themselves immune from fire danger. More than 80 percent of University-related fire fatalities occur outside campus boundaries, according to the NFPA. On-campus fires have stabilized over the past six years, said Comeau, whereas off-campus fire accidents tend to fluctuate. Last year saw 20 off-campus student fire fatalities nationally, the highest number on record.
“Statistics make it sound like universities are having all these fires, but most occur in off-campus housing,” said Campbell.
Comeau said students who make a point to re-educate themselves in fire safety will be more likely to emerge safely from a blaze.
“The time to learn how to use a fire extinguisher is before a fire happens,” said Comeau. “I hear so many students who say, ‘Gee, I didn’t know you had to pull the pin out.’”
Gregory Cade, U.S. fire administrator at the Department of Homeland Security, said in a phone interview students should acquaint themselves with the layout of their room or house and to make sure they test fire alarms, sprinklers and extinguishers before a fire happens.
Campbell recalled a recent incident in which two students whose residence hall room was on fire didn’t hear the smoke detector because they were under the influence. Others in the hall heard it, however, and were able to get the students who were in danger out of their room.
“Working smoke detectors and sprinkler systems save lives,” Campbell said.
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