Columns

Introduction to Freshman Fire Safety
Dormitory fire safety is a priority for parents, and NFPA is there to help.
NFPA Journal®, January/February 2002

Many parents are concerned about college fire safety, especially after hearing the frequent reports of fires in and around our nation's colleges and universities. Last summer, I experienced the distress of leaving my son, a college freshman, in an unsprinklered dormitory.

Kenyon College in Gambier, Ohio, is a wonderful institution where safety is a priority. Throughout the question- and-answer period for parents, speakers sought information and reassurance about the college's safety procedures, especially fire and life safety. Listening to these important questions, I mentally added two of my own: "Why hadn't we asked these questions before we agreed to send our children here?" and "What more could NFPA do to put these issues on the radar screen of all parents of college-bound students?"

By the end of the orientation, we were satisfied with our son's living situation, especially when we saw that he was living on the first floor of the dorm, near the exit. Kenyon College can expect a lot of information about sprinklers along with our son's tuition payments in the years ahead.

Still, I worry about an uncontrolled fire at Kenyon or any college or university. NFPA's Senior Fire Investigator Bob Duval shares this concern.

"With fire safety we often learn from past tragedies. College fire safety is no different," he says. "We need to stress the importance of automatic sprinklers, fire drills, fire alarms, and building construction features in providing safety against fire in college housing."

I also learned from Ed Comeau, NFPA's former chief fire investigator and publisher of Campus Firewatch, that it isn't just a problem on college premises.

"Over the past two years, Campus Firewatch has encountered numerous off-campus fires in which students have been killed or injured," he says. "Unfortunately, students living off campus in apartments and houses often don't receive the fire safety education and training they need to save their lives and those of their roommates. This needs to change, and the parents of students attending these schools can be a force in seeing that it does."

What can parents do?
How can NFPA members ensure that their child's college is taking appropriate measures to prevent campus fires?

First and foremost, you can encourage school officials to tap into a growing network of campus fire safety professionals that meets in conjunction with NFPA conferences.

When we returned from Ohio, I telephoned Kenyon's safety director, Dan Werner, urging him to participate in College Fire Safety Forum III at NFPA's Fall Educational Conference in Dallas this past November. Forum III is the third in a series of meetings intended to enhance fire safety in colleges and universities.

"It was a terrific conference," he says.

"I'm already incorporating new strategies I learned about at the forum. The information and resources will help Kenyon protect its students and help the students protect themselves. Fire safety is a shared responsibility."

Plans are already in the works for Forum IV, sponsors of which include the NFPA Education Section, the U.S. Fire Administration, the Campus Safety, Health and Environmental Management Association, and Campus Firewatch.

NFPA is a pioneering force in safety education, much of it focused on teaching young children how to be safer from fire and other injuries.

Now, thanks to multi-agency support for the College Fire Safety Forum, NFPA can help ensure the safety of young adults as they test new boundaries of independence and risk.

For me, with one son already in college and the other in high school, these efforts come not a moment too soon.

Meri-K Appy is NFPA's vice president of Public Education.

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