As parents prepare to send their kids off to college for the first time or the fourth time, Greg Olrich, fire marshal with the Independence Fire Department, is urging parents and students to be smart and think fire safety when it comes to choosing housing, either on campus or off.
“I think it’s important the parents reiterate to their son or daughter “even if you’re in a frat house or whatever – you need to make sure you’re sleeping in a safe environment,” he said.
Olrich, who’s been doing more research lately, found out two-thirds of the students live off campus and over 80 percent of the fire fatalities happen off campus.
“Sometimes they put so many people in one area that they’re not really in a sleeping room. You need to make sure there are working windows, a second way out, you’ve got to have working smoke detectors,” he said. “The best arrangement is to have them all interconnected, so if one g oes off anywhere in the house they’ll all go off.”
He also suggests if there are fire alarms that are too close to the kitchen, causing false alarms due to smoke from cooking, “don’t just take the batteries out, but actually move the alarm so it doesn’t just become a habit of ignoring the alarm.”
“If you’re continually getting false alarms, pretty soon you just quit reacting and responding to it,” said Olrich. “When an alarm does alert you need to be able to respond and leave the building.”
If there is a party, the host should provide ash trays and at the end of the night all furniture cushions should be checked to make sure there aren’t any cigarette butts which could smolder, he noted.
“Part of the problem with that is the alcohol consumption, too,” he said. “Just like you have a designated driver there should be someone around sober enough to really be able to check the house out before you close up shop and go to bed for the night.”
Olrich said p eople should always have multiple exits in case a fire should happen, and if someone has a window on a second story, perhaps they should consider keeping an emergency escape ladder under their bed. He also said when getting a house off campus, if there appears not to be enough detectors in the house, occupants should not hesitate to have more installed.
“I recommend one with a sealed battery with like a 10-year life, so they can’t remove the battery,” he said.
He warns against candles as well.
“Never leave a candle burning when you leave the room; before you leave blow it out. You should have at least a foot all the way around the candle or above the candle clear of anything that could possibly burn,” said Olrich. “Hopefully, in dorms they have rules against candles.”
He noted that half of the fires the Independence Fire Department has dealt with over the past few years have been candle-related and “it just seems to get worse.”
When it comes to living o n campus and in the dorms, Olrich said most larger campuses have their own “safety people.”
“There might be a person designated just for fire safety and they’ll work with the security guards, RA’s and everybody for dorm safety,” he said. “Make sure that that’s in place and that there are penalties for those who don’t follow the rules.”
If a student finds an unsafe practice such as smoking in the dorms, windows that won’t open or fire alarms that don’t work, they should report it to somebody.
“Make sure they’re aware of it and if they don’t address the problem continue on up the ladder to a higher authority until the problem is taken care of, but don’t accept unsafe practices if things aren’t functioning,” said Olrich.
He knows extension cords are in high demand, especially in older dorm rooms where there are only a couple plugs.
“The first thing is you need surge protectors, so you have your multi-plug with some protection,” he said. “When you run y our cords from that, make sure they’re not running under the rugs, under desk legs or chairs where they’re going to be worn out and rubbed on. Every point where it can get worn on is a point where you can get ignition.”
According to www.campus-firewatch.com between January 2000 and June 2008, 129 people have died in campus-related fires, both on and off-campus, across the country. Countless others have been burned, lost their housing, personal belongings and school work in fires.
“I want to reinforce to the parents and the students, don’t accept less than what is safe, look at it, spend some time,” said Olrich. “I know the education part is key, but spend time to think about the rest of your time, the time you spend in your studies, your dorms, and your housing situation.”