Recently I visited a big box store to pick up a few household items. Lines were long as college students and their patient parents checked out with comforters, towels and all kinds of storage cubes to make dorm rooms seem like home away from home.

I’m sure that the furthest thing from any of their minds was fire safety on campus. But campus fires, especially in off-campus housing, continue to contribute to fire death statistics. 

Campus Fire Safety

Between January 2000 and June 2009, 135 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. Simulations show that it can take just moments for a typical college student’s room to go up in flames. According to the Center for Campus Fire Safety, most of the fires in college housing are preventable.

At 3:36 a.m. May 13, Colin Grenn, a student at Grand Valley State University, was caught in an off-campus house fire in East Grand Rapids, Mich.. He was found by firefighters in his second floor bedroom of the two-story, wood frame, single-family rental house he was occupying with his brother and a friend. He died May 18.

At this time it is still unreported whether smoke alarms were present or operational. This is the sixth campus-related fire death of the 2008-2009 academic year.

In many cases where fire fatalities occurred on college campuses, alcohol was a factor. In more than 50 percent of adult fire fatalities, victims were under the influence at the time of the fire.

Cooking is the leading cause of fire injuries on college campuses, closely followed by careless smoking and arson. Eighty percent of the fire fatalities have occurred in off-campus housing where fire safety systems and inspections are less regulated. When making arrangements for off-campus housing for students, take extra time to investigate the fire safety — or lack thereof — at the residence.

Ask These Questions

When visiting a college campus, consider some of these questions.

How many fires have occurred on campus in the past year, two years, five years?

Are residence halls equipped with an automatic fire sprinkler system?

Does every student’s room have a smoke alarm?

How many false alarms have occurred in the residence halls? False alarms cause students to stop paying attention to the alarms. Does the school have disciplinary action for those students who cause false alarms?

Is the fire department immediately notified whenever any fire alarm system is activated? Some schools investigate the alarm first and then notify the fire department. This delay can put everyone at risk.

Are smoking, candles and Halogen lamps prohibited in the residence halls?

Does the school have policies that electrical appliances and power strips be certified as safe and reliable?

How much fire prevention training does the residence hall staff receive?

How often are evacuation drills conducted? There should be at least one per semester.

Suggestions for Students’ Safety

Fire alarms or small fires should never be ignored. Students should not wait to see smoke or fire before they leave.

Dorms and fraternity/sorority rooms should be checked regularly for fire hazards. “Trashed” rooms are very difficult to escape from quickly.

Fire escape plans should be posted and available for all students. Students should know where all exits are located.

All windows should be working properly in the event students need to escape.

Electrical outlets should never be overloaded.

Students should unplug all heat producing appliances after each use.

Smokers need to use large, deep ashtrays. Never smoke in bed.

Students should never stop to gather possessions before leaving. Students should not hang clothes or other items on sprinkler heads.

Students should not disable any existing alarms or pull stations.

Cell phones should be programmed for 9-1-1.

The Downers Grove Fire Department would like to wish all of our college students a successful, memorable and safe year away at school.