Mandatory Sprinklering/Retrofitting of Dorms and Frat Houses

Tom Lariviere, Chief of the Madison (MS) Fire Department, in whose state the recent fatal fraternity house fire took place the first week of school, is seeking information from fellow section members. Those among you who can provide copies of passed, pending, or draft legislation on the mandatory sprinklering/retrofitting of dormitories and fraternity houses are asked to e-mail whatever information you have to him at the following address: tlariviere@madisonthecity.com. 

In addition, please read below the comments from the Center for Campus Fire Safety

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

National Call to Arms for Campus Fire Safety

Amherst, Mass., August 27, 2004-The fraternity fire today that killed three University of Mississippi students underscores the importance of fire safety at our nation's campuses. As students return to school, and as parents begin touring campuses this fall, experts suggest that fire safety should be one of the items high on everyone's list when evaluating any school.

"Within the past week four students have died in fires," reports Ed Comeau, director of the Center for Campus Fire Safety. "This is an incredibly tragic beginning to the school year." This eclipses the previous death toll during the start of school in 2000 where a single fire claimed the life of a student and both of her parents in Berkeley, California.

According to information compiled by the Center, 66 students have died in fires and over 90 percent of these fire deaths have occurred off campus since January 2000. Each year there is an average of 1,500 fires causing $9 million in damage in residence halls and Greek housing, according to the National Fire Protection Association. Added to these fires and damage is the untold number of fires that occur in off campus housing, such as rented apartments and houses.

Comeau said that common threads seen in off-campus fire fatalities often include:

"What is needed is a national 'call to arms,'" said Sherry Kenyon, fire safety coordinator for the Boulder Fire Department near the University of Colorado. "Too many students are having their lives and futures cut short in fires that need not happen. There are steps that we can all take and should take to help stop this trend."

Sprinklers in student housing provide an unparalleled level of fire safety. One example where sprinklers would have saved lives was in a fraternity fire at the University of North Carolina where five students were killed in a fire on May 9, 1996, which was both graduation day as well as Mother's Day.

"If we had sprinklers in that fraternity house, the five students that were killed would be living, active members of our society today," said Dan Jones, Fire Chief of the Chapel Hill Fire Department. "Now, all of the fraternities and sororities in Chapel Hill have these systems, and I sleep better at night knowing this. How many more times is this going to happen before the lessons are learned?"

Coupled along with automatic fire sprinklers should be fire alarms that will provide the early warning of a fire. "Smoke alarms and sprinklers together will give everyone the warning to get out and will control the fire, probably before the fire department even arrives," says Comeau.

In addition to these systems the Center recommends a comprehensive fire prevention education and training program for all students living on and off campus.

"We have discovered ways to make the fire safety education for college students interesting and very interactive," says Boulder Fire Chief Larry Donner. Colorado University at Boulder and the fire department holds regular Greek Fire Academies and Resident Assistant Fire Academies where students have the opportunity to navigate smoke-filled corridors, extinguish fires, drag victims out of buildings and many other fire fighting tasks. "This not only gets them actively involved, but it helps to make the fire safety messages 'stick' long after they move on," adds Donner.

It is important that parents arm themselves with information. "There are questions that I wish we had asked when Dominic went to school," says Donna Passantino Henson, who lost her son in a fraternity fire in 1999. "I encourage all parents to ask these questions and consider the answers when choosing a school. I never want a parent to go through what I had to when Dominic never came home."

This list of questions includes:

For more information on campus fire safety visit the Center for Campus Fire Safety's website at  www.campusfire.org.

The Center for Campus Fire Safety is an organization devoted to the cause of campus fire safety and provides tools, resources and information to support fire safety professionals efforts. Funding for the Center is provided by the National Fire Sprinkler Association, the National Electrical Manufacturer's Association, Underwriters Laboratories and SimplexGrinnell. Contact: Ed Comeau, Director, Center for Campus Fire Safety, 413-323-6002, ecomeau@campusfire.org or  www.campusfire.org.

Submitted by:
Joelle M. Fishkin
IAFC Staff Liaison
Fire & Life Safety Section, jfishkin@iafc.org 

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