Ed Comeau

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Campus Fire Safety

• Ed Comeau
• Publisher
• Campus Firewatch

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Campus Fire Safety
University of Nebraska Linda Dawson, 23, and her
unborn child
University of Missouri-St. Louis Brian
Schlittler, 25
Marshall University Ben Lucas, 19 Angel Lucas,
17 Quintin Lucas, 13 Brian Harmon, 40 Joseph
Szilvasi, age unknown
Nebraska Wesleyan Ryan Stewart, 19
University of Mississippi Leticia Shipley, Casey
Shipley, Kali Shipley
Boston University Rhiannon McCuish, 21 Stephen
Adelipour, 21
Longwood University Ed Cunningham Byron Jamerson
Boston University Derek Cowl, 19
Halifax Community College Keith Titus
University of Pittsburgh Richard Noble, 20
Cincinnati State Matthew Simpson
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Campus Fire Safety

• What are the areas of concern?

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Campus Fire Safety

• Fatal Fires since January 2000

Information compiled by Campus Firewatch
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Campus Fire Safety

• Catastrophic, multiple-fatality fires

• Fires that kill three or more people per incident
• 12 of the fires
• 43 of the victims

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Campus Fire Safety

• Common Threads in Fatal Fires
• Lack of automatic fire sprinklers
• Missing or disabled smoke alarms
• Careless disposal of smoking materials
• Impaired judgment from alcohol
  consumption

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Campus Fire Safety
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Campus Fire Safety
Information compiled by Campus Firewatch
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Campus Fire Safety

• Current Legislation

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Campus Fire Safety

• Federal Legislation
• Campus Fire Safety Month
• Resolutions in both the House and Senate
• Proclaims September as Campus Fire Safety Month
• Passed the House in 2006

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Campus Fire Safety
State proclamations in 2006
Alabama Alaska Colorado Connecticut Hawaii Illinoi
s Indiana Kansas Kentucky Louisiana Maine Maryland
Massachusetts Michigan Mississippi
Missouri Nebraska New Jersey New Mexico New
York North Carolina Oklahoma Oregon Pennsylvania R
hode Island South Carolina Texas Vermont Virginia
Wisconsin

• 3rd Annual Campus Fire Safety Month
• Letter signed by 18 parents sent to all governors
• NASFM support
• Legislation introduced in House and Senate

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Campus Fire Safety

• Federal Legislation
• Campus Fire Safety Right-to-Know
• Calls for colleges and universities to report
  fire safety information to U.S. Department of
  Education
• Introduced in the House and the Senate

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Campus Fire Safety
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Campus Fire Safety
The Congressional Record January 23, 2007

• THE CAMPUS FIRE SAFETY RIGHT
• TO KNOW ACT OF 2007
• HON. BILL PASCRELL, JR.
• OF NEW JERSEY
• IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
• Tuesday, January 23, 2007
• Mr. PASCRELL. Madam Speaker, 7 years
• ago this month, Seton Hall University in South
• Orange, NJ, suffered a horrible tragedy, as a
• fire ripped through one of its residence halls.
• That fire killed 3 young freshmen and wounded
• 58 other students.
• Unfortunately, campus fires have become all
• too common. Each year, thousands of fires
• rage through the campuses and off-campus
• housing of our colleges and universities. Since
• January 2000, almost 100 people have died in

This landmark legislation calls for colleges and
universities to report vital fire safety
information to the U.S. Department of
Education. This will allow prospective students
and their parents to make informed decisions
regarding a fire-safe school based on criteria
such as the installation of automatic fire
sprinkler systems, automatic fire alarm systems,
fire prevention training and other related
factors. The Campus Fire Safety Right to Know
Act does not mandate upgrades it simply
requires schools to collect and report data
crucial to the safety and well-being of students
and other residents. The fact that this
legislation was passed by the House of
Representatives in the 109th Congress was due, in
no small part, to the tremendous support provided
by leading fire safety organizations. These and
other organizations have joined with me once
again to support this vital legislation in order
to protect our students on campuses across the
Nation. They are working tirelessly every day to
improve fire safety for our citizens, and I want
to recognize and commend them for their
support and their leadership.
These fourteen organizations include Campus
Firewatch, Center for Campus Fire Safety,
Congressional Fire Services Institute, Internatio
nal Fire Chiefs Association, International
Association of Fire Fighters, International Code
Council, International Fire Marshals
Association, National Association of State Fire
Marshals, National Electrical Manufacturers
Association, National Fire Protection
Association, National Fire Sprinkler Association,
National Volunteer Fire Council, Society of Fire
Protection Engineers, and Underwriters
Laboratories. Madam Speaker, I urge Congress to
act now on this important legislation so that
we may ensure a safe school environment for
all college and university students. When we
entrust our children to any institution, we
expect that they will be in a safe environment.
And we have the right to expect that much.
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Campus Fire Safety

• Federal Legislation
• Campus Fire Prevention Act
• Provides 100,000,000 per year for five years in
  matching grants for the installation of automatic
  fire sprinkler systems.

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Campus Fire Safety

• Federal Legislation
• Sprinkler Incentive Act
• Reintroduced in House and Senate
• Reduce the depreciation schedule from 27 years
  to five on sprinkler installations.

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Campus Fire Safety
A new approach
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pollutes our atmosphere every day with
Do you know what
Hydrogen Cyanide
Carbon Dioxide
uses millions of gallons of water?
fills our landfills with unrecyclable trash?
kills almost 4,000 people a year?
Nitrogen Oxide
Carbon Monoxide
Hydrogen Chloride
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FIRE
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You can help protect the environment and save
lives
Live and work in sprinklered buildings
Learn how to use a fire extinguisher
Protect the Earth Protect yourself
Always know two ways out, no matter where you are
Blow out candles before leaving a room
Take alarms seriously-evacuate
www.campus-firewatch.com
Install smoke alarms and make sure they are
working all the time
Properly extinguish all cigarettes
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Hydrogen Cyanide
Carbon Dioxide
Every year, thousands of peoples last breath is
filled with.
Nitrogen Oxide
Carbon Monoxide
Hydrogen Chloride
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What will yours be filled with?
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You can help protect the environment and save
lives
Live and work in sprinklered buildings
Learn how to use a fire extinguisher
Protect the Earth Protect yourself
Always know two ways out, no matter where you are
Blow out candles before leaving a room
Take alarms seriously-evacuate
www.campus-firewatch.com
Install smoke alarms and make sure they are
working all the time
Properly extinguish all cigarettes
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Campus Fire Safety
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Campus Fire Safety

• Results
• Schools are voluntarily installing sprinklers
• University of Michigan
• University of Massachusetts
• Drake University in Iowa
• Nebraska Wesleyan

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Campus Fire Safety

• Connecting the dots.

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Campus Fire Safety

• Focus of current fire safety efforts

302 million-Total US Population
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Under 14 20
Over 65 12
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Campus Fire Safety

• Fire Fatalities at Large

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Campus Fire Safety

• Correlation

Campus Fatal Fires Residential Occupancies No
Residential Sprinklers Smoking
Materials Missing/Disabled Smoke Alarms
Fatal Fires at Large Residential Occupancies No
Residential Sprinklers Smoking Leading Cause of
Fatal Fires Missing/Disabled Smoke Alarms
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Campus Fire Safety
Fall 2006 Student Enrollment 17 million students
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Campus Fire Safety

• Opportunity

17 million
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Most people do not receive fire safety information
17 million opportunities
Fire deaths are not going down
Campus fire problem mirrors societal fire problems
17 million students enrolled
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www.campus-firewatch.com