By Patrick Dolan
May is when families across the U.S. begin planning for their college-age children’s fall semester and either on- or off-campus housing needs. While there are more than 21 million college students in the U.S., unfortunately many of them are living in housing lacking fire sprinklers, smoke detectors, and other critical fire safety protections.
According to the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA), firefighters across the nation respond to an average of 3,810 fires at college residence halls and Greek housing each year.
Recalling our own college days, off-campus housing was typically a remnant of generations gone by, and commonly located in a student quarter or “student ghetto” area. They are cheap, convenient, loads of fun, but not all that safe in case of fires.
When parents help their college-bound kids in the search for an off-campus apartment or house, vital fire safety resources rarely make the checklist. While no parent ever wants to be in a situation where these life-saving technologies are needed to protect lives and property, no one should ever be without.
Fatal college and university housing fires are too common in the U.S. Since 2000, there have been 169 campus-related fire fatalities, according to Campus Firewatch2. College housing frequently has a higher tenant density, with regular overuse of extension cords and halogen lamps as well as overloading of electrical sockets.
Roughly 70 percent of fires in college housing begin in cooking areas, according to the NFPA1. While seven percent of these fires start in bedrooms, those account for 27 percent of injuries and 21 percent of all property damage.
Think back to the last fire safety education class or seminar you attended. For many it was an elementary school lesson to “stop, drop and roll” if clothing catches fire. Moving onto middle and high school, monthly fire drills are customary but other emergency preparedness measures are less often taught.
Teaching high school students about fire escape planning and safety equipment including extinguishers, home sprinklers, carbon monoxide and smoke alarms is an imperative step in preparing adolescents for living on their own upon entering college.
Across many parts of the U.S., higher education institutions are simply not required to notify students and their parents whether student housing facilities are even equipped with automatic fire sprinkler systems.
It’s time to change this on a national level. U.S. Representative Steve Israel (D-NY) has introduced the Kerry Rose Fire Sprinkler Notification Act (H.R. 4675) that would require colleges to report the number and percentage of beds protected and not protected by an automatic fire sprinkler system. This is vital information families must take into account when selecting a school and housing options.
The legislation is modeled after the New York State Kerry Rose Fire Sprinkler Notification Act passed in July 2013, requiring New York colleges to provide written information on fire safety and sprinkler systems to students residing in college-owned or operated housing.
Since being signed into law, nearly 1.3 million students attending colleges and universities in New York State each year are able to make more informed housing decisions by the simple disclosure whether a university’s student housing facilities are equipped with fire sprinkler systems.
The act was named in memory of Marist college student Kerry Rose who perished in an off-campus house fire without sprinklers in 2012. This tragedy led her family to create the Kerry Rose Foundation to raise awareness to college students and their families about college housing fire safety, specially the importance of fire detection and sprinkler systems.
The chance of losing one’s life in a home fire decreases 80 percent and the loss of property is reduced by nearly 70 percent when sprinklers are installed, according to NFPA. Making housing decisions based on that knowledge alone could save countless lives of our nation’s emerging scholars.
The fact is that modern fires burn hotter and faster today than 25 years ago, according to the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST). Today fires can reach 2,000 degrees Fahrenheit in just about three minutes, largely due to the increased use of petroleum-based synthetics in modern furnishings. 3 A quarter-century ago or more, such a fire might take 20 minutes to reach the same intensity, so it’s clear that every second counts.
The typical 17 and 18-year old students entering college generally have their thoughts on the bright futures ahead of them rather than issues such as fiscal responsibilities or the safety of where they live.
This is a critical issue that must be addressed to not only our members of Congress and state legislators, but to the schools and universities that will spend four or more years educating our next generations.
Patrick Dolan, Jr. is the President of the 8,000-member Steamfitters Local Union 638. Members of Steamfitters Local 638 install and maintain high-efficiency, state-of-the-art heating, air conditioning, ventilation, fire-suppression and sprinkler systems in New York’s landmark skyscrapers, commercial and residential buildings, universities, hospitals, retail stores, power plants, waste water and water-filtration facilities.
Sources Cited:
1. 60 Seconds – The Difference Between Life and Death From a Harmless Flame to a Raging Inferno in Less Than 3 Minutes. National Institute of Technology, 2008. Online Video Clip. Web. 25 Mar. 2015.
2. Bellow, Mark. “Live Fire Tests with FDNY Will Guide Improvements in Fire Department Tactics,” NIST Technical Beat, National Institute of Standards and Technology, Gaithersburg, Md., July 2012. Web. 25 Mar. 2015. <http://www.nist.gov/el/fire_research/fire-071112.cfm>.
3. p>New York City Fire Department. FDNY Prepares to Test Fire Science and Firefighter Procedures. www.nyc.gov. City of New York, 2 July 2012. Web. 25 Mar. 2015. <http://www.nyc.gov/html/fdny/html/events/2012/070212a.shtml>.
