BY PAUL E. CALDERWOOD
Like most firefighters, I wear many hats. I’m a full-time deputy fire chief and also work part-time for Tufts University, which is just north of Boston. I was planning to enjoy a quiet Saturday at home when my pager went off—it was the university police dispatcher. I called in and found out there was an early morning fire off campus and one student died. My heart sank into my chest. The building did not belong to the university, so we were not responsible for the inspections there, but the victim was one of our students. The fire broke out in an illegal apartment built over a garage. The reported cause of the fire was careless disposal of smoking materials. To access her “apartment,” this student had to use a small set of stairs that led to a platform where she would have to crawl through the side wall of the second floor of the garage to her dwelling. No working smoke detector was found in the area of the fire; one was found without a battery in it, but there was uncertainty as to where it was located prior to the fire.
OFF-CAMPUS HOUSING FIRES
The fire that took the life of this young student was similar to those fires that have taken the lives of almost 20 other college and university students in the past year. These fires occurred off-campus in residential buildings that were not under the direct control and inspection process of the colleges and universities. According to Ed Comeau, editor of the on-line newsletter Campus Firewatch, 73 percent of fires involving college students occur in off-campus units, compared with 27 percent in on-campus dormitories. Campus Firewatch has been working with college and university fire safety officers to provide an information clearinghouse for fire safety materials and pending state and federal legislation concerning colleges and universities. The National Fire Protection Association figures for 1994 to 1998 show that there were 1,425 fires per year in college and university dormitories. The Campus Firewatch Web site (www.campus-firewatch.com) is one of the best sources of up-to-date information on many of the local, state, and federal regulation changes affecting colleges and universities.
Fire departments with a college or university in their jurisdiction face this problem daily. Landlords of buildings surrounding college and university campuses see these students as a source of rental income. I have heard of four students renting a small two-bedroom apartment and each paying $900. The students enjoy the “freedom” of living off campus but at a cost. For many of these students, it is the first time that they are living away from home, without Mom and Dad looking out for their best interests. Some of the rental units are found in illegal locations such as basements and attics from which there is no secondary means of egress. But we are talking about college students—they think they are invincible!
In many states, the drinking age is 21, which means that only seniors are able to purchase beer and liquor legally. If underage drinkers are caught in the dorms, they are punished, but this is not necessarily so when they live off campus. Students living off campus do not have to comply with university safety rules prohibiting such things as smoking, candles, and halogen lamps in their residences.
INSPECTION TASK FORCE
Local city officials must work harder to inform property owners and landlords that the overcrowded apartments, the use of illegal spaces (basements and attics), illegal additional apartments, and the absence of the required fire and life safety equipment will result in quick prosecution. A building inspection task force should be formed that includes members from the local building department, a wire/electrical inspector, the health department, and the fire department. Such task forces should inspect dwellings around the campus for fire, life safety, and health code violations.
The local fire companies that respond to these same buildings on routine runs should feed information back to the task force about these possible problem dwellings. Without constant surveillance of these problem dwellings, small situations can quickly grow and become potentially deadly events.
Tenants should be able to submit information concerning fire safety concerns to the task force on-line. They shouldn’t have to be kept waiting on the telephone to talk with a city representative during the short window of office hours when such officials are available.
FIRE SAFETY EDUCATION
Colleges and universities need to educate their students on the ways of the world. If these students came to school for an education, they should get one. If students are planning to live off campus, colleges should require that they attend a seminar on off-campus housing. Such a seminar should cover the fire and life safety issues of which students need to be aware—e.g., keeping exits clear, the importance of working smoke detectors, and knowing two ways out of the unit. Students should also understand the legalese of rental contracts. Real estate agents and representatives from the college dean of students and housing offices and the local fire, health, and building departments should be available at the seminar to give short presentations on their areas of responsibility. Afterward, they should be available to discuss issues one-on-one with the students and their parents. Figure 1 is an off-campus residence inspection checklist for students that was developed at Tufts University.
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There is another piece to the campus fire safety puzzle—fraternities and sororities. These Greek organizations, usually formed under a national chartered group, focus on community spirit and charitable giving. Some of the fraternity/sorority houses are similar to Delta House depicted in the movie Animal House. These houses may be on campus or on the streets surrounding the campus. Those located off campus may exist but not be recognized by the college.
Depending on the ownership of the building, it may be regularly inspected by the college or university staff or by the local fire department. Such dwellings should fall under the regulations for a lodging house. Depending on the jurisdiction, a full fire alarm and sprinkler system may be required, but I am always surprised to find locations in which the only requirement is a battery-operated smoke detector on each level. This type of detection does little for occupant safety because it is not monitored, so the batteries could be dead or even missing and no one would know. If the alarm did sound, the fire department response would not begin until 911 is called. The problem of sprinkler systems in these building is similar to that of smoke detection systems: Many jurisdictions still do not require sprinkler systems in residential buildings.
Many jurisdictions across the country are mandating sprinkler systems in college and university residential buildings, usually at places where there has been a fatal fire. Why do we have to wait until we lose students in a fire before we act to save future lives? Colleges and universities will say that if it is not required by law then they don’t have to do it. Which “law” are they referring to? How about “Thou Shall Not Kill”?
IDENTIFYING PROBLEM HOUSING
Fire departments should work with their line officers and educate them on how to identify problem dwellings and what the local codes require. Officers should document all interactions at a location with a request for follow-up by themselves or a task force member who is responsible for the problem. Just writing up a problem does not solve it, nor will telling a student or tenant to fix something. Many times, the person the fire department sees on-scene is not authorized to call repair people.
Make an effort to identify the property owners and contact them by a recorded line from the dispatch center to advise them of the problem and get an estimated time on when repairs will be made. An in-house documentation system will allow the company officers to write up a report on the problem and forward it to the proper city departments and to the college or university so it is aware of the situation. The college or university should have one dedicated liaison to the local fire department so that numerous people do not have to handle forms and problems. This will expedite a coordinated and proper follow-up so fire safety problems can be addressed in a timely manner.
What constitutes an illegal apartment? This varies from state to state, but the codes usually will describe a habitable apartment as a place with at least two exits; specified minimum ceiling height and exit requirements (e.g., for basement apartments, no exits through hazardous areas such as boiler rooms); a functional fire detection system; and no other health, electrical, or building code violations.
As fire safety professionals dealing with students, we have to realize that we are fighting for students’ very limited time to get this information across. They are bombarded with information about security, health, and social issues such STDs, drugs, friends, and—oh, yeah—classroom learning. We need to be creative with our outreach programs. Fire Prevention Week is only one week in the year; we need to find ways to get our message across to as many students as possible. Incoming freshmen should be required to attend a Life Safety Seminar like the Operation Awareness Program given at Tufts University. There, students receive an hour safety lecture from the Tufts Police and Fire Marshal’s Office on a laundry list of items. This effort works in concert with the students’ receiving a booklet listing all the university’s safety rules and regulations.
If these students are our future, then we owe them a safe learning environment. Part of their learning experience should be knowing how to be safe no matter where they are. Whether at home, in the classroom, or at work, they need to understand and learn that a disaster can strike at any time, and they need to be prepared. Being prepared also means that they cannot put themselves at risk by ignoring the lessons that have cost other students their lives, such as disabling the fire detection systems. Smoke detectors will save their lives only if they are working.
In the past few years, there has been an increase in fires and fatal fires resulting from the use and misuse of candles. Students have to learn to get out of any location and must understand that trying to find or clear a path through trash during a fire will slow their exit at a time when seconds count most.
PAUL E. CALDERWOOD, deputy chief with the Everett (MA) Fire Department and assistant fire marshal at Tufts University, has more than 24 years of fire service experience. He is a certified fire protection specialist and certified fire plans examiner. Currently enrolled in the second year of the National Fire Academy Executive Fire Officers program, Calderwood is an instructor in the fire science program at Providence College in Rhode Island and a national and international lecturer on fire and life safety issues.
