Fire Safety and Prevention Measures for College Students
Fire safety in college campuses is a huge concern. Thousands of fires occur at university housing facilities every year. According to the National Fire Protection Association, these incidents cause 32 injuries and seven fatalities per year, while damaging $15 million worth of property. Since January 2000, more than 175 people have died in college fires, seven of whom died in Illinois.
The Office of the Illinois State Fire Marshall is committed to educating schools, universities, and colleges on the importance of implementing fire safety measures and regularly evaluating their effectiveness, especially in student housing. It is equally important for students attending college to take active steps to ensure their own safety while living in college housing.
Before choosing a college residence, students should make sure it has sprinklers and a fire alarm system that works and is audible from their dorm room. All dorm rooms and common areas should have smoke alarms that are interconnected such that if one goes off, the others do. These alarms should be functioning and, ideally, should be tested every month. Students should never disconnect or remove the batteries from smoke alarms. A working smoke alarm and sprinkler system reduce the probability of dying in a fire by 82 percent.
In addition to smoke alarms and sprinklers, students should ensure their college residences have evacuation plans that are accessible to all students and practiced twice a year. Every room should have two ways out, and hallway and staircase exits should be clearly visible. Exit doors should use a panic hardware system to unlock. They should not be locked with padlocks or chains. Further, access routes to and from emergency exits should be open, and not used as storage spaces for furniture or sports equipment.
Once students have found an appropriate residence, they should practice good fire prevention measures to stay safe, the most important of which relate to cooking. Over 80 percent of college housing fires are cooking related. Unattended cooking is the leading cause of cooking fires, so students should never leave cooking unattended. They should only cook in designated areas, and be careful to position all heating elements away from flammable items or clutter.
Students who use electrical appliances like microwaves and refrigerators should not overload their circuits. If a fire starts in a microwave, they should close its door and unplug it. If it is an oven fire, they should close the oven door, turn off the device, and unplug it. Students should cook only when they are alert, and not sleepy or hindered from alcohol.
Arson is the second largest contributing factor to college housing fires, followed by smoking and candles. Students should only smoke outside, not in their residences. After smoking, they should put out their cigarettes completely, using deep, sturdy ash trays. Students should never throw cigarettes in a trash can. After parties, they should check below furniture cushions and bed pillows for abandoned cigarettes and properly dispose of them. Finally, smoking while impaired by alcohol is dangerous and should be avoided.
Candles are prohibited in most college residences. However, candle fires are still common. They frequently occur when combustible items near candles like curtains come in contact with the flame. Other times, students fall asleep without extinguishing candles or candles topple over, igniting a flammable item. Students should avoid using candles completely.
