Off-campus house destroyed in fire in Boston

Seven students hospitalized, one in critical condition after leaping from building

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For Immediate Release

Contact: Ed Comeau, Publisher
Campus Firewatch
413-323-6002 (tel)
413-896-5718 (cell)
ecomeau@campus-firewatch
@campusfirewatch

BELCHERTOWN, Mass., January 25, 2012 –An off-campus house occupied by seven students from Boston University was totally destroyed in a fire on Sunday.  All of the students were hospitalized with injuries.  One is in critical condition from injuries he suffered while jumping from a second story window.  Another student was also force to jump to escape the flames as well.  The cause of the fire is under investigation. (Photo from Boston Fire Department)

According to the Boston Fire Department, the fire was reported at 7:10 a.m. in a large, two-and-a-half wood frame structure that was built in the 1800’s.  There were occupants in rooms in the basement, first, second and attic levels of the building but all had escaped from the building prior to the arrival of the fire department.  The building was heavily involved when fire crews arrived and an exterior attack was used due to the heavy fire and damage that had already occurred.

This is the second of three significant campus-related fires in five days. On Saturday, January 22, three students were killed in an off-campus house fire at Marist College in Poughkeepsie, New York. On Wednesday, January 25, a theme house at Hampden-Sydney College was destroyed and one student received serious injuries.

There have been six campus-related fire deaths in the 2011-2012 academic year.  Since January 2000, Campus Firewatch has documented 152 campus-related fire deaths with 86% of them occurring in off-campus housing, where approximately 2/3 of the students across the nation live.  The past three years have seen a definite downward trend in fire deaths from a high of 20 in 2006-2007 to 6 in 2008-2009; 5 in 2009-2010; and 6 in 2010-2011.

Common factors seen in a number of these fires include:

• Missing or disabled smoke alarms
• Lack of automatic fire sprinklers
• Careless disposal of smoking materials
• Impaired judgment from alcohol leading to ignition or inability to escape the fire
• Upholstered furniture on porches or decks contributing to the fire

Questions to Ask

Campus Firewatch has published its annual Questions to Ask for parents and students that are looking for both on- and off-campus student housing. More Information

Fire Safety for Students with Disabilities

Review the resource library of reports and information available. This is a resource that will be growing and evolving.

Fire Sprinkler Incentive Act introduced in the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives.

This legislation will provide a tax incentive for installing automatic fire sprinklers in off-campus housing (up to 50,000 square feet) and high-rise buildings. More

Listing of campus-related incident spanning 12 years published

This is the annual list publihsed by Campus Firewatch of campus-related fires, both fatal and non-fatal, sorted by state. Almost 500 pages of valuable information. 10 mb PDF