FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact: Ed Comeau, Publisher
Campus Firewatch
www.campus-firewatch.com

413-323-6002 (tel)
413-896-5718 (cell)
ecomeau@campus-firewatch.com

Early-morning fire in off-campus apartment at Boston University kills one person, making this academic year the most fatal one on record

Fire brings the total number of campus-related fatalities since January 2000 to 108

BELCHERTOWN, Mass., March 16, 2007— An early-morning fire in an off-campus apartment rented by students from Boston University claimed the life of one man. The identity of the victim has not been released, but a BU official confirmed that the victim was not a student at Boston University but was visiting BU students. The cause of the fire has not been released at this time.

On February 24, 2007, two BU students were killed in an off-campus apartment fire that was started by an unattended candle.

Since January 2000, there have been 108 campus-related fire deaths across the country, with 81 percent of them occurring in off-campus housing. A troubling fact that is emerging is the high number of people that have been killed in catastrophic, multiple-fatality fires, where three or more have died. Over 40 percent of the victims have been killed in 20 percent of the fires - in other words, a small number of fires are killing a large number of the victims.

Four common factors have been identified in a number of the off-campus fatal fires, including:

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

“It is critically important that students know how they can protect themselves from becoming a tragic victim of a fire,” said Ed Comeau, publisher of Campus Firewatch. “There are a number of steps that they can take that will help to improve their chances of either not having a fire, or surviving one if it does occur.”

 

These steps include:  

• Live in housing equipped with an automatic fire sprinkler system.
• Ensure that your housing has interconnected smoke alarms on all levels and that they are working at all times.
• Take each alarm activation seriously and evacuate. If an alarm is being activated needlessly by cooking or by a shower, relocate the alarm, do not disable it.
• Always know two ways out of the building you are in, whether it is your house, apartment, residence hall, movie theater or nightclub.
• A number of fires have started because cigarettes have been carelessly discarded. Use ashtrays and dispose of the cigarette butts properly.
• After a party, check the seat cushions on couches and chairs for cigarettes that may lie smoldering, waiting to start a fire in the middle of the night.
• Do not overload extension cords which may cause them to overheat.
• Make sure you have a fire extinguisher and, more importantly, know how to use it before the fire breaks out.  

“These are simple tips that can help save your life,” says Comeau. “To learn more, or if you should have any questions about your house or apartment, contact your local fire department for more information or to request an inspection.”

 

Campus Fire Safety Information Sheet

 Updated Friday, March 16, 2007

 

 

The following information has been compiled by Campus Firewatch. Please note that much of this information is gathered by monitoring the wire services so the actual number of fatal fires, especially in off-campus occupancies, may be higher.

 

Common Factors  

According to information compiled by Campus Firewatch, 81% of the campus-related fire fatalities across the nation since January 2000 have occurred in off-campus housing.  Four common factors in a number of these fires include:

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

Catastrophic, multiple-fatality fires

Since January 2000, approximately 12% of the fires have killed 43% of the victims. In other words, a small percentage of the fires, which are classified by Campus Firewatch as catastrophic, multiple-fatality fires, are killing a large number of the victims. Many, but not all, of these fires were off-campus.  

1/19/00	Seton Hall University	3
3/19/00	Bloomsburg University	3
8/20/00	Berkeley, California	3
11/2/01	Virginia Commonwealth Univ.	3
2/15/02	Univ. of NC-Greensboro	4
4/13/03	Ohio State University	5
9/20/03	Univ. of Minnesota-Twin Cities	3
5/22/04	Indiana University	3
8/27/04	University of Mississippi	3
4/10/05	Miami University	3
6/7/05	Cons. of Recording and Arts	3
1/13/07	Marshall University	5
2/3/07	MS State Univ.-Meridian	3

 

Campus-related fire fatalities from January 2000 to March 16, 2007

Occupancy	Deaths	% of total
Off-campus	87	81%
Residence Hall	10	9%
Greek housing	10	9%
Other	1	1%
Total	108

 

According to the U.S. Department of Education, there are approximately 17,000,000 students enrolled in 4,100 colleges and universities across the country. Approximately 2/3 of the students live in off-campus housing.

 

Geographic distribution of fire fatalities

Ohio	12
North Carolina	10
West Virginia	8
Indiana	7
Pennsylvania	7
Massachusetts	6
Mississippi	6
Kansas	5
Virginia	5
California	4
Illinois	4
Texas	4
Minnesota	3
Nebraska	3
New Jersey	3
New York	3
Alaska	2
Georgia	2
Kentucky	2
Maryland	2
Missouri	2
DC	1
Iowa	1
Louisiana	1
Michigan	1
Oklahoma	1
Oregon	1
Rhode Island	1
Tennessee	1

 

Annual number of fatalities by academic year  

2000-2001	17
2001-2002	14
2002-2003	14
2003-2004	11
2004-2005	14
2005-2006	11
2006-2007	19

 

Fatal fires 2006-2007 academic year

 

University of Pittsburgh	Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania	1 killed in an off-campus fire
Nebraska Wesleyan University	Lincoln, Nebraska	1 killed in a fraternity fire
University of Missouri – St. Louis	St. Louis, Missouri	1 killed in a fraternity fire
University of Nebraska – Lincoln	Lincoln, Nebraska	2 killed in an off-campus fire
Marshall University	Huntington, West Virginia	5 killed in an off-campus fire
University of Mississippi-Meridian	Linwood, Mississippi	3 killed in an off-campus fire
Halifax Community College	Weldon, North Carolina	1 killed in an off-campus fire
Boston University	Boston, Massachusetts	2 killed in an off-campus fire
Longwood University	Farmville, Virginia	2 killed in an off-campus fire
Boston University	Boston, Massachusetts	1 killed in an off-campus fire
Academic year-to-date total		19

 

NOTE: Two of the victims at the Marshall University fire were not students. However, they were visiting a student’s apartment at the time of the fire and are therefore included as campus-related fire deaths. In the University of Nebraska-Lincoln fire, the victim was due to deliver her baby on the day she was killed and the fire department classified this as two victims. Two of the victims in the University of Mississippi fire were the spouse and daughter of the student. The victim in the second Boston University off-campus fire was a visitor to a student’s apartment.

 

Campus Fire Safety Month

In 2006, thirty-one states issued proclamations recognizing September as Campus Fire Safety Month.

 

Alabama

Alaska

Colorado

Connecticut

Hawaii

Illinois

Indiana

Kansas

Kentucky

Louisiana

Maine

Maryland

Massachusetts

Michigan

Mississippi

Missouri

Nebraska

New Jersey

New Mexico

New York

North Carolina

Ok lahoma

Oregon

Pennsylvania

Rhode Island

South Carolina

Texas

Utah

Vermont

Virginia

Wisconsin

 

In addition, the U.S. House of Representatives pass a resolution recognizing September as Campus Fire Safety Month in 2006 and resolutions have been introduced in Congress in 2007.

 

Current Legislation in Congress

The following bills have been introduced in Congress. More information is available on Campus Firewatch’s RESOURCE page at www.campus-firewatch.com.

• Campus Fire Safety Month Resolutions (HRes 95. Senate Res 105)
• Campus Fire Safety Right-to-Know Act (HR 592 and S 354)
• College Fire Prevention Act (HR 642)
• Collegiate Housing and Infrastructure Act (HR 643)
• Fire Sprinkler Incentive Act (S 582 to be introduced in the House shortly)

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Campus Firewatch is a monthly, electronic newsletter focusing on the complex issues of campus fire safety.  More information can be found at www.campus-firewatch.com.

ecomeau@campus-firewatch.com | www.campus-firewatch.com | www.writer-tech.com

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