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

Parents urged to help their children select off-campus housing after fatal fire

These tragedies can help be avoided by being involved, say other parents

BELCHERTOWN, Mass., April 20, 2010  — A fire this month in Ann Arbor, Michigan, that claimed the life of a student at Eastern Michigan University involved a couch, trash and other combustibles on the front porch– a scenario that has been seen in other deadly fires across the nation.  Students are now looking for off-campus houses to live in for the fall semester and parents who have lost children in campus-related fires are asking other parents to be involved in helping them to select housing.

“Selecting a place to live involves more than just being close to campus, low rent and roommates,” said Gail Minger, president of the Michael H. Minger Foundation.  Mrs. Minger, who lost her son, Michael, in a residence hall arson fire, leads a coalition of other parents who have lost children in campus-related fires.  “Your child doesn’t always look at some of the most important features of a house that could possibly turn it into a trap – a death trap.”

A number of fires have started on porches where couches and other combustible furniture can commonly be found in college communities across the nation.  The fire, often started by careless disposal of smoking materials, breaks out in the middle of the night and is a roaring inferno by the time it spreads into the house, trapping and possibly killing the students sleeping inside.  Because of this danger, a number of communities have banned couches and similar furniture from being used on porches.

“This is just one of the things that parents can help their children with when looking at off-campus housing,” said Ed Comeau, publisher of Campus Firewatch.  “Since January 2000, 140 people have died in campus-related fires with over four out of five of these deaths occurring in off-campus housing.  There are some simple steps that parents can do to help improve their child’s chances of surviving a fire.”

• Is there a couch or other combustible furniture on the front porch?  A study has shown that most of the time this furniture has been left by previous tenants.  It should have been removed by the landlord prior to renting the house.
• Are there two ways out of the house?  If your child is living in an upper floor, the second way out might be through a window – does the window work and is it large enough to climb through?  Providing them with an escape ladder could save his or her life.  The same applies for basement apartments – are there two ways out and if your child has to use a window to get out, is it big enough?
• Does the house have smoke alarms?  If not, the landlord should install them.  Smoke alarms should be on every floor and in every bedroom.  Interconnected smoke alarms help to alert all the occupants to a fire and there are now wireless smoke alarms that can be easily installed.  If the landlord won’t do it, buy them and install them yourself when you are helping to move in your child.  Smoke alarms are inexpensive compared to the life they can save.
• Tell your son or daughter that they should NEVER disable a smoke alarm.  So often, after a fatal fire, investigators find the smoke alarms without batteries in them.  Studies are showing that photoelectric smoke alarms, which are commonly available, are less likely to be disabled and will be working when needed – during a fire.
• Automatic fire sprinklers are the most effective method of controlling a fire when it breaks out and saving lives.  Communities across the nation are beginning to require these systems in newer homes, but unfortunately off-campus student housing is so often in older buildings.  Look for buildings equipped with these life-saving systems.

“There is so much more to know than just these short tips,” said Kim Wencl.  “I lost my daughter, Liz, in an off-campus fire.  Helping your child through school is much more than grades, tests and studying.  It is knowing how to live, and live safely.  What they learn about fire safety in college is something they will need to know for the rest of their lives.”

A compilation of campus-related fires (2000 to present) where the fire’s area of origin was a porch or deck is available at the Campus Firewatch web site along with photographs taken of typical conditions around a Massachusetts campus.

More information on campus fire safety can be found at Campus Firewatch (www.campus-firewatch.com) and the United States Fire Administration (http://www.usfa.dhs.gov/citizens/focus/campussafety.shtm).

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Campus Firewatch ● P.O. Box 1046, Belchertown, MA ● 01007 ● 1-413-323-6002 (tel)
www.campus-firewatch.com● ecomeau@campus-firewatch.com