Campus Firewatch - Year in Review
Campus Firewatch™ - so much more than a newsletter
A special reprint from the January issue of Campus Firewatch
When Campus Firewatch first started publishing in 2000, it was primarily an electronic newsletter. However, it has dramatically expanded beyond this original concept to become a leading voice in campus fire safety and provide a wealth of innovative and free resources through its website. While expanding into a number of different media, it has maintained the same, singular focus – saving lives.
Evolution of Campus Firewatch
Campus Firewatch started publication in 2000 after the first Campus Fire Forum, which was held in 1999 at the NFPA headquarters and was funded by the U.S. Fire Administration. Ed Comeau, former chief fire investigator for the NFPA, managed this landmark meeting which brought together 18 experts from across the nation to discuss the issues of campus fire safety. At the time this was an important topic at schools, but not an overriding one.
This changed dramatically on January 19, 2000, with the tragic fire at Seton Hall University that claimed the lives of three freshmen. Campus fire safety quickly became a topic that college administrators were giving serious attention. Recognizing that there was a significant void in terms of a central focal point on sharing campus fire safety information, Comeau started publishing Campus Firewatch in May 2000 as an electronic newsletter. Over the years it has grown in terms of content but also in terms of the impact that it has had on campus fire safety across the nation.
Realizing the importance of bringing together fire professionals involved in campus fire safety, Comeau continued the Forums, but as open meetings as part of the NFPA Fall Meetings held each November. The attendance at these meetings grew each year and was the start of a broadened network among these professionals.
In 2002, Comeau conceived the idea of the Center for Campus Fire Safety to help expand the mission of Campus Firewatch, registered the domain www.campusfire.org and formed the Center as a subsidiary of Campus Firewatch and writer-tech.com (the parent company that publishes Campus Firewatch). The National Fire Sprinkler Association, SimplexGrinnell and the National Electrical Manufacturer Association immediately provided startup funding for this new venture, which officially started operation in November 2003. This also marked the first Campus Fire Forum that was done entirely as an operation of writer-tech.com and not affiliated with the NFPA Fall Meeting. The Forums have continued to this day, expanding in attendance and sponsorship.
The Center continued to grow and additional funding was secured from other organizations and companies under Comeau’s leadership as director, including Underwriters Laboratories, Kidde, Honeywell, Tyco, ICC and NFPA. Assisting in the Center’s growth was a dedicated group of volunteers who served on the Board of Advisors. These volunteers had all been brought together and come to know each other by networking at the Campus Firewatch Forums and were motivated to share and learn more about campus fire safety on a national level. As a result of this commitment, a number of innovative activities and events were held, such as the Capitol Hill Intern Fire Academies in 2005 and 2006 along with two national Campus Fire Safety Summits, both on Capitol Hill as well. In addition, a major grant in the amount of $230,000 was awarded to the Center in 2005 to develop a campus fire safety educational program.
The Center continued under the writer-tech.com umbrella until it was awarded non-profit status in December 2005 and the Board of Advisors was transitioned into a Board of Directors. With a formal Board in place and its recognition as a standalone entity, no longer dependent upon writer-tech.com, Comeau elected to step down as the director in December 2006 to refocus his time and energy back on his own company and Campus Firewatch.
Campus Firewatch, an integrated, multimedia source of campus fire safety information
Campus Firewatch’s mission continued to grow dramatically in 2007 and is now a great deal more than just an electronic newsletter. By using the resources available through the Internet, it is now involved in video, Flash animations, podcasting, mapping and so much more. It has also continued its role as a central focal point for campus fire safety by expanding programs such as Campus Fire Safety Month and is involved in a number of current and future, potential grant projects. Its role in helping promote campus fire safety through the media has expanded greatly and new resources were developed in 2007 and are being launched in 2008.
2007 – Campus Fire Safety Month
Campus Fire Safety Month first started in 2005 when 13 governors signed proclamations. The goal was to help raise the awareness among a diversity of people – students, parents, administrators, legislators and communities and to encourage schools to hold fire safety education programs.
This program has been carried forward by Campus Firewatch, and in 2007, thirty-one governors issued proclamations. To accomplish this, a group of 18 parents who have lost children in campus-related fires all co-signed a letter that is sent to the governors on their behalf by Campus Firewatch asking the states to designate September as Campus Fire Safety Month.
Legislation on Campus Firewatch’s behalf was introduced and passed in both the U.S. House of Representatives and the U.S. Senate which recognizes September as Campus Fire Safety Month for both 2007 and 2008.
For the first time, in 2007, a national launch of Campus Fire Safety Month was held. Hosted by Kent State University and sponsored by the Ohio Fire Safety Coalition and Campus Firewatch, this event provided a national focus for the start of Campus Fire Safety Month. A series of educational events were held on campus as well as a press conference. Doug and Linda Turnbull, who had lost their daughter, Julie, in a fire at Miami University in Ohio gave a powerful presentation on how important it is for everyone – students, parents, administrators – to take responsibility for fire safety and to practice it.
2007 – Media
An absolutely vital part of raising the awareness among the public is the media. Unfortunately, this is often done following a tragedy in what is referred to as the “teachable moment.” This is when the public’s attention is focused on the aftermath of a fire and is a critical time to relay important information through television and the printed press.
In 2007, Campus Firewatch issued 31 press releases to local and national media as well as to the many fire trade publications that resulted in at least 41 articles or news stories using information from Campus Firewatch. These ranged from national level, such as USA TODAY and ABC News to local newspapers, television and radio.
In addition, six articles written by Ed Comeau appeared in trade magazines, including Firehouse, Fire Chief, SFPE Journal, National Fire and Rescue and Greek Life. Copies of the news stories and articles are available online at Campus Firewatch’s RESOURCE page.
2007 – Campus Firewatch Radio
A new venture was started in 2007 in partnership with Firehouse.com. Campus Firewatch Radio, an online podcast that is hosted and produced by Ed Comeau, features experts from a variety of fields talking about different topics relating to campus fie safety. Along with its companion podcast, Fire Marshal’s Corner, the shows have been downloaded or listened to over 20,000 times. A full list of the topics discussed on the shows with links is available on the Campus Firewatch RESOURCE page and include Alcohol on Campus, Dormitory Fire Research, Fire Corps and College Students, Millennial Students – What Makes Them Tick and much more.
2007 – To Hell and Back III – College Awareness
A major undertaking that Campus Firewatch is closely involved with is the To Hell and Back – College Awareness project. This is a Department of Homeland Security Fire Prevention and Safety Grant that was awarded to the People’s Burn Foundation of Indiana. This is a project to develop a cutting edge campus fire safety training program that will appeal to today’s Millennial student.
To accomplish this, PBF partnered with Campus Firewatch to assemble a team of subject matter experts from across the nation with a diversity of backgrounds, including campus fire officials, fire chiefs, insurance, campus administration and more.
Working closely with a media production company, MediaSauce, this team of experts developed a plan to produce a video and training program that draws in and engages the student and then provides them with the information they need to protect themselves. This resulted in a large-scale video production taking place in a house in Indianapolis involving a cast and crew of 60 people. The video tells a story of a fatal fire and its consequences. This is coupled with an award-winning production that tells the story of two roommates that were severely burned in the 2000 Seton Hall fire.
Over 60 schools or fire departments volunteered to be pilot sites to evaluate the program in its Beta stage. Copies of the video along with pre- and post-tests were sent to each site and the results will be collated and help to refine the final product. A national launch will take place at the Fire Department Instructor’s Conference in April in Indianapolis which is a gathering of over 30,000 fire professionals from across the nation. At the same time, copies of the program will be shipped, free of charge, to every fire department, college and university in the country.
2007 – Study by the People’s Burn Foundation and Campus Firewatch
Both Campus Firewatch and the People’s Burn Foundation realized that they needed to know much more about student’s views and attitudes towards fire safety. To accomplish this, a series of focus groups were held on several campuses, along with a first-of-its-kind “virtual” focus group through Second Life. In addition, over 500 people took part in an online survey. The results of this study along with information on how today’s Millennial students receive their information, serves as a key resource for those involved in campus fire safety. The full study can be downloaded from the RESOURCE page at Campus Firewatch.
2007 – Campus Fire Safety Right-to-Know Act
This is a bill that was introduced in Congress for the first time in 2000 following the Seton Hall tragedy that killed three freshmen. It has been reintroduced in each session of Congress, and in the current 100 th session of Congress, it has seen the most progress of all. It passed the Senate and is now pending in the House of Representatives where it moved out of committee and has been attached to another piece of legislation that is due to be voted on within the coming days and weeks.
To help garner support for this bill, Campus Firewatch brought together a coalition of over a dozen national fire safety organizations that co-signed a letter that was sent to all 535 Members of Congress asking for their support on this legislation.
2007 – WikiBooks
Collaboration is a powerful tool when it comes to sharing knowledge, and the Internet is ideally suited to allow for collaboration. Wikipedia, an online encyclopedia, created another project called WikiBooks which takes the same concept of collaboration and applies it to virtual textbooks. A “first cut” at writing this book has taken place and is available online where anyone can contribute to the collective wealth of knowledge and share their expertise. Again, a link to this publication is available on the RESOURCE page of Campus Firewatch.
2007 – Columbia, Missouri
In January 2007, after many years of trying, the Columbia Fire Department was successful in getting an ordinance passed that would have required the mandatory retrofit of sprinklers in Greek housing within six years. This is following a tragic fire in 1999 that killed Dominic Passantino, and his mother, Donna Henson, was instrumental in helping to get this ordinance passed.
However, in a last-minute maneuver, the Greek organizations were successful in getting the City Council to reconsider this ordinance as one being too onerous and that unfairly singled out the fraternities and sororities. In response, Campus Firewatch started a virtual “grass roots” movement where fire chiefs, parents and campus officials from across the country sent letters and emails to the mayor and city council. In addition, a letter co-signed by 18 parents who have lost children in campus fires was sent on their behalf to the city council by Campus Firewatch and Fire Marshal Steven Sapp was interviewed on Campus Firewatch Radio. At this time, the ordinance is still in effect, but it may come up for consideration again before the city council.
2007 – Real-time campus fire safety information
When Campus Firewatch first started publication in 2000, one of the primary functions was to fill an information gap when it came to campus-related fires. Prior to this time, the National Fire Incident Reporting System had been tracking fires in residence halls, but in January 2000 it changed its definition which meant that many more occupancies would now be included other than campus residence halls. By monitoring the wire services, Campus Firewatch was able to start collecting anecdotal information on campus fires which identified a significant problem – that a vast majority of the campus fire deaths were unreported and were happening in the off-campus environment. While this is no surprise on the local level, on a national level it helped to frame the problem.
As a result, Campus Firewatch started publishing an Information Sheet that served to summarize this information in a two-page, “easy read” that is continuously updated with the latest campus fire safety information. In addition, the spreadsheet used by Campus Firewatch to compile this data is now also available online, as is the Fatal Firelog Compilation.
To help visualize the information, an online map that shows the locations of all of the fatal fires identified since 2000 is also available.
For 2007, Campus Firewatch compiled information on over 175 student-related fire incidents.
2007 – Videos
Youtube has presented a unique opportunity to look at what is really going on in residence halls when it comes to fire safety. Campus Firewatch compiled these videos online, which lead to an interesting situation. One of the students who was doing some aggressive fireplay was identified by the fire department who then contacted the campus police department. As a result, the videos were taken down and judicial action was pending against the student.
2007 – Buyers Guide
Campus Firewatch has partnered with Fire-Professionals.com to develop a comprehensive Buyer’s Guide that targets the campus fire safety market. This provides an invaluable resource for the campus fire safety professional who is looking for services or products to use on their campus.
What is happening in 2008?
The goal in 2008 is to build on the incredible successes of 2007 and target activities and efforts in the places which will both provide resources to the campus fire safety educator and help to raise awareness of fire safety across the nation.
2008 – Online Resources
Campus Firewatch is so much more than just a newsletter and uses the power of the Internet to further expand our horizons. While there is certainly valuable information each month in the newsletter, there is also a tremendous amount on the website that is made possible because of the support provided by the subscribers. This information has grown exponentially and now includes…
Real-time fire information
Information sheet A concise compilation of campus-related fire statistics and activity
Online spreadsheet Campus Firewatch now publishes its data online for anyone to use and review
Fatal Firelog Compilation This is the only complete compendium available of campus- and student-related fire deaths.
Education materials
Student views and attitudes towards burn and fire safety This landmark study was done by the People’s Burn Foundation and Campus Firewatch and is available for download.
Live mockup plans Many schools and communities are using these as invaluable training tools. A full set of plans along with a description of how to conduct this training is available online.
Videos of student room mockup burns Coupled with the plans, these are videos of burns that have been conducted across the country
WikiBook on fire safety A collaborative book on campus fire safety practices
Legislation
House and Senate A matrix has all 535 Members of Congress listed and their positions on the various pieces of campus-related legislation moving through Congress. There are also links to the bills.
Governors A matrix lists all of the governors and mayor of the states, territories and the District of Columbia, whether their states issued proclamations in the past and what they are doing for 2008.
Maps
Fatal campus fires The location, along with incident summaries. are now plotted on a national map.
Campus fire safety activity in 2007 Campuses and communities hosted a series of educational programs for Campus Fire Safety Month and these are identified on a national map.
Campus fire safety spokespeople A map with the location of campus fire safety spokespeople across the country is an invaluable tool for the media when they are seeking a local spokesperson.
Millennial student research
Campus Firewatch created a central portal for information on the current generation of students that will be invaluable in helping to craft fire safety programs. Ongoing research will be posted to this portal as it becomes available.
Podcasts
Partnering with Firehouse.com, Campus Firewatch produces and hosts a monthly podcast that features interviews with national and local experts in a wide variety of areas relating to campus fire safety.
PowerPoint presentation
A PowerPoint presentation used by Campus Firewatch Publisher Ed Comeau that is frequently requested is available online. This presentation provides a concise overview of the campus fire safety problem and related issues.
Student housing fire safety ordinances
A compilation of student housing fire safety ordinances is available for jurisdictions to use as models in crafting their own ordinances.
Videos and animations
Through youtube and Google video, there are a series of videos available on dorm room mockup burns, students engaging in unsafe fire behavior in residence halls and activities that occurred during the 2007 national launch of Campus Fire Safety Month. In addition, there are two animations on fire safety and the environment that can be downloaded and used on your own websites.
Press Room
Campus fire safety spokespeople A number of people from a variety of backgrounds, ranging from parent advocates to fire chiefs, have volunteered to serve as national spokespeople for campus fire safety and are listed on the Campus Firewatch website.
Identifying and reacting to incidents By aggressively monitoring the wire services, Campus Firewatch will continue to identify incidents relating to student and campus fire safety. Whenever a significant incident occurs, a press release will be sent to the local and national media outlining the common factors in a number of previous incidents and provide background information that can be used in accurately reporting the incident.
2008 – Campus Fire Safety Month
National Launch
Building on the successful national launch for Campus Fire Safety Month in 2007, one is scheduled for 2008 as well. This will serve as a focal point to help bring attention to the month and to the issues. More information will be made available through Campus Firewatch and its companion website, Campus Fire Safety Month.
State proclamations
This project is now into its fourth year and has grown tremendously from when only 12 states issued proclamations in 2005. Letters were sent in January 2008 to the governors and mayor of all of the states, territories asking them to issue proclamations. A copy of the letter and sample language for a proclamation is available online. In addition, there is a complete list of all of the governors, links to their websites and whether they have supported Campus Fire Safety Month in the past and their status for 2008. This is where you can play an invaluable role by contacting your governor and asking him or her to support issuing a proclamation in 2008.
Congressional Resolutions
Congress passed resolutions in 2007 that are in place for 2008 as well. These resolutions are available online.
International
Canada Two students recently died in an off-campus fire in Canada, which is an extremely unusual event for this fire-safe country. Comeau met with the provincial fire marshals in October, and as a result they are pursuing the idea of a national Campus Fire Safety Month in Canada.
United Kingdom and Australia Discussions are also underway with fire officials in the United Kingdom and Australia, where three students were recently killed in an off-campus house fire in Melbourne; again, a very rare event.
2008 Letters to retailers
As part of a public awareness campaign, letters signed by the parents who have lost children in campus fires have been sent to major retailers such as Target, Wal-Mart and Staples asking them to consider having campus fire safety as part of their back-to-school campaign. These are retailers that could encourage parents and students to include smoke alarms, fire extinguishers, escape ladders and CO alarms along with some of the more traditional “back-to-school” items.
2008 - To Hell and Back III – College Fire Safety
Campus Firewatch was asked to participate in a major, $1 million grant that was awarded to the People’s Burn Foundation to develop campus fire safety and fire fighter safety training programs. Comeau was selected to assemble and lead the team of subject matter experts from across the nation responsible for the campus fire safety. This is a major production that has involved a media production company, a cast and crew of over 60 people and much more. The final product will be distributed, free of charge, to every campus and fire department across the country to use in their fire safety education programs. The national launch will take place at the annual Fire Department Instructor’s Conference in April. Held in Indianapolis, this is a conference with over 30,000 fire professionals. There will be classroom sessions on To Hell and Back III by Sean Longerich, the director of the People’s Burn Foundation, and on campus fire safety by Comeau.
Unfortunately, 2006-2007 was the most fatal year on record with 20 student-related fire deaths across the nation. In the first semester of the 2007-2008 academic year, there have already been 13 fire deaths, including the horrific tragedy in Ocean Isle Beach that claimed the lives of seven students from the University of South Carolina and Clemson University. By coming together, sharing resources and ideas, we can collectively work towards educating students, parents and administrators about the importance of fire safety and the personal role everyone has in helping to save lives. Hopefully, the year ahead will not be as tragic.
