Schools have never been immune to fire tragedy. Since January 2000, 75 people have  died in fires in student housing, according to the Center for Campus Fire Safety, and nearly 30 percent of those deaths occurred in August and September. NFPA statistics show that an average of 1,800 fires occur in dormitories and Greek housing each year, which means that firefighters respond to residential fires on U.S. college campuses five times a day.

The threat of fatal campus fires has caught the attention of federal lawmakers. Proposed laws have been written to improve campus fire safety by offering matching federal funds for retrofitting automatic sprinklers in residence halls that do not have them. In addition, on March 30, the U.S. House of   Representatives passed H.R. 609, the College Access and Opportunity Act, which reauthorizes programs under the Higher Education Act. Included in the legislation is a provision called the Campus Fire Safety Right-to-Know Act.

The bill, in its current form before the Senate, amends the Higher Education Act to require colleges and universities to provide prospective and current students fire-safety information for the school. The proposed legislation would also authorize a report from the Secretary of Education to Congress on the extent of the nation’s campus fire-safety problem. Using the same procedures as schools to compile and disclose crime statistics and other safety information, H.R. 609 would make information readily available to parents and students who are researching schools.

System Sensor supports these commitments to improve campus safety and share information.

Mike Berg

Business Unit Leader
System Sensor

Tags: Editorial, fire safety

Posted in Editorial, Education, Summer 2006

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