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Letter to the Editor: Rust College Fire Provides a �Teachable Moment�

To the editor:

A fire on March 15 at Rust College in Mississippi underscores the importance of fire safety at campuses across the country. The fire, which started in one room, forced the evacuation of 200 women in the early-morning hours and damaged a total of seven rooms in a residence hall lacking automatic fire sprinklers.

This was followed a week later by a fire at George Washington University in Washington, D.C., in a high-rise freshman dorm with 1,000 residents. A student was critically injured. This building was partially equipped with sprinklers in the hallway, which will protect the building but not the occupants.

Ed Comeau

Even more troubling was that this fire was not detected by the building�s fire alarm system, but instead was seen by a passing Secret Service patrol unit. These officers notified the fire department, entered the building, activated the building�s fire alarm system and made several unsuccessful attempts to rescue the trapped victim from the ninth floor before the fire department arrived.

It was fortunate that the fire was seen by the officers. However, it was unfortunate that the fire grew to this magnitude, because it placed the occupant at great risk, as well as the others in the suite and in the rest of the building.

Both fires are contrary to what we would expect today in a residence hall, no matter when it was built.

Off-campus fires are a significant concern as well. In August, three students died in a fraternity fire at the University of Mississippi and another student died in an off-campus fire in Savannah., Ga. Last October, a Georgetown University student was killed in an off-campus fire. According to information compiled by the Center for Campus Fire Safety, more than 80 percent of the fatalities in student-housing fires since 2000 have occurred off campus, where a majority of the students across the country live.

It is important that we learn from these tragedies and make the changes that need to be made, not only at Rust College, in Savannah, at Georgetown or at George Washington, but across the country. These are invaluable �teachable moments.�

A comprehensive fire safety program that includes what we call �the Circle of Life� -- prevention, detection and suppression -- provides a high level of fire safety for all students.

• Prevention involves educating students about fire safety and, more important, providing them with the �reasons behind the rules.�

• Detection means early detection of the fire and notification of the occupants and emergency responders. This allows for escape while the fire is still relatively small and for the fire department to begin its response as soon as possible.

• Suppression is accomplished through automatic fire sprinklers, which can control or extinguish the fire within seconds, saving lives.

We have known the answers to protecting occupants from fire for many years. The hospitality industry took heed after the tragic fires in Las Vegas in the 1980s and started an aggressive program to install sprinklers and to put state-of-the art fire alarm systems in many hotels. Because of this, in many cases the traveling public has a higher level of fire safety than the youth of our country, the future generation.

Let�s use this fire at Rust College as a �wake-up� call and start ensuring that the students are as equally protected, and receive an education in fire safety along with their degree.

Ed Comeau
Director, Center for Campus Fire Safety, a non-profit organization
PO Box 2358
Amherst, MA 01004

www.campusfire.org
[email protected]
1-413-323-6002
March 30, 2005

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