Welcome to CPSC’s Podcast for Friday, August 24, 2007. I’m Patty Davis.
If you’re a college student or a parent of a college student, you’ll probably be heading to campus any day now. While you may be focused on buying books and decorating the dorm, fraternity or sorority room, there’s something else you should think about and plan for. And that is -- safety if there’s a fire. CPSC’s Julie Vallese is joining me to talk about a new report on campus fire safety that shows a dramatic increase in fires in college housing. The data by the National Fire Protection Association was issued this week by that group and CPSC. Julie, how dramatic is the increase?[Julie:] There has been an increase and a significant one. Almost double the amount of fires since 1998. So just in basically the past decade we’ve gone from 1800 fires to 3300 fires. There have been 19 students killed in on campus fires in 2004 alone and that’s really something that we need to keep in mind. These are just on campus numbers. There are some indications that the numbers may be even higher for those students living off campus.
[Patty:] So we’re talking about fraternities, sororities and dorms in these numbers?
[Julie:] Yes, the housing that is under the jurisdiction, under the university’s control.
[Patty:] Most fires are cooking related. But most deaths and injuries occur in the bedroom?
[Julie:] That’s right Patty. Ah, cooking equipment causes about 72 percent of dorm fires. Students really should make sure that they are only cooking in designated areas. And never walk away when they are cooking and that really includes their hot plate, any kitchen equipment or if they are barbequing. Now in the bedroom, it’s really from things that burn like candles or smoking materials. So any time a student is burning anything, whether it’s in the bedroom or elsewhere, making sure that it is extinguished each and every time they leave the room or go to bed.
[Patty:] What is behind the increase from 1998 to 2005 of 1800 to 3300 fires?
[Julie:] Well we’re really not quite sure. One of the things may be just better reporting, that we are learning more about fires on campus, that those fire departments that work with campuses are reporting. So we know about them more. But regardless, one fire is too much. And so protecting against them and really letting college students know what their responsibility is is extremely important.
[Patty:] What tips do you have for college students to avoid fires in their housing?
[Julie:] Well besides those ones for cooking and candles, more and more college students have electrical equipment. Make sure that things like electrical products, portable heaters, and lighting such as halogen lamps are really in check. Keep combustibles away from those. Make sure that you’re not overloading any of your power cords and turn everything off when you leave the room. Also one other thing is know the evacuation plan of your building. Always know two escape routes in the event of a fire.
[Julie:] All right. Thanks Julie.
[Patty:] You can find out more about campus fire safety on our Web site at www.cpsc.gov. That’s it for this week’s podcast. Thanks for tuning in.
End.