Campus Firewatch

November 2000 Issue

©2000 Campus Firewatch

Campus Fire Safety Forum II

This is the first installment of a two-part report on Forum II.

At the NFPA Fall Education Conference, there were two sessions devoted
to campus fire safety. A group of ten speakers, over two days, spoke
before rooms that were filled to capacity with attendees.

On Sunday, November 12, the session Student Housing Fire Safety: A
National Perspective...Protecting Our Most Valuable Resource was held.
This session was sponsored by the NFPA Education Section and featured
four presenters.

The first was Bonnie Woodruff, who lost her only son in the tragic
fraternity fire in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. Mrs. Woodruff's
presentation was one about the emotional impact that her family suffered
when her son, Ben, was killed in the Phi Gamma Delta fire on Mother's
Day, 1996. Often, people don't understand the impact that a tragic death
such as Ben Woodruff's can have on a family. Mrs. Woodruff eloquently
spoke of the impact that Ben's death had on her family and on the
institution.

Mrs. Woodruff started her presentation by showing a videotape developed
by the Eau Claire Fire Department called "Get Out and Stay Alive." This
tape, produced and distributed by the United States Fire Administration,
is targeted towards today's students and explains the importance of fire
prevention and the role that the students can play in helping to provide
a fire-safe environment in their residence hall, fraternity or sorority.

The next speaker was Dr. Fred Mowrer from the University of Maryland.
Dr. Mowrer has been actively involved in the area of campus fire safety
for a number of years. In 1999 he was instrumental in the development
and production of a video tape targeted towards college and university
administrators that explains the need and value of fire safety on their
campuses.

Called "Ready to Respond," the tape provides an excellent overview of
the importance of fire alarms and sprinklers in academic residence
halls. This tape, which is available from the USFA, free of charge, was
developed in order to educate the administrators on the value of
sprinklers and fire alarm systems, as well as dispel some common myths
and misconceptions regarding these systems.

Buddy Dewar from the National Fire Sprinkler Association followed Dr.
Mowrer. Mr. Dewar focused on the issues surrounding the installation of
sprinkler systems. His presentation covered the aspects of selecting
contractors, funding and installation strategies.

Wrapping up the Sunday session was Ed Comeau, the publisher of Campus
Firewatch. Mr. Comeau provided the attendees with a national perspective
of the fire safety problems on- and off-campus. He also was discussed
the recent legislation that has been working through the federal, state
and local legislations.

Campus Fire Safety Forum II

On Monday, November 13 Campus Fire Safety Forum II was held before
another packed room. This forum is a continuation of the landmark forum
that was first held at NFPA headquarters in August, 1999. At the time of
the first forum, campus fire safety was of a concern, but it had not
been raised to the level of awareness that we are seeing today as a
result of Seton Hall and Bloomsburg. As a result of these two tragedies,
and others that are occurring across the country, Forum I was certainly
"ahead of its time," and Forum II expanded upon the lessons that emerged
out of Forum I.

The focus of this forum, which was put together by Campus Firewatch's
publisher, was on laws and ordinances. Since Forum I, there had been a
number of pieces of legislation introduced at the federal and state
level focusing on campus fire safety. In addition, there are a number of
local ordinances enacted requiring that Greek houses be equipped with
fire sprinklers. These ordinances have been enacted by agencies with the
foresight to recognize the potential problem and address it.

This year the Chemical Safety Health and Environmental Management
Association (CSHEMA) joined NFPA and USFA in co-sponsoring Forum II.
CSHEMA is a professional association of institutions and individuals
that are responsible for managing a variety of issues on campuses,
including fire safety.

Vicki Wade from the NFPA Education Section, Larry Maruskin from USFA and
Mike Halligan from CSHEMA welcomed the attendees and kicked off the
forum.

Federal Legislation

The lead-off speaker was Tony O'Neill, NFPA's assistant vice president
for governmental affairs. He provided an overview of how legislation is
developed and how it moves through the federal system.

Traditionally, fire safety has been considered to be a local issue, and
the federal government has not been funding it for this reason. This
changed somewhat in 1989 when Congressman Curt Weldon, a former fire
chief from Pennsylvania, formed the Congressional Fire Service Caucus.
This caucus, which presently has 320 members, is the largest one in
Congress.

According to O'Neill, a large number of bills are introduced each year
in the House of Representatives and the Senate. However, many of these
are "feel good" bills that are introduced on the behalf of their
constituents. "Members of Congress often file bills merely to please
constituents (voters) with no intention to pursue the bill into law,"
said O'Neill.

Once legislation is introduced, it then moves into a committee for
discussion and study. An instrumental person in determining if
legislation moves forward or "dies in committee" is the committee's
chairperson. If that person supports the legislation, then it will have
an opportunity to move out of committee and be put before the entire
Senate or House of Representatives. However, if the chairperson doesn't
support it, the chances of the legislation moving forward is slim. This
is where it is critical to voice support to the chairperson on
legislation to ensure that it does survive.

Any legislation that is going to require funding has two phases. First
is authorization. This is the legislation that "authorizes" an agency of
the government to spend funds up to a given dollar amount. However, this
does not provide them with the funding, which is contained within
appropriations legislation. This is where it becomes more difficult.

Because of the requirement to balance the budget, new programs requiring
new funding are scrutinized very closely. Furthermore, with the recent
concern over the viability of programs such as Social Security, which is
an entitlement program, discretionary spending gets a lower priority
over entitlements.

There are basically two types of legislation before Congress concerned
with campus fire safety-those that O'Neill refers to as "disclosure,"
which generally don't require funding, and those that will require
funding, such as S2100 which is calling for the installation of
sprinklers in residence halls across the country.

Legislation such as H4504 Higher Education Technical Amendments Act of
2000, which is part of the Technical Amendments to the Higher Education
Act is legislation that O'Neill refers to as having "legs." This means
that it does have a chance of passing Congress because it does not
require any federal funding and is tied in with other legislation that
will carry it along. However, the prospects on S2100 are certainly slim
for this year.

Another factor is that one of the members that co-sponsored S2100, Sen.
Frank Lautenberg from New Jersey retired this year. In addition, since
it did not pass this year, it will have to be reintroduced when Congress
reconvenes in January 2001.

The bottom line is that the prospects for most of the legislation that
was introduced for this year is slim, with the exception of H4504.

Crafting Legislation in New Jersey

Following O'Neill was Jerry Naylis. Naylis was instrumental in helping
the landmark legislation in New Jersey become law.

Naylis wears several different hats. He is an account manager with FM
Global, based in New Jersey and is very active in the industrial fire
world. In addition to this, however, he also serves on the New Jersey
Fire Safety Commission, and he is also president of the International
Association of Arson Investigators.

Immediately following the tragedy at Seton Hall, Naylis realized that
there was an opportunity to move forward on legislation that could make
a significant difference at institutions across the state. To accomplish
this, it was critically important that a coalition of various parties be
brought together to help craft the legislation and ensure that it made
it through the legislative process.

More importantly, however, in the immediate period following the fire,
was the need to focus the media attention on the incident and how the
tragedy could have been avoided. According to Naylis, "The biggest
banner headline was if the buildings had been sprinklered, the students
would not have died. This sent a powerful message."

Naylis gave an example of another reason to provide the media with
accurate information. "Are they (the media) going to get a story? Yes!
So you can either help them, or they are going to go out and find the
story on their own." By helping them, he emphasized, you can insure that
they have accurate information and are helping your efforts.

Knowing that it was important to have accurate information available for
the legislators, the coalition started collecting information on the
present state of fire protection in the state's institutions. "The first
thing they (legislators) wanted to know at the hearings was 'how big is
the problem,'" said Naylis. "If we had said 'I don't know," we would
have gotten nowhere...if you give bad information to the legislators,
you lose credibility."

The coalition inventoried the institutions and their housing and
determined that 70 to 80% of the beds were not in sprinklered buildings.
This was about 36,000 beds across the state. By working with the
sprinkler contractors, they were able to determine that it would cost
about \$6.50 per square foot to provide sprinkler protection for all of
the unprotected facilities.

Another tragic event helped to spur the legislators to action. Two
months to the day, after Seton Hall, there was another fire at
Bloomsburg University in Pennsylvania that killed three students. One of
the students who died in this fire came from New Jersey. He was buried
out of the same church that one of the students from Seton hall had been
buried from just a few months earlier. "This was the tie that caused
fraternities and sororities to be included in the same bill as
dormitories," said Naylis.

Money is always an issue, and it was a concern in this legislation
because installing sprinklers was going to obviously require funds
coming from somewhere. "Having a budget surplus in the state was key" to
helping diffuse this argument, said Naylis.

The final program will involve a \$90 million fund that will give loans
out at no interest to state entities, and 2% interest to Greek and
private organizations. With a payback period of 15 years, this will
provide a substantial source of funds to pay for the sprinkler
installations.

Another provision that was inserted into the legislation at the last
minute was the elimination of standby water fees. These are fees imposed
by the water companies for being allowed to tap into their water
distribution system. In some cases these charges ranged from ten to
fifty thousand dollars per year. By eliminating these fees, another
substantial cost saving is being passed onto the institutions.

Implementing Legislation

George Miller, the chief of Fire Code Enforcement for the New Jersey
Division of Fire Safety spoke about the issues involved with
implementing the legislation, now that they were successful in getting
it signed into law.

In 1981, a number of people died in fires in board and care facilities.
As a result of these tragedies, the legislature started taking a closer
look at how fire codes are enforce in the state. What was found was that
a number of state agencies had jurisdictional authority over board and
cares, with different regulations. However, none of them were enforcing
all of their regulations, which may have had an impact on the loss of
life.

As a result, "a broad, all-encompassing building code had been passed
that was enforced uniformly throughout the state," reported Miller.
Another event that helped the passage of the building code was the MGM
and Las Vegas Hilton fires. Both of these fires occurred while the board
and care fires were being investigated, drawing attention to the need
for improved fire safety regulations. Casinos were also being built in
Atlantic City at this time, which helped to spur this legislation, said
Miller.

"Technically, we didn't need new legislation after Seton Hall," said
Miller, because they already had the ability to amend the state building
code using regulatory authority. "What we did need was the clout and the
money...if we tried to amend using a regulatory process, we would have
run into a block wall." The big question would have been "where is the
money coming from?" It was imperative, stated Miller, to have the \$90
million fund tied to the legislation.

Another problem was that the New Jersey Division of Fire Safety did not
have the ability to inspect other state agencies and impose fines as
result of these inspections. "With the new legislation we were able to
put some teeth into it," said Miller. The Division can now charge
inspection fees and fine other state agencies.

Currently, out of the 41 institutions required to comply with the
legislation, 40 have submitted plans to Miller's office.

The second part of the report on Campus Fire Safety Forum II will appear
in the December issue of Campus Firewatch.

Visit the Campus Firewatch website at www.campus-firewatch.com to
download PowerPoint presentations from the NFPA Fall Education
Conference.

Halloween at Seton Hall

On October 27, there was a Halloween decorating contest in Boland Hall
at Seton Hall University. According to Shannon Allen, an account manager
for the University's Division of Student Affairs, sixteen out of 18
wings of Boland Hall were participating in the decorating contest.

The contest started at 10:00 a.m. An official from the South Orange Fire
Department was on campus at the time, and he heard of the decorating
contest and stopped by. According to Allen, the official found unsafe
decorations, and asked the university to remove them. These included
construction paper on the walls, streamers, hay, leaves, strobe lights,
garbage bags, food and toilet paper. The state fire marshal reported to
Campus Firewatch that the floor was "ankle-high" with combustible
decorations.

Because of the conditions, the contest was stopped and the decorations
were removed by 3:00 that afternoon. Officials from the South Orange
Fire Department and the South Orange town administrator's office were
unavailable for comment at press time.

Boland Hall was the site of the tragic fire in January 2000 that killed
three students. Since that time Seton Hall has taken an aggressive
stance towards fire safety. During the summer, all of their residence
halls were equipped with fire sprinkler systems. There is an ongoing
program of unannounced fire safety inspections once a month, which,
according to Director Craig Allen from the Department of Housing and
Residence Life at Seton Hall "we are finding fewer violations."

When asked why this problem arose in the first place, Shannon Allen
stated that it was a "case of students being excited about a program in
their hall." She went to say that we "continue to need to educate the
students about how to integrate their creativity with safety, and this
is a challenge for everyone."

Before Halloween, an article had appeared in the school newspaper, the
Setonian. In this article, Craig Allen outlined the university
regulations, as well as some guidelines regarding decorating. Both Craig
Allen and Shannon Allen emphasized that they want the students to enjoy
the holidays, but safety is a priority for the university.

From the Editor

"Constant vigilance." That was what was stressed by Chapel Hill Fire
Chief Dan Jones. In an interview in the May issue of Campus Firewatch,
Chief Jones said that they have to constantly watch what is occurring in
student housing and stay on top of it to avoid a repeat of the tragic
fire that struck his community.

This was demonstrated rather dramatically at Seton Hall last month.

Seton Hall has become one of the watershed incidents when it comes to
campus fire safety. The death of three young students spurred the state
to implement an incredibly broad-reaching sprinkler mandate. The
University has implemented new, more stringent fire safety regulations.
They are conducting monthly, unannounced inspections to identify and
eliminate fire hazards. Over the last summer, every dormitory at Seton
Hall was equipped with a fire sprinkler system. All of the resident hall
staff went through specialized fire safety training, which included a
live burn demonstration. The incoming students were given fire safety
orientation.

Yet, despite all of this heightened awareness, the potential for a
devastating fire still exists.

During a Halloween decorating contest, a South Orange Fire Department
official found a hallway in Boland Hall, the very site of the January
tragedy, strewn with combustible material that included toilet paper,
construction paper, leaves and straw. "Ankle deep" was how it was
described to Campus Firewatch by the New Jersey state fire marshal.

The contest had started at 10:00 in the morning. By 3:00 in the
afternoon University officials had stopped the contest and removed the
debris at the request of the fire department. The question this raises,
however, is why did it take fire department intervention to stop this
from happening? Why didn't the students or university staff realize that
perhaps this was an unsafe action?

This incident demonstrates the need for continued, ongoing supervision,
education, training and vigilance in residence halls and Greek housing.
Did the students in Boland Hall know that what they were doing was
creating an unsafe condition? Perhaps not. Did the students who were
filling the basement of their fraternity in Chapel Hill with bamboo to
create a "jungle theme" realize the potential risk? Or the fraternity
where the furnace broke down and they brought in over a dozen space
heaters instead of repairing the furnace-did they think they were
placing people in danger? What about the student at Hampshire College
who put a pan of oil on the stove in a residence hall and then left. Did
she intend to start a fire that, fortunately, was controlled by two
sprinklers? In all likelihood, no.

Human behavior is the one aspect of fire safety that is the most
difficult to predict or control. We must make stronger efforts to
educate these students because, as we are seeing, perhaps the greatest
danger to them is the actions of their fellow students.

NFPA Fire Protection Handbook-Campus Fire Safety Chapter

The upcoming 19^th^ edition of the NFPA Fire Protection Handbook is
going to have a new chapter on campus fire safety, which NFPA has asked
Ed Comeau, the publisher of Campus Firewatch, to write.

Since this is a new chapter, we have a great opportunity to create a
document that will provide people with the best possible information to
aid them in doing their jobs well. The question for everyone is....

What would YOU like to see in this chapter?

We are very interested in getting as much input as possible from those
of you who are living with the problems and issues every day, and
solving them. Any suggestions, case studies, successes or failures that
would help illustrate a point would be useful. Photographs of fires,
unique fire protection installations or anything that will be
informative are welcome.

Please don't hesitate to get in touch with us by email, phone or regular
mail with any material or suggestions you may have. By working together
this can be a useful tool for the campus fire safety professional.

Please contact Ed Comeau at publisher@campus-firewatch.com or by
telephone at 413-323-6002.

Candle Industry Facts

The following information was taken from the National Candle Association
website (www.candles.org).

-   Consumer retail sales for U.S. candles are projected to total more
    than \$2.3 billion in 2000.

-   The candle industry has almost tripled in the past three or four
    years.

-   The U.S. candle market is typically separated into seasonal
    (Christmas holiday) business, at roughly 35 percent, and
    non-seasonal business, at about 65 percent. Candle shipments
    increase substantially during the third quarter of the year for the
    Christmas season, since candles play a large role this time of year
    (religious, gifts and decoration).

-   Candle manufacturers' research shows that 96 percent of all candles
    purchased are by women.

-   Candles are used in seven out of ten households.

A majority of consumers burn candles between one and three times per
week; half of consumers burn one to two candles at a time.

Legislation Update

## Legislation

S 2100

College Fire Prevention Act

## Jurisdiction

Federal

## Sponsor

Sen. John Edwards (D-NC)

United States Senate

225 Dirksen Office Building

Washington, DC 20510

202-224-3154

<senator@edwards.senate.gov>

## Cosponsors

Senator Spencer Abraham (R-MI)\
United States Senate\
329 Dirksen Senate Office Building\
Washington, DC 20510\
Phone: (202) 224-4822\
Fax: (202) 224-8834\
<michigan@abraham.senate.gov>

http://www.senate.gov/\~abraham/

Senator Christopher Dodd (D-CT)\
448 Russell Office Bldg.\
United States Senate\
Washington, D.C. 20510\
(202) 224-2823 (tel)

\(202\) 224-1083 (fax)

[Senator@dodd.senate.gov](mailto:Senator@dodd.senate.gov?subject=WEBSITE COMMENT)

http://www.senate.gov/\~dodd/

Senator Richard Durbin (D-IL)

364 Russell Senate Office Building

Washington, DC 20510

\(202\) 224-2152 (tel)

\(202\) 228-0400 (fax)

<dick@durbin.senate.gov>

http://www.senate.gov/\~durbin/

Senator Frank Lautenberg (D-NJ)

United States Senate

506 Senate Hart Building

Washington, DC 20510

\(202\) 224-4744 (tel)

\(202\) 224-9707 (fax)

<frank_lautenberg@lautenberg.senate.gov>

http://www.senate.gov/\~lautenberg/

Senator Robert Toricelli (D-NJ)

United States Senate

113 Dirksen Senate Office Building

Washington, DC 20510

\(202\) 224-3224 (tel)

\(202\) 224-8567 (fax)

<senatortorricelli@torricelli.senate.gov>

## Funding

\$100,000,000

## Facilities

Dormitories, fraternities or sororities

## Status

Referred to the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and
Pensions on 2/24/00. Still in committee and no action has been taken
since it was referred to committee.

Summary\
Authorizes appropriations for competitive grants to help provide fire
sprinkler systems in student housing and dormitories.

Authorizes the Secretary of Education to award such grants to States,
private or public colleges or universities, fraternities, or sororities
to assist them in providing such systems.

Requires grant recipients to provide matching funds equal to at least
one-half of project costs.

Directs the Comptroller General to gather, and report to Congress, data
on the number of college and university housing facilities and
dormitories that have and do not have fire sprinkler systems and other
forms of built-in fire protection mechanisms.

## Legislation

S 2108

HR 3895

Campus Fire Safety Right to Know Act

## Jurisdiction

Federal

## Sponsors

Senator Robert Toricelli (D-NJ)

United States Senate

113 Dirksen Senate Office Building

Washington, DC 20510

\(202\) 224-3224 (tel)

\(202\) 224-8567 (fax)

<senatortorricelli@torricelli.senate.gov>

Representative Bill Pascrell

1722 Longworth Building (HOB)

Washington, DC 20515

\(202\) 225-5751 (tel)

\(202\) 225-5782 (fax)

bill.pascrell@mail.house.gov

## Funding

N/A

## Facilities

Campuses nationwide

## Status

Referred to the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and
Pensions on 2/28/00.

Referred to the House Committee on Education and the Workforce on
3/9/00.

## 

## Summary

## 

## Amends the Higher Education Act of 1965 to require each eligible institution participating in any program under title IV (Student Assistance) to: (1) prepare, publish, and distribute to all current students and employees, and to any applicant for enrollment or employment upon request, an annual fire safety report which discloses specified types of information about that institution\'s campus fire safety standards and practices; (2) make timely reports to the campus community on fires that are reported to local fire departments and the incidence of false fire alarms on campus, to aid in preventing similar occurrences; (3) maintain a log recording all fires reported to local fire departments and all false fire alarms, open to public inspection except where disclosure of such information is prohibited by law; and (4) submit annually to the Secretary of Education a copy of statistics on campus occurrences of fires and false fire alarms. 

Directs the Secretary to: (1) review such statistics; (2) make copies
available to the public; (3) identify exemplary fire safety policies,
procedures, and practices, and disseminate information concerning those
policies, procedures, and practices that have proven effective in the
reduction of campus fires; and (4) report to the Congress analyses of
the current status of fire safety systems in college and university
facilities, and of the appropriate fire safety standards to apply to
these facilities, as well as cost estimates and recommendations.

## Legislation

S 2178

HR 3831

Fire Safe Dorm Act of 2000

## Jurisdiction

Federal

Sponsors

Senator Frank Lautenberg

United States Senate

506 Senate Hart Building

Washington, DC 20510

\(202\) 224-4744 (tel)

\(202\) 224-9707 (fax)

<frank_lautenberg@lautenberg.senate.gov>

<http://www.senate.gov/~lautenberg/>

http://www.senate.gov/\~torricelli/

Representative Carolyn Maloney

2430 Rayburn House Office Building

Washington, DC 20515

\(202\) 225-7944 (tel)

\(202\) 225-4709 (fax)

<rep.carolyn.maloney@mail.house.gov>

http://www.house.gov/maloney/

## Funding

N/A

## Facilities

Campuses nationwide

## Status

Referred to the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and
Pensions on 3/2/00. Still in committee and no action has been taken.

Referred to the House Subcommittee on Basic Research on 3/9/00. Still in
committee.

Summary

The objective of this bill is to amend the Higher Education Act of 1965
to require colleges and universities to disclose to students and their
parents the incidents of fires in dormitories, and their plans to reduce
fire safety hazards in dormitories, to require the United States Fire
Administration to establish fire safety standards for dormitories, and
for other purposes.

## Legislation

HR 4504

Higher Education Technical Amendments of 2000

## Jurisdiction

Federal

## Sponsor

Representative Buck McKeon

2242 Rayburn HOB\
Washington D.C. 20515\
(202) 225-1956 (tel)\
(202) 226-0683 (fax)

<tellbuck@mail.house.gov>

http://www.house.gov/mckeon/

## Funding

N/A

## Facilities

Campuses nationwide

## Status

Referred to the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and
Pensions on 6/13/00. Still in committee and no action has been taken.

## Summary

This legislation has several amendments attached to it pertaining to
campus fire safety. They include providing a description of campus fire
safety features, reports on the number of fires and false alarms, and an
analysis of current fire safety systems and plans for upgrading fire
protection.

## Legislation

HB 2458

Dormitory Automatic Sprinkler Act

## Jurisdiction

Pennsylvania

## Sponsors

Representative Michael McGeehan

221B South Office

Harrisburg, PA 17120

\(717\) 772-4029 (tel)

<mcgeehan@pahouse.net>

www.pahouse.net/McGeehan/index.htm

Funding

\$100,000,000

## Facilities

Dormitories and Greek housing

## Status

On October 11, this legislation was passed by the House on a vote of 190
to 1. It has now moved to the state Senate for action.

Summary

Representative Michael McGeehan introduced House Bill 2458, the
Dormitory Automatic Sprinkler Act, on April 11, 2000. This bill calls
for the installation of sprinklers in all new dormitories, existing
dormitories and Greek housing within five years. It proposes the
appropriation of \$100,000,000 to fund a sprinkler loan fund for low
interest loans.

Campus Firewatch obtained the following information from media reports,
official sources and interviews.

October 16, 2000

University of Mississippi

Oxford, Mississippi

A fire in Stockard Hall, a residence hall, was caused by a candle that
was left burning on a desk.

October 18, 2000

St. Louis University

St. Louis, Missouri

The compressor on a freezer containing hazardous materials exploded in a
molecular biology laboratory. According to press reports, no radioactive
contamination was found. There were about 15 people in the laboratory at
the time of the explosion, which occurred at about 2:30 pm.

October 19, 2000

Penn State University

State College, Pennsylvania

A minor fire occurred in a lab at Penn State University. Smoke detectors
activated and first arriving Police encountered a moderate smoke
condition in the lab. The fire was extinguished using a portable fire
extinguisher. Alpha Fire Company checked for extension using the Thermal
Imaging Camera with no signs of extension found. Damage was confined to
two ceiling fluorescent lights and an office chair. Initial
investigation indicates fire originated at the lamp socket causing
melting plastic from the light shield to drip on the cushion of the
chair. Building was re-occupied after units cleared the scene.

October 21, 2000

Northeastern University

Boston, MA

A fire that started by an electrical power strip in a residence hall
forced the evacuation of 100 students. According to press reports, the
fire alarm never sounded and the police were required to knock on doors
to evacuate the building. The sixth-floor room was engulfed in flames
upon arrival.

October 22, 2000

North Dakota State University

Fargo, North Dakota

The following information was obtained by Campus Firewatch from
university and city officials.

An off-campus apartment fire caused serious damage at the University
Village in Fargo, North Dakota. According to officials, the fire started
in the attic area of the building near a recessed light fixture.

The building, which was referred to as 'F Court' was a two-story
structure that had 16 apartment-style units. Two students lived in each
unit. The building was equipped with hallway, system smoke detectors,
pull stations and heat detectors in the mechanical rooms. Activation of
any of these devices would activate the building fire alarm system and
transmit a signal to campus security.

There were single station smoke detectors in the individual units.

The fire occurred on a Saturday, shortly after 6:00 p.m. The fire
started in the attic area above the level of the smoke detectors. It was
first observed by the occupants of the adjacent building, who ran over
and began knocking on individual apartment doors to alert the occupants.
No one activated the pull stations.

According to a fire official, a number of the students did not believe
that there really was a fire and did not evacuate. It took three
attempts before one student finally evacuated his apartment. The
official speculated that if the fire had occurred at night, with the
delayed alarm, the outcome could have been catastrophic.

There were no injuries.

The building was a total loss. A number of the students on the second
floor, on the north end, lost all of their belongings to the fire.
Others in the building had their property damaged either by the fire,
smoke or water.

October 22, 2000

Washington, DC

A fire in a house killed one man who was sleeping in the basement that
had only one means of egress. A college student who lived on the second
floor of the house was not home at the time of the fire.

October 25, 2000

Santa Fe High School

Santa Fe, New Mexico

A fire destroyed the administration in the center of the campus. The
building contained the high school\'s mainframe computer as well as the
main phone link for the campus. The damage was estimated between \$1
million and \$2 million. Santa Fe High School has a number of buildings
that are spread out over several acres, similar to a college campus.

October 27, 2000

Amherst, Massachusetts

The following information was obtained by Campus Firewatch from fire
officials and during an on-site inspection of the fire scene.

An off-campus house where five students lived was severely damaged by a
fire that occurred at approximately 10:00 p.m.

The building where the fire occurred was a two-story, wood frame
structure. It was occupied by either four or five students from the
University of Massachusetts.

There were conflicting accounts of how the fire started. According to
one report, the fire was caused when a student was attempting to use
kerosene to refuel a Halloween decoration on the front porch. Another
account was that the pumpkin ignited from the flame inside of it, and
the fire spread to the porch.

It was reported that the occupants attempted to extinguish the fire, but
were unsuccessful. They then left the front door of the house open,
which allowed the fire to spread rapidly to the interior and up the
stairway, which was immediately adjacent to the front door.

The building was a total loss and was subsequently demolished.

October 28, 2000

Pittsburg State University

Pittsburg, Kansas

A fire that was caused by a power strip occurred in Heckert-Well Hall,
killing about one-third of a collection of snakes, mammals, birds and
other animals, as well as destroying tens of thousands of dollars of
equipment.

November 2, 2000

Defiance College

Defiance, Ohio

A fire was set over the weekend in a closet in Schomburg Auditorium.
Most of the damage was caused by smoke, and the fire was contained to
the closet.

November 5, 2000

University of Vermont

Burlington, Vermont

The following information was obtained by Campus Firewatch from fire
department officials.

A fire in a house off-campus rented by five students injured three of
the occupants.

The building where the fire occurred was a wood, balloon-frame structure
with three stories. The building was equipped with smoke detectors, and
there were two in the apartment of origin. One was located in the
hallway by the bedroom, and the other was located in the living room.

An exterior and interior stairway led to the third floor. However, they
were not separate or remote from one another.

There were three apartments in the building. In the apartment of origin,
on the third floor, there were four bedrooms.

At 6:08 a.m., the fire department responded to the house for a reported
fire. Upon arrival, they were told that there were people trapped on the
third floor. Firefighters entered the building via the exterior stairway
and had to crawl beneath the flames until they found one unconscious
male. He was removed from the building and was in respiratory arrest.

Search operations continued and an unconscious female victim was found
in one of the bedrooms. She was also removed from the building and was
in respiratory arrest. A third victim was treated for injuries sustained
when he and another male jumped from their bedroom windows onto the roof
of a first story porch.

The fire was extinguished in 20 minutes, and damage was confined to the
third-floor apartment. Damage was estimated to be approximately
\$50,000.

The investigation determined that the fire started in the living room
couch by improper disposal of smoking materials. There were the remains
of alcohol bottles, candles and cigarettes found on the living room
table.

According to fire officials, the fact that the stairways were not remote
and separate was a contributing factor to one of the injuries that
occurred.

November 10, 2000

University of Miami

Oxford, Ohio

Campus Firewatch obtained the following information from media reports,
a city press release, fire department and university officials.

A fire in an off-campus fraternity seriously injured one student.

The building where the fire occurred was the Sigma Chi fraternity. It is
a three-story, masonry structure. The hallway outside the room of origin
had been covered with wood paneling sometime in the past.

The building was equipped with single station, battery-operated smoke
detectors in the hallways and in the individual rooms. The building was
equipped with a local fire alarm system that could be activated by
manual pull stations.

There were officially 45 people living in the building, but it was
reported that there were an unknown number of guests in the building at
the time of the fire.

The fire was reported to the fire department at 5:10 a.m. According to
the occupant of room 208, he had lit a four-wick candle at approximately
3:00 a.m. while studying. At approximately 5:00 a.m., he went to take a
shower and left the candle burning on a table with combustible materials
nearby.

When he returned from the shower, he could hear the smoke detector in
the room sounding. He opened the door and observed the end of the couch
on fire. He closed the door, went about 30 feet down the hall to get a
friend, and they returned with a CO2 fire extinguisher and a pressurized
water fire extinguisher, which was not charged.

They opened the door, and the room was heavily involved with fire. They
discharged the CO2 fire extinguisher in the room and then retreated.
Because of the heavy fire, they were not able to close the door. They
began alerting the other occupants of the building, and someone pulling
a manual pull station activated the local fire alarm system.

Upon arrival, the fire department reported smoke and fire extending out
of second-story windows on the second floor. A crew went to the second
floor, while another crew equipped with a thermal imaging camera went to
the third floor. As they entered the third floor, which was heavily
charged with smoke, they found a male victim in the bathroom. This
victim was removed from the building and transported to the local
hospital. He was then flown to a level1 trauma center in Dayton, Ohio.
According to fire officials, he is recovering at this time.

The fire extended out of the room of origin through the open door and
into the hallway, consuming the combustible wall paneling. It also
extended to the third floor and the attic via the window. Three rooms
were damaged by direct flame impingement. The fire chief estimated the
loss at \$500,000.

Earlier in the evening, there had been a small fire in a room down the
hall from room 208. A lit candle had been placed on top of a speaker,
and had been vibrated off. It ignited some combustible materials, but
was quickly extinguished. This is why the CO2 fire extinguisher that was
used in the subsequent fire was positioned in the hallway.

The fire chief cited candles as becoming a significant problem in his
community. He mentioned an incident where they had gone into a
fraternity and found an unattended lit candle resting on a Styrofoam
plate, on top of a blanket, resting on a pool table. He estimated that
they are finding evidence of candles in 70 to 80% of the rooms where
they conduct inspections. Often, they are located on the lower levels of
bookcases, with combustible materials above them.

There will be more information on this fire in an upcoming issue of
Campus Firewatch.

November 14, 2000

Hampshire College

Amherst, Massachusetts

The following information was obtained by Campus Firewatch from college
and fire department officials.

A fire occurred in an apartment-style residence hall.

The building where the fire occurred was a three-story, wood frame
structure that had been built about 25 years ago. It was equipped with a
sprinkler system.

At 4:43 p.m., the Amherst Fire Department responded to a report of an
alarm sounding. Enroute, it was reported that the sprinkler system had
activated, and additional units were dispatched.

There were moderate smoke conditions upon arrival. It was determined
that two sprinkler heads had activated in the kitchen area of one of the
apartments.

Subsequent investigation determined that a female occupant had put a pan
of oil on the electric stove and then left the unit. The oil ignited,
and the fire caused two sprinkler heads to open, controlling the fire.
Fire damage was limited to the immediate area of the stove, with some
water damage in the apartment unit. Damage was estimated to be \$1,500.

Because the fire was controlled by the sprinkler system, it was not
necessary to advance any lines into the building.

NOTE: Hampshire College was the site of a fire in April 2000 in another
apartment-style dormitory. The fire in April occurred in a
non-sprinklered building and caused significant damage to the apartment.
During the summer, the portion of the building damaged by the fire was
equipped with a fire sprinkler system, and the other half of the
building will be equipped with one next summer.

November 15, 2000

Kean University

Union, New Jersey

A fire in an elevator motor injured six people. The motor caught fire
and trapped six people inside the elevator. The police were able to open
the elevator and rescue the occupants. All were treated and released.

November 16, 2000

Lee College

Baytown, TX

An off-campus house fire claimed the life of a 21-year-old student. The
fire occurred in a house where there was no heat because it was being
remodeled. The fire started in the back bedroom where the student was
sleeping. His body was found in the dining room. There was no evidence
of a space heater or smoke detector found.

Seen Elsewhere

Radford University

Radford, Viriginia

\"I...would like to apologize to the Radford University students,
faculty and staff for the fires on campus. I didn\'t try or want to harm
anybody in any way. I regret what happened, I never wanted to hurt
anyone.\"

This is from a letter written by an arsonist to the community where he
admitted setting seven fires. The arsonist was a 20-year old former
student who set a string of fires in buildings at Radford University in
Radford, Virginia. He is currently out on bail pending a hearing on
December 4.

St. Joseph College

Standish, Maine

A female student charged with arson in connection with a fire that
occurred in April 2000 has been found innocent. A Cumberland County
Superior Court jury acquitted the woman of all three charges after
deliberating for two hours.

The case was built on circumstantial evidence which the prosecutor
admitted hampered the case. They have no plans to reopen the
investigation.

Occupant Awareness -- Fraternity Fire Safety in State College, PA

By Tim Knisely

The many stories that flash upon my e-mail and that I see in the news
demonstrate that there is still a great deal of work to be done towards
making college students aware of the dangers from fire. These dangers
could be the open stairway that runs from the basement to the third
floor, someone carelessly disposing of a cigarette or the inoperable
smoke alarms throughout the house. Individually, these and many other
hazards can contribute to a fire's severity. However, all of these at
once can, and have, proven to be deadly.

From Bloomsburg to Chapel Hill to Seton Hall and many other communities,
these tragedies strike when we least expect, often in the early morning
hours following a party. Sometimes because someone is careless, and
other times because the fire is started maliciously.

The recent fire in Bloomsburg occurred while we were developing an
educational program targeted towards the fraternities in State College.
The interest in our program was overwhelming because Bloomsburg is only
80 miles away, and a number of people from Bloomsburg University
attended the program. Having them present gave a greater sense of
reality about the tragedy to the students from Penn State.

Despite this heightened level of awareness and sensitivity, it is still
not enough. Everyday we observe serious fire code violations that should
be common sense. Don't prop open the door with a sticker affixed that
reads "FIRE DOOR, KEEP CLOSED AT ALL TIMES." Don't disable the fire
alarm system because it is "too loud." Annual inspections of these
properties can only go so far in preventing these tragedies. How many
times do you read of a fatal fire in a house that passed its inspection
only one month before. The residents and officers responsible for the
house need to be constantly vigilant of the conditions inside.

Centre Region Code Administration

In State College, Pennsylvania over 40,000 students from Penn State
University call this their second home. On-campus dormitories
accommodate roughly 13,000 residents while the rest live off-campus or
commute. Many of the off-campus residents live within the Centre Region,
a regional government boundary that shares resources such as planning,
fire protection and code administration. The Centre Region Code
Administration provides plan review and inspection to all new
construction and conducts fire safety inspections of all residential
rental and commercial occupancies. A staff of 18 people, which includes
management, inspectors and clerical positions, is entirely funded by
permit fees.

Within the jurisdiction of the Code Administration are nearly 16,000
residential rental units, including 52 recognized fraternity houses.
This year there are three vacant occupancies, leaving 49 occupied for
the fall semester. Many of these houses are large historic properties
that were built by the chapters, and some exceed 20,000 square feet of
space with over 70 people living in each house. Even though the
fraternities make up a small number of the rental properties, they take
up nearly 15% of our staff time.

These houses have had inspections since the early 1980's, and it was not
uncommon for an inspection to reveal over 200 violations. Over time,
these numbers have continued to decline, with an average of 30
violations per house in 1999. The numbers for 2000 are not completed as
of yet, but the average is likely to be around 15 to 17 violations per
house.

There are several reasons for this decline. Primarily, educational
programs were developed to help make the fraternity officers aware of
the hazards, teach them how to make the house safer and making those in
charge responsible for fire safety in their houses.

Educational Programs

Beginning in 1997 a program was developed to train the house managers in
fire prevention. The first program was nothing more than a lecture to a
dozen participants followed by a question and answer session. This
program now opens with a meal that provides everyone a chance to
socialize with the inspectors and firefighters. Ironically, at the start
of this year's program a two-alarm fire occurred in a mid-rise student
apartment building in town.

In February of this year the ACACIA Fraternity at Penn State began
developing a fire safety program for all new members of the Greek
system. ACACIA, along with the Masonic Lodge of Pennsylvania provided
the funding. The Grand Master, Robert Dluge, Jr. who is an assistant
fire chief in Elysburg, opened the program. His ties to the fire service
and his town's proximity to Bloomsburg give him first hand experience
with the task. Speakers at this program included Ed Comeau, the
publisher of Campus Firewatch; Bonnie Woodruff, the mother of one of the
Chapel Hill fire victims; and this author. Over 350 students, alumni and
officials from local universities attended. This program was so
successful that the Mason's are conducting similar programs on campuses
throughout Pennsylvania.

The first Annual Student Fire Safety Expo and "Great Escape" highlighted
this year's Fire Prevention Week. The Expo was held outside of the
ACACIA house in a large tent where local fire equipment vendors and
government officials had displays. Of most interest were two sprinkler
demonstration trailers that were provided by local contractors. Inside
the ACACIA house was the "Great Escape" where the fire department had a
large party room filled with smoke. Participants first had to view the
fire escape plan for the room and then find their way through the
blinding smoke to exit the building. Local restaurants and the State
College Masonic Lodge provided the food and refreshments.

Inspection Process

All fraternity houses are inspected during the fall semester, with two
fire inspectors assigned to this program to maintain consistency between
inspections. Any violations observed are immediately presented in
writing to the house manager. Any life safety violations that require
immediate attention are listed separately for action, while other
violations are checked in 30 days for compliance. If the repairs are not
completed during the reinspection, and an action plan has not been
developed, a reinspection fee and/or summary citation are issued.
Reinspections continue every 30 days until compliance is achieved with
additional fines as needed.

Partnerships

One of the keys to success in fire prevention is the partnership with
other groups and agencies. This partnership in State College includes
the Inter-Fraternity Council (IFC), Greek Life, the Fraternity
Purchasing Association (FPA-a non-profit purchasing co-op), the Alpha
Fire Company, State College Borough Health Department, and other
government and public service organizations.

We teach the importance of partnerships to the house managers and
officers as well. We let them know who to call for help before it's too
late. By having the houses team up with the fire protection companies,
maintenance contractors, FPA as well as the fire inspectors we are able
to provide them with resources to help make the house fire safe
year-round.

One of our partners in fire safety is Penn State University's
Environmental Health & Safety staff. The University has jurisdiction
over all campus buildings and provides their own inspections and
educational programs. The Centre Region staff is presently working with
Penn State to develop a transition program that prepares on-campus
students to move off-campus, where many are "on their own" for the first
time.

Pre-Planning

During the 1999 inspection cycle, a fire department pre-plan was
developed jointly by the fire chief and fire inspection staff. This plan
provides the fire department with vital details about the building that
otherwise may not be available. This could be critical information to
have readily available at 3:00 AM on a Saturday, for example.
Information such as structural details, door access codes, specific fire
or life hazards, alarm or sprinkler information and emergency contacts
are provided. This information is updated during the annual inspection
and other times as needed.

Sprinkler Legislation

# Knowing that the only true way to provide complete fire protection in these houses is with automatic sprinkler systems, our staff has been actively supporting legislation that would mandate sprinklers in fraternities and sororities. House Bill 2458, (HB-2458) passed the Pennsylvania House by a 190-1 vote on October 11, 2000 and now moves to the Senate. This bill is similar to one recently passed in New Jersey following the Seton Hall fire.

Summary

With all of these programs and improvements, there is still a severe
life hazard in the fraternity setting. Even when the buildings are
protected, our work is not complete. Fire protection maintenance
programs need to be enforced, prevention measures still need to be
practiced, and every year you must start again with the incoming class.
As stated by a local fire safety partner, "our goal is to protect
students from students."

Tim Knisely is the Senior Fire and Housing Inspector for the Centre
Region Code Administration, State College, PA. He can be reached by
email at tekcrcog@vicon.net.