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September is Campus Fire Safety MonthNews Release from: More than 10 million young adults between ages 18 and 24 will head to college in a few weeks. Will they be ready to face an emergency situation such as a residence hall or apartment fire? Since January 2000, 89 people have died and many more have been injured in on- and off-campus fires. The most recent blaze occurred two weeks ago, killing an Oklahoma State University student in an off-campus fire. Unfortunately, tragedies like this one seem to happen every academic year, mostly in off-campus housing such as apartments, rental homes, or Greek housing, places where more than three-fourths of all college students live. What's worse, most of these fires could be prevented. This month, the nonprofit Center for Campus Fire Safety (CCFS) is joining with Underwriters Laboratories (UL) and Kidde, a leading fire safety product manufacturer, to launch a public awareness campaign to remind parents and students about the need for better fire safety when heading to college. The organizations will reach out to local, state and national media as well as contact college media. They'll focus on basic fire safety prevention, and address the four common factors seen in campus-related fires: lack of missing or disabled smoke alarms, careless disposal of smoking materials, alcohol consumption, and lack of automatic sprinkler systems. A website designed with both media and parent/student resources will launch the week of August 14 that can be accessed through the Center's website at www.campusfire.org. In addition, CCFS has designated September as "National Campus Fire Safety Month." To date, 14 states have adopted the designation and a federal proclamation is pending. [See the list of states here: http://www.campusfire.org/resources/stateproc.html]. How can you help? Campus-related fires impact everyone in a college community, not just students. As fire chiefs, I urge you to help raise the awareness of this important safety message in your community. Please contact your local media and remind them of the dangers that students can face. Download a press release (MS Word file) that you can use as a template. In addition, fact sheets and other resources will be available through the Center's website at www.campusfire.org.
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LEAD EDUCATE SERVE
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