September is Campus Fire Safety Month. During the month of September, we can expect to see the most useful and informative resources for campus fire safety published and shared on social media.
To advance the cause of fire safety on campus, we're sharing five of the most popular campus fire safety blog posts, as measured by social sharing. Not surprisingly, the list is dominated by resources from The National Fire Protection Association (NFPA), the most widely-recognized authority on fire safety in North America.
Five of the Most-Shared Campus Fire Safety Posts
- NFPA Journal Announcement (NFPA Today, post by Scott Sutherland)
This post announces the Sept.-Oct. edition of the NFPA Journal, which fittingly covers several school-related fire safety issues in recognition of Campus Fire Safety Month. The cover article, "Unsafe Science," explores school science lab experiments gone wrong, with examples and recommendations to improve safety in these all-too-common situations. Other related articles address the intersection of school security and fire safety, proposed legislation (U.S.) to require sprinklers in all college-run student housing, and fire museums in the U.S. and Canada.
Noteworthy Takeaways:
From the Perspectives piece on pending sprinkler legislation (authored by Jesse Roman):
- The number of reported fires in college-owned and affiliated dormitories, fraternities, sororities, and student barracks has been increasing over the past 30 years; between 2003 to 2013, it increased a full 24% (NFPA data).
- More deaths occur each year in off-campus housing. There have been four such deaths already in 2015. For comparison, on-campus housing fire fatalities have averaged two per year fairly consistently since 1980.
-States like New York and Connecticut have recently passed laws requiring landlords to inform all tenants, including college students, about whether their apartments have fire sprinklers, furthering the cause of transparency and awareness of fire safety.
- U.S. Colleges Need Fire Safety Awareness (Huffington Post, authored by Patrick Dolan, Jr.)
- Fire Safety Message for College Students Living Off-Campus (WEAU.com, authored by Danielle Wagner)
- Include Fire Safety as College Students Prepare for School (NFPA's Safety Source, authored by Lisa Braxton)
- Campus Fire Safety Contest Notice (NFPA Today, post by LisaMarie Sinatra)
Additional College Fire Safety Resources:
Campus FirewatchCovers mostly U.S.-based campus fires, is published by a former chief fire investigator for the NFPA. They have also compiled a great list of questions to ask when touring colleges and looking at on or off-campus housing.
The Center for Campus Fire Safety
Serving all of North America, the Center is a non-profit organization devoted to reducing the loss of life from fire on campuses, they also serve as a clearinghouse for information relating to campus fire and life safety. See their Resource Library for a wealth of campus fire safety information. They also have a list of tips and fire safety facts in their Campus Fire Safety Month section.
NFPA's Section on Campus and Dorm Fires
Get tips, checklists, fact sheets, infographics and questions to ask your school and landlord.
Do you know a college student (or their parents)? Send them this list to give them a head start with fire safety this year. Click here to share this post on Twitter.
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