With the death of three Miami University students in an off-campus house fire Sunday, Ohio has seen 12 college students die from residential fires since January 2000 – the most of any state.
Since January 2000, 74 college students have died nationwide in residential fires, according to the Center for Fire Safety and a Tuesday Columbus Dispatch article. The vast majority of these deaths occurred in off-campus housing.
Those statistics – in light of Wednesday’s two-year anniversary of the 17th Avenue arson that claimed the lives of five Ohio State students – illustrate the need for increased focus on fire safety on and near college campuses. While fires are not always avoidable, there are always ways for students to prevent campus tragedies.
A substantial amount of time is spent communicating fire prevention tactics in primary and seconday education, via fire drills, explaining how to safely escape a burning house and stressing the importance of escape plans in case of fire.
Yet what students have been taught before entering college frequently goes in one ear and out the other. While residence hall staff can do only so much to educate about fire safety, off-campus students have even fewer resources to turn to.
OSU has put significant effort into emphasizing fire safety, such as Off-Campus Student Services offering free batteries for smoke alarms and the Center for Campus Fire Safety placing fire-prevention stickers on pizza boxes.
However, Ohio still ranks No. 1 for student deaths resulting from house fires.
What can OSU do? It can make fire prevention efforts more public and visible and get the word out. Although communicating with off-campus students is more difficult than with on-campus students, it is a crucial part of fire prevention, especially since off-campus students comprise most of the deaths resulting from fires.
USG’s Campus Ambassadors program provides a framework for off-campus residents to receive information on the importance of having working smoke detectors and fire extinguishers, having an escape route and being careful with disposal of cigarettes. We praise these efforts.
What can OSU students do? Take advantage of the resources OSU provides and take responsibility for not only your safety, but the safety of visitors in your house. Off-Campus Students Services is not going to literally replace batteries for students but, by providing batteries, it definitely meets students halfway.
