
After the tragic loss of three student lives and 58 injuries at the Seton Hall University fire on January 18, 2000, an article, “Open Letter to American Colleges and Universities Promoting Fire Safety on Campus,” was published in Fire Engineering (Jan. 2001/Vol.154, No.1). It sought to encourage campus administration to move forward with life safety risk reduction measures. The editor’s article description stated, “Your local college is replete with fire hazards – residential housing full of students cooking, overloading electrical wiring, places of assembly, and laboratories, to name a few. Here is a tool you can use to help beef up your college fire safety program.” The subject matter focused on:
- On- and off-campus housing
- Causes of residential housing fires and contributing factors
- Life safety survival tactics for dormitory/fraternity/sorority and off-campus housing
- Automatic sprinkler systems installation and legislation
- Fire safety education and the role of fire protection on campus
- The presence of dedicated fire safety specialists and emergency on-campus management teams
- Recommendations to enhance fire safety
So, after 25 years, what has transpired with these campus housing initiatives?
A national focus on campus fires
In 2007, the Campus Fire Safety Act Right to Know requires a college to report fires in on-campus housing facilities.(1) Under the Clery Act of 1990, there is a requirement to report on-campus crime, including arson. (2)
Sprinklers
Colleges should take initiative and voluntarily installa full sprinkler systems. Both in the IFC (R-2) dormitory occupancy and National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) 101 Standard mandate a full building sprinkler system for new construction. This was not broadly acceptable across the country as new dorm requirements. However, after the Seton Hall fire, the state of New Jersey called for existing facilities to retrofit and new construction with a full building sprinkler system. This bill (N.J. Admin. Code 5:70-4.5), enacted in November 2001y, mandated fire protection systems in all college dorms and private boarding school housing. It also required an annual installation report (2001-2004) to be file with the state with the final completion date of July 31, 2004. (3)
Zero tolerance for malicious fire alarms
After a housing fire incident on campus, students are unlikely to make a malicious fire alarm. However, this matter must be raised for each new first-year class orientation.
Fire Safety Training
Residence hall assistants (RA) should be provided with annual fire training. Residence hall training sessions are conducted at the beginning of a semester and reinforced over the year. During RA training, some safety rules are reviewed:
- No smoking, candles, or incense
- No cooking with a heating element
- Reminder that smoke detectors are sensitive to hair spray, deodorant, and air freshener
- Reminder not to hang clothes on sprinkler heads
- Furniture, bedding and clothing are made of plastic materials
- The room smoke detector has an address when activated; by the time you get back, everyone will know the room.
Two survivors of the Seton Hall fire, Shawn Simons and Alvaro Llanos, have authored a book, After the Fire: A True Story of Survival. They also conduct training sessions on campuses and provide information to high-school seniors going off to college.
Fire Communications
Colleges should install a fire alarm system (FAS) with two-way voice communications for building that have four or more stories. A dorm FAS system with voice communication capability is a life safety asset for occupants, but it also allows the fire department to announce their arrival and the activated fire alarm location. This feature will also support first responder operations, especially tactical evacuation modes as directed by the incident commander.
Participation in the online Campus Fire Safety Network
Presently, the Center for Campus Fire Safety offers a voice with over 4,000 campus fire and life safety officials. This advocacy group has made an impact on student life safety and other related fire-safety matters to campus administrations across the country.
For more information go to: https://www.myccfs.org/
CODE COMPLIANCE
Colleges should have an off-campus housing fire safety agreement with local fire departments and real estate agencies to ensure fire code compliance. From 2000 to present, 94 fatal fires have been documented in Greek housing or in off-campus housing within three miles of the campus. These fires have claimed 134 victims. Eight fires have occurred in on-campus housing, claiming 10 victims. Eighty fires have occurred in off-campus housing, claiming 114 victims. Six fires have occurred in fraternity and sorority housing, claiming 10 victims.(4) Today, the off-campus housing situation remains vulnerable.
Dedicated fire safety officer (FSO) on campus
Large campuses (10,000 or more) should have a dedicated FSO. A small number of colleges/universities have the presence of an on-site fire department for emergency responses. Beyond these responses, there should be a campus FSO with fire service experience or has the professional qualifications set forth in the NFPA 1082, Standard for Facilities Fire and Life Safety Director Professional Qualifications.(5) A competent FSO should have knowledge of building/fire codes, fire protection systems, life safety training, fire inspections, risk assessments, emergency responses, and their liaison role within the National Incident Management System (NIMS) command structure.
Preincident Plan Availability
A 24-hour security/life safety command center should have building preincident plans. Many campuses are still behind when it comes to leveraging building intelligence for emergency responses, including active shooter incidents.
In the high-stakes world of emergency response, every second counts. The FSO NIMS liaison role can be effective, transforming preincident planning from into a dynamic process that responders can leverage in their efforts to save lives and property.
Providing Fire Responders with QAPs for an Emergency Response
By Daniel Cunning, Stevens Institute of Technology Fire Safety Coordinator and Hoboken (NJ) Fire Department Battalion Chief (Ret.)
Stevens Institute of Technology in Hoboken, New Jersey, recently constructed a mixed-use occupancy complex (a 392,000-square-foot building) on campus. The structure features two high-rise dormitory buildings (20 and 18 stories) with 940-bed capacity in 374 rooms, a three-story University Center with a cafeteria, place-of-assembly rooms, and office spaces. In addition, a below grade tunnel into an existing high-rise building was built. The fire suppression system consists of standpipe risers, a full building sprinkler system, and a wet chemical commercial kitchen hood system. With the campus seating directly above the Hudson River, a supplemental dry fire hydrant and piping system was installed for drafting operations in the event of a water emergency.
The other building life safety features consist of a fire command center (FCC) with a fire alarm control panel/voice communication system, HVAC and stair pressurization system for smoke mitigation, elevator control panel, an ADA Area of Safe Refuge system, and rescue chairs. To assist the first responders with an evacuation, dormitory room accountability charts are posted for search and rescue operations. To further support the FCC operations, the university wanted to provide critical building information for first responders. The fire life safety department sought out a smart technology company to deliver quick action plans (QAPs) on building intelligence for fire, all-hazard (non-fire) threats, and potential police actions.
This eBuilding Intelligence Card program provides first responders vital QAP details on the structure about the occupancy type, building statistics, transportation modes (elevators/stairs), fire protection and building systems, content, and access to digital individual floor plans. These risk reduction details help take the guesswork out of any building uncertainty.
References
1. The Campus Fire Safety Right-to-Know Act of 2007. https://www.umaryland.edu/fire-marshal/fire-safety/campus-fire-safety-right-to-know-act
2. Clery Act: https://www.clerycenter.org/the-clery-act
3. NJ State Dormitory Housing Bill – https://casetext.com/regulation/new-jersey-administrative-code/title-5-community-affairs/chapter-70-uniform-fire-code/subchapter-4-fire-safety-code/section-570-45-fire-protection-and-dormitory-suppression-plans
4. Center for Campus Fire Safety: https://www.myccfs.org/fire-fatality-stats
5. NFPA 1082, Standard for Facilities Fire and Life Safety Director Professional Qualifications
JACK J. MURPHY, MA, is a retired fire marshal and a former deputy chief of the Leonia (NJ) Fire Department. He is the past chairman of the Fire/Life Safety Directors Association of Greater New York. He is a principal member on the NFPA High-Rise Building Safety Advisory and the 1660 Emergency, Continuity, and Crisis Management: Preparedness, Response, and Recovery committees and a representative on the ICC Fire Code Action Committee, and a representative on the NFFF Vision 20/20 Strategy-5 Codes and Standards Group. He is a co-author of High-Rise Buildings: Understanding the Vertical Challenges. He is a member of the Clarion Fire and Rescue Group Advisory Board and a presenter at FDIC International. He was the recipient of the 2012 Fire Engineering Tom Brennan Lifetime Achievement Award.