Staff Editorial | Fire safety a serious concern in senior housing

In light of a recent fire incident in one of the Terrace Apartments (TAs), the lack of fire safety training for students living in senior housing has become particularly timely. One of the TA residents affected by the fire was not immediately able to pull a fire alarm to alert her housemates and neighbors of the hazard; at the time, there were only six alarm pull stations located at various TAs (a fire inspector fixed this problem on Monday, Nov. 27, according to an e-mail sent to TA residents by TA manager Kristin Woods ’08). Though the issue of scattered fire alarm pull stations is being amended, the minimal fire safety preparedness for senior housing residents presents a significant concern for students’ well-being.

Living in the TAs, Town Houses or South Commons presents different challenges and hazards in terms of fire safety than living in the dorms does. Kitchens are the most likely locations fires in senior housing, with many students are cooking for the first time.

According to Director of Environmental Health and Safety James Kelly, the College has started fire safety programs for the underclassmen residential halls within the past couple of years. Kelly and the Office of Residential Life work with house advisors and house student leadership to help them recognize dangerous conditions and to train them in how to react appropriately in the event of a real fire. Student leaders are also encouraged to hold study breaks during which they discuss fire safety with dorm residents.

Such discussions in residence halls are not unnecessarily rehashing elementary school lessons on fire safety; the garbage can fire in Lathrop House in Fall 2006 that displaced several students and destroyed personal and College property, as well as the discovery of smoldering items in Noyes and Strong Houses last spring, have made fire safety training a crucial part of life on campus.

This safety program for residence halls needs to be extended to and expanded upon for those in senior housing. While living in their own houses or apartments, seniors are expected to take care of themselves, most notably regarding cooking. Many students are inexperienced in operating hot stoves and ovens, increasing the hazard of fire. In the event of a grease fire versus a dry cooking fire, for example, are all students made aware of the importance of not putting water on the flame and instead using baking soda? The answer is most likely no.

A senior housing fire safety program could also address what to do in the event of a failure in electrical equipment and how to evacuate a house through primary and secondary routes. Furthermore, though there are fire extinguishers in each senior housing unit, many students have never handled one before—in which case the proposed program could teach students how and when to use an extinguisher.

Kelly expressed that he is completely open to ideas and suggestions for improving upon fire safety programs for all units of residential life. While the College looks into a creating a program for senior housing, there are inexpensive (and prompt) ways to inform students about how to recognize and react to home fires. Refrigerator magnets or flyers that clearly list basic information about kitchen hazards could be distributed and prominently displayed in houses. Evacuation routes could be posted on the backs of doors of all senior houses, not a random handful.

The fire safety study breaks are currently voluntary in attendance, and no similar program exists for residents in senior housing. Though students are always crunched for time, information sessions held when students move in would likely elicit the most receptive audience. The College requires students to take a class to hold a party, largely so that students will be safe during a large social gathering. The College should demonstrate the same level of concern—and active guidance—for all students who live in a house (be it a dorm, terrace apartment, or town house) with a kitchen and the potential of flames.

The staff editorial represents at least a two-thirds majority of the 15-member editorial board.