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Fact Sheet

School, college, and university dormitory, fraternity, and sorority house fires

Dormitory, sorority and fraternity house fires have been declining steadily since 1980, partially because of student fire safety awareness.

Facts & Figures*

• In 1998, there were an estimated 1,400 structure fires in school, college and university dormitories and fraternity and sorority housing. These fires resulted in no deaths**, 87 injuries, and $6 million in direct property damage.
• The leading cause of fire in these types of occupancies was incendiary or suspicious. The second and third leading causes of these housing fires were cooking and smoking, respectively.
• An annual average of 141 structure fires occurred in fraternity and sorority houses per year between 1994 and 1998, resulting in no deaths**, 17 injuries, and $2.8 million in direct property damage.
• Smoke or fire alarms were present in 93% of all dormitory fires in 1998, and sprinklers were present in 35% of these fires. On average, direct property damage per fire is 36% lower in dormitory fires where sprinklers are present, compared to those where sprinklers are not present.

(*From NFPA's School, College, and University Dormitories, and Fraternity and Sorority House Fires, June 2001)

Safety Tips:

Cooking

• Cook only where the rules allow.
• Keep the cooking area clean and uncluttered.
• Unplug electric appliances when not in use.
• Never leave cooking unattended.
• If a fire breaks out in a microwave oven, keep the door closed and unplug the unit. Don't try to remove burning containers from a microwave.

Smoking

• Smoke only where it's permitted.
• Use large, deep, non-tip ashtrays.
• Don't smoke in bed.
• It's risky to smoke when you've been drinking or when you're drowsy.
• Soak cigarette butts in water before discarding, and after a party, check around cushions for smoldering cigarettes.

Candles

• Candles for decoration use are not allowed in any Tufts University building.
• Candles can only be used for religious use or birthday cakes; they can not be left unattended.

Escape Tips

• Your building has an evacuation plan. Learn it and participate in all fire drills.
• Learn the location of all building exits. You may have to find your way out in the dark.
• If you have to escape through smoke, crawl low to your exit, keeping your head one- to two-feet (30 to 60 centimeters) above the floor, where the air will be cleanest.
• Test doorknobs and spaces around the door with the back of your hand. If the door is warm, try another escape route. If it's cool, open it slowly. Slam it shut if smoke pours through.
• Use the stairs when there's a fire; never use an elevator during a fire.
• If you're trapped, call the fire department for assistance. Seal your door with rags and signal from your window.
• Open windows slightly at the top and bottom, but close them if smoke comes in.
• Smoke detectors cut your chances of dying in a fire in half. Do not tamper with smoke detectors for any reason.
• Fire sprinkler systems protect their immediate area by extinguishing or containing fires. They will not flood the whole building.
• Respond to every alarm as if it were a real fire. Report information on false alarms to authorities.
• If you hear a fire alarm, leave immediately and close doors behind you as you go. In case your escape from the building is blocked by fire, take your room keys with you so you can get back inside your room and call the fire department to let them know you are trapped.

(**Note that these are statistical estimates from records on a sample of fires. Because deaths are very rare, it is possible for the estimate to show no deaths in a year when a fatal fire did occur and is on NFPA's list of fatal campus fires. In particular, the sample omitted eight fatal fires known to NFPA, representing a total of 16 deaths over the five years of 1994-1998. Half of the fires and three-fourths of the deaths were in fraternity or sorority houses.)

Portions of this material are reprinted with permission from the NFPA Web page, NFPA online, © 2002, National Fire Protection Association, Quincy, MA 02269.