P.O. Box 237 Uniontown, OH 44685-0237 Phone: 216-447-6331 Website: ohiofsc.org

NEWS

September 2008

Ohio Fire Safety Coalition Co-Sponsors National Campus Fire Safety Month Program in Washington, D.C.

A national coalition of organizations and individuals dedicated to reducing the loss of life at schools across the nation joined law- and policy-makers on Capitol Hill to launch the 2008 National Campus Fire Safety Month. The goal was to raise awareness of students, parents, and administrators about the importance of campus fire safety and the steps they can take to prevent the needless loss of life. The national coalition included the Congressional Fire Service Institute, the Ohio Fire Safety Coalition, Campus Firewatch, the Chapel Hill, N.C. Fire Department, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, the University of South Carolina, the Columbia, S.C. Fire Department, parents of fire victims, and survivors of campus-related fires. To date, 26 states have also joined the fight by declaring September Campus Fire Safety Month. This year’s event focused on improving fire safety efforts in off-campus housing where approximately two-thirds of the national student population lives and nearly 80 percent of student fatalities occur. Highlights from the 2008 launch of National Campus Fire Safety Month on Capitol Hill included:

• Participation from nearly fifty students from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and the University of South Carolina, Columbia who traveled to Washington, D.C. for the event.
• A press conference featuring Bonnie Woodruff and Karen Mann (mothers of student fire victims), Shawn Simons (a survivor of the Seton Hall University Fire) and five Members of Congress – Senator Frank Lautenberg (NJ), Congressman Bill Pascrell (NJ-8), Congressman James Clyburn (SC-6), Congressman David Price (NC-4) and Congressman Joe Wilson (SC-2). Each of the Members spoke on the passage of the Campus Fire Safety Right-to-Know provisions in the Higher Education Act and the need for the Fire Sprinkler Incentive Act.
• Nearly 30 meetings with Members of Congress and staff by teams of students, parents and advocates to discuss the importance of fire safety education.

Now in its fourth year, National Campus Fire Safety Month extended its reach internationally. Advocates in the U.S. were joined by the Cheshire (United Kingdom) Fire Brigade, who included fire safety as a key element of their annual campus safety campaign.

The Congressional co-sponsors for the event were Congressman Bill Pascrell (NJ-9) and Congresswoman Stephanie Tubbs Jones (OH-11). Both have been staunch supporters of campus fire safety and have introduced a number of bills, including the Campus Fire Safety-Right-to-Know-Act, the College Fire Prevention Act, the College Infrastructure Act and resolutions recognizing September as National Campus Fire Safety Month.

The event comes on the heels of the recent passage and signing of The Higher Education Opportunity Act, which contains provisions from the Campus Fire Safety Right-to-Know Act introduced by Congressman Bill Pascrell (NJ-8) and Senator Frank Lautenberg (NJ). The provisions aim to address concerns relating to recent fires in college dormitories and off-campus student housing by requiring schools to report fire safety information to the Department of Education and making this information publicly available to students and parents.

The Ohio Fire Safety Coalition is a non-profit organization created to educate the Ohio public on fire safety and the life-saving value of residential fire sprinkler systems. Its members are comprised of individuals from the fire protection and fire service industry. For more information, visit www.ohiofsc.org.