NY to Begin Fire Safety Education Campaign at Colleges
The campaign will educate students and provide special training for residence assistants and directors.
The New York governor’s office announced that various emergency response agencies and local fire officials will be visiting colleges for the first few weeks of classes to inspect campuses and conduct fire safety education and training programs.
The Aug. 26 statement identified three campuses that will be visited over the next month by members of the state Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Services and the Office of Fire Prevention and Control.
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N.Y. Fire Safety Tips for College Students:
- Always know where the exits are, whether in a dorm, house, event or party
- If a smoke or fire alarm sounds, exit the building as quickly as possible
- Cook only where permitted and never leave cooking food unattended
- Don’t exceed maximum bulb wattage for lamps
- Ensure there are smoke and carbon monoxide detectors nearby and never remove their batteries or disable them
- Know and obey school rules regarding electrical appliances in dorms
At the Culinary Institute of America, Bard College and Dutchess Community College students will learn about the dangers of campus fires while residence assistants and residence life directors will receive special training on fire safety and prevention, reports the Daily Freeman.
Other schools that will be visited as part of the initiative include Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Union College, St. Lawrence University, Siena College, Fulton-Montgomery Community College, SUNY Potsdam and SUNY Adirondack.
“New York has one of the most robust campus fire inspection programs in the country and our work to educate students about fire danger has received national recognition and helped prevent avoidable tragedies,” Governor Andrew Cuomo says.
Following a fatal dorm fire at Seton Hall University (N.J.) in 2000, New York passed a strict fire inspection law that made the Office of Fire Prevention and Control responsible for inspecting all colleges, public and private, in the state outside of New York City.
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