Checking fire detectors not student priority

House Editorial

About 5,000 people are killed each year in the United States in residential fires, according to the Virginia Department of Fire Programs. Installing and consistently checking a smoke detector is one of the most effective means of minimizing death, injury and property damage.

Since 1973, there has been 45 fatal fires nationally in campus controlled residences — responsible for the death of 73 people, according to the Oct. 2002 issue of Creighton University's Environmental Health and Saftey Newsletter

At JMU, the Office of Residence Life asks students to check the fire detectors in their rooms on a periodic basis. This procedure is in accordance with the VDFP, which urges that all fire detectors be checked monthly, and new batteries be installed once a year.

ORL expects students to fulfill the inspection duty, and believes it is the students' responsibility as capable adults. This is an incredible case of the administration shirking its responsibilities. Resident Advisers are well aware that students are not making these important routine checks.

The chances of a person dying in a home fire are cut in half when a working fire alarm is present, according to the National Fire Protection Association cited on the Frederick County Fire Marshall's Web site at www.co.frederick.va.us.

This is an important issue because it saves lives and promotes safety. Some residence halls feature complaint sheets, where residents can list any problems they experience with their fire detectors.

Many of the offices in each residence hall have a dowel rod readily available for students. They can use it to reach the button on the smoke detector to properly test it.

It is ridiculous to expect students to be so vigilant as to take it upon themselves to administer these tests. Students, in general, are very nonchalant about many issues. They feel safe — protected from the real world concerns that affect the average community. Students are not concerned with the possibility of a fire. They feel immunity from such an event, shielded in many dorms by thick cinder block walls, and view the occurrence as implausible.

Changes are being made for the next year, coming at the insistence of a new state fire marshall. Some of these changes include having the RAs check the smoke detectors three times each semester. In the past, such a procedure was viewed by ORL as an invasion of the student's privacy.

Why has this been designated as taboo for so long? Routinely, RAs key into rooms during fire drills to check for fire hazards and other contraband. If this is not viewed as an invasion of privacy, how can checking a smoke detector classified as such. The RA even could incorporate a smoke detector test into the regular fire drill/key-in routine.

It is encouraging to hear that ORL finally will be forced to step up to the responsibility of its official duty to include proper fire safety practices.