08/28/2024
By Peter Lennon

Fire safety tips for students living on and off campus.

  • Look for fully sprinklered housing when choosing a dorm or off-campus housing.
  • Make sure you can hear the building alarm system when you are in your dorm room.
  • If you live in a dormitory, make sure your sleeping room has a smoke alarm, or your dormitory suite has a smoke alarm and carbon monoxide (CO) alarm in each living area as well as the sleeping room.
  • If you live in an apartment or house, make sure smoke and CO alarms are installed in each sleeping room, outside every sleeping area, and on each level of the apartment unit or house. For the best protection, all smoke alarms in the apartment unit or house should be interconnected so that when one sounds, they all sound.
  • Test all smoke alarms at least monthly.
  • Never remove batteries or disable the alarm.
  • Learn your building’s evacuation plan and practice all drills as if they were the real thing.
  • If you live off campus, have a fire escape plan with two ways out of every room.
  • When the smoke, CO, or fire alarm sounds, get out of the building quickly and stay out.
  • Stay in the kitchen when cooking.
  • Cook only when you are alert, not sleepy or drowsy from medicine or alcohol.
  • Use battery-operated flameless candles. They can look, smell, and feel just like real candles.
  • Check your school’s rules before using electrical appliances in your room.
Safe Charging

Always follow the manufacturer’s instructions.
  • Only use the battery and charging cord that is designed for the device.
  • Do not charge a device under your pillow, on your bed, or on a couch.
  • Do not keep charging the device or device battery after it is fully charged.