Boston College runs a fire safety article every year. It can relate to a recent incident, like last week's fire on Strathmore or the BU fire two years ago, or it can just remind BC students not to smoke in their rooms. But it's more than just that.
Last week's fire stemmed from the simplest of accidents and an unfortunate series of events. But that's not to say that it couldn't have been prevented. If the charcoal grill that had been burning on the apartment's wooden roof deck had been appropriately extinguished, the fire, which raged enough to burn through the ceiling and potentially cause thousands of dollars in damage, would never have happened. "Insurance covers a lot, but I still lost a bunch of stuff," Nate Mellor, A&S '11 says. "My computer got wrecked so it's hard to even keep up with homework."
Fire safety is not the first thing on your mind when you move into a new apartment or residence hall. Most people care more about the nearest liquor store than if there's a fire extinguisher in the kitchen, but fire issues should be addressed. "Nobody really thought twice about the kid grilling on the roof," says Mellor, whose political science notes were covered in ash as he went to class this week. BC's guide to off-campus housing, though a bit vague, does stress the importance of having working fire detectors and locating the nearest fire extinguishers immediately after move-in. Even more importantly, students living off campus should check to make sure the building is up to fire code. But that is not necessarily enough - 11 Strathmore was up to code.
The moral of the story is that fire safety really comes down to the individual. Apartment buildings and houses in the area should all be up to at least Boston Fire Code, but for the most part, that code only prevents obvious fire hazards: If you leave a lit cigarette on a mattress it will go up in flames, regardless of whether it has an egg-crate mattress on it. That's not to say, however, that prevention policies count for nothing.
2008 Woodie Awards
