The First Facility Management Blog

Each year, many students lose their lives or are injured in preventable fires. Now that students have moved into college residence halls, off-campus housing, or fraternity/sorority houses for the school year, the American Society of Safety Engineers’ (ASSE) Fire Protection Practice Specialty (PS) is urging them them to be aware of life-saving fire prevention knowledge. ASSE has prepared (and is distributing) free fire safety tip sheets and a flier with information on how students can stay safe (see the “on/off campus fire safety tips” portion of the ASSE site).

According to the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA), U.S. fire departments responded to an estimated 3,300 structure fires in dormitories, fraternities, sororities, and barracks in 2002-2005. These fires caused an annual average of seven civilian deaths, 46 civilian fire injuries, and $25 million in property damage. In addition, fires in dormitories or dormitory-related buildings have increased by 3% from 1980 to 2005.

“Every year, we hear of repeated tragedies involving college students injured and killed in fires. One of the largest losses of life in recent history occurred in 2007 claiming the lives of seven University of South Carolina college students in a single tragic event,” said ASSE Fire Protection PS Administrator Frank Baker, CSP, CFPS. “Although the incident occurred away from campus, it involved students nonetheless and points out the need to be aware of the risk of fire and how devastating the results can be in any situation where many persons occupy a single structure.”

Though a number of student-related fire tragedies occur both on and off-campus, the majority of campus fires occur off-campus. According to the U.S. Fire Administration (USFA), out of the 129 campus-related fire fatalities that occurred from January 2000 to the present, 108 occurred off-campus.

On May 21, 2008, a Tompkins Cortland Community College student was killed in an off-campus fire near Ithaca, NY. On August 2007, a Bradley University student died in an off-campus house fire; the building was not equipped with an automatic fire sprinkler system. In 2006, an off-campus fire that started in a plastic container used for discarding smoking materials took the life of one Cornell University student and injured another; in 2005, an off-campus arson related fire killed one University of Maryland student and critically injured another; in 2004, a Greek-Fraternity house fire with an unknown cause killed three Alpha Tau Omega Fraternity members at the University of Mississippi; and in 2003, five Ohio State University students were killed from smoke inhalation and carbon monoxide poisoning caused by an arson related off-campus fire.

“Students and parents should plan and ask questions about fire safety when moving into on or off-campus housing,” said Maureen Kotlas, CSP, CPEA, member of the ASSE Fire Protection Practice Specialty Advisory Committee and director of environmental safety at the University of Maryland in College Park, MD. “Students should always follow safe practices and realize the role of alcohol in fire fatalities. Behavior as well as planning and asking questions, are all factors in preventing on and off-campus fires.”

The USFA notes that there is a strong link between fire deaths and alcohol stating that in more than 50% of adult fire fatalities, the victims were under the influence of alcohol at the time of the fires. The USFA also states that in cases where fire fatalities occurred on campus, alcohol was a factor. Drinking alcohol impairs judgment and can hinder efforts to evacuate during a fire.

According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control (CDC) Fire Deaths and Injuries Fact Sheet, most victims of fires die from smoke or toxic gases, not from burns. And, according to the USFA, smoke inha­lation alone accounts for 39% of residential building fire injuries. Smoke inhalation occurs when one breathes in the products of combustion during a fire.

With that said, each residence hall should be equipped with properly operating doors with self-closers that are not propped open; clearly marked exits; corridors that are kept clear and are not blocked; heating and ventilation systems that are routinely inspected and repaired for any deficiencies; and properly operating fire alarm and extinguishing systems, and equipped where required.

On August 14, President Bush signed the Higher Education Opportunity Act into law (Public Law No: 110-315), which includes language requiring colleges that maintain on-campus student housing facilities to provide information on campus fire safety practices and standards to the U.S. Department of Education. The data reported should include: the number of fires and the cause of each fire; the number of injuries and deaths related to a fire; the value of property damage caused by a fire; a description of on-campus student housing fire safety systems; the number of regular mandatory supervised fire drills; policies or rules on portable electrical appliances, smoking, and open flames, procedures for evacuation, and policies regarding fire safety education and training programs provided to students, faculty, and staff; and plans for future improvements in fire safety, if necessary.

Baker added, “The ASSE Fire Protection Practice Specialty strongly supports all efforts being made by local enforcement officials and school housing bureaus to improve the awareness of students and parents in the area of fire safety. To that end, ASSE has assembled information to assist all students and parents to ensure their living situation is as safe as possible. These tips are intended to remind both students and parents to identify potentially dangerous conditions that could cause fires, result in students not being alerted to a dangerous situation or prevent them from safely evacuating in the event of an emergency. Fire prevention and preparation for on/off campus fires and all emergencies are keys to life safety.”

On and off-campus fires can be prevented by implementation of sound fire safety activities such as not overloading extension cords, power strips or outlets; cooking safely; avoiding open flames, and; correctly discarding smoking materials. Injuries and fatalities can be avoided by developing a fire escape plan; having and knowing how to work fire extinguishers, escape ladders and fire alarms and detectors; as well as knowing where exists are located. ASSE is providing free fire safety tips on statistics, prevention tips, fire escape planning, fire safety equipment for off-campus and Greek housing, information on recent incidents, a parents guide to fire safety: what you need to know when your child leaves home for college, a list of key resources, and an on/off campus fire safety flyer.

Danfoss announced recently that its president and CEO, Jorgen M. Clausen, has retired and that his successor, Niels B. Christiansen, has assumed these positions. Clausen will become chairman of the company after Danfoss’s annual general meeting in the spring of 2009, its board of directors said. 

Christiansen joined the company in 2004 as its chief operating officer and a member of its executive committee. In May, 2007, he earned a promotion to the position of vice CEO. 

“Niels will lead a young, dynamic team, and I have great confidence in their collective ability to succeed and drive Danfoss forward,” Clausen said. “During his time at Danfoss, Niels has shown that he is highly capable of renewing our business while affirming the company’s values and history. As a socially responsible innovator in the manufacturing industry, we are committed to engineering technology that conserves energy and slows climate change, and this approach will not change at all.” 

Christiansen will head the company’s executive committee, which consists of the executive vice presidents Kim Fausing (COO) and Frederik Lotz (CFO). 

“I am excited about our opportunities and challenges that lie before us,” stated Christiansen. “We are completely focused on driving our business forward and meeting the needs of our customers in tackling global energy efficiency and conservation issues.” 

Jorgen Clausen is the eldest son of Danfoss founder Mads Clausen, an engineer who established the company in 1933 in his parent’s attic in Nordborg, Denmark. 

“Now is the best time for me to retire from the company’s day to day operations and concentrate on my directorships, which include both the chairmanship of Sauer-Danfoss and membership of the board of the Bitten and Mads Clausen Foundation, the charitable organization established by Danfoss’s founder and my father,” Jorgen Clausen concluded.

Danfoss, a company focusing on the research, development. and production of mechanical and electronic components and systems, celebrates its 75th anniversary this year. Danfoss products and components have focused on providing the control and efficiency to suit the application and customer requirements. Worldwide, the company has 70 factories in 25 countries, 114 sales offices, and 23,000 employees.

The International Code Council (ICC) has approved 23 building and fire code changes based on recommendations from the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST). The recommendations were part of NIST’s investigation of the collapses of the World Trade Center (WTC) in New York on 9/11.

With the changes implemented, future buildings (especially tall structures) should be increasingly resistant to fire, more easily evacuated in emergencies, and safer overall, states the October 1, 2008 release from NIST. The changes, adopted at the ICC hearings held Sept. 15 to 21, 2008, in Minneapolis, MN, will be incorporated into the 2009 edition of the ICC’s I-Codes (specifically the International Building Code, or IBC, and the International Fire Code, or IFC), a model code used as the basis for building and fire regulations promulgated and enforced by U.S. state and local jurisdictions. Those jurisdictions have the option of incorporating some or all of the code’s provisions but generally adopt most provisions.

“We applaud this historic action by the ICC—and the tremendous effort by NIST and its WTC investigation team that led to it,” said Commerce Secretary Carlos Gutierrez. “The lessons learned from the tragic events of 9/11 have yielded stronger building and fire codes for a new generation of safer, more robust buildings across the nation.”

The new codes address areas such as:

• Increasing structural resistance to building collapse from fire and other incidents
• Requiring a third exit stairway for tall buildings
• Increasing the width of all stairways by 50% in new high-rises
• Strengthening criteria for the bonding, proper installation and inspection of sprayed fire-resistive materials (commonly known as “fireproofing”)
• Improving the reliability of active fire protection systems (i.e., automatic sprinklers)
• Requiring a new class of robust elevators for access by emergency responders in lieu of an additional stairway
• Making exit path markings more prevalent and more visible
• Ensuring effective coverage throughout a building for emergency responder radio communications.

Not Approved, But To Be Reconsidered
There were nine building and fire code change proposals consistent with the NIST WTC investigation recommendations that were not approved for the 2009 edition of the I-Codes but will be considered for resubmission at a later date after being amended. These are:

• Requiring buildings more than 420 feet high to be designed to survive a building contents fire to burnout without more than local failure of the structural frame.
• Requiring structures not to suffer a collapse disproportionate to a local initiating failure caused by an accident or incident.
• Requiring a risk assessment and acceptable mitigation of risks for buildings more than 420 feet high with an occupant load greater than 5,000; for buildings with an occupant load greater than 10,000; and for buildings determined to be at higher than normal risk.
• Requiring use of a new standard for conducting wind tunnel testing.
• Requiring installation of stairway communication and monitoring system at every fifth floor of each exit stairway. Also requiring, in buildings more than 75 feet high, a video surveillance system in each exit stairway, elevator lobby, elevator hoistway and elevator machine room to enhance situational awareness of emergency responders.
• Requiring fire safety and evacuation plans for all occupancies and buildings where required by the International Fire Code (the International Building Code is more widely adopted across the country than the IFC; this would ensure all situations are covered).
• Requiring detailed schematic building plans, including an approved Building Information Card, to be located in fire command centers to show the type of construction, stairway access and pressurization, fuel oil tank and hazardous materials locations, standpipe availability and locations, in addition to typical floor plan and details of the building core, means of egress, elevator locations, fire protection systems, firefighting equipment and fire department access.
• Limiting the length of horizontal transfer corridors used to connect a stairwell to 50 feet or less in buildings more than 75 feet high.
• Allowing the option to design buildings more than 420 feet high using the ICC Performance Code, instead of the high-rise provisions of the International Building Code. This change will allow the performance-based NIST WTC recommendations to be considered in a holistic manner.

A chart tracking the progress toward implementing all of the NIST WTC recommendations can be found at http://wtc.nist.gov.