I thought this might be relevant to discuss in the Greek Life forum. FYI: there is a thread in the Risk Management forum about the UNL Phi Gam fire that this article is a follow up to.
Recent fires raise questions on fire safety in greek housing
By: Andy Boyle
Issue date: 9/6/06 Section: News
Daily Nebraskan
Fires this semester at FarmHouse and Phi Gamma Delta fraternities have some officials wondering if the University of Nebraska-Lincoln's greek housing needs more fire safety training.
Phi Gamma Delta's fire Friday morning was reported as arson and is still under investigation. Police found paper on fire in the basement and at least two members of the house were found upstairs by firefighters after the alarms had gone off. An estimated $2,000 worth of smoke and door damage occurred.
In FarmHouse, the fire started in the attic and the alarms weren't triggered until the smoke built up enough to come down into the living spaces. Fire inspector Ken Hilger said the fire might have been started by a lightning strike that caused an electrical malfunction.
Rick Campos, a fire investigator with the Lincoln Fire Prevention Bureau, said there are certain things fraternities and sororities can do to better ensure the safety of their residents against fire.
He said the first thing houses can do is install a sprinkler system.
"Wherever there's a sprinkler system present in a structure, there hasn't been multi-fatality deaths recorded," he said.
Quite a few of UNL's sororities have done this, compared to only a few fraternities, he said.
Campos also said houses should update fire alarm systems in the living and common areas.
He said greek houses are required to have smoke detectors in every inhabited room, but not all of the rooms have smoke detectors that are tied into the fire alarm panel. Most have single station alarms, which would only go off in the room where the fire is located.
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