DeKALB | In the month of September, it’s safety first.

Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich has officially proclaimed September “Campus Fire Safety Month” throughout the state, and NIU is doing its part to promote fire awareness among students living in the residence halls.

Knowledge prolongs life

The university and the DeKalb Fire Department have been working together to help familiarize students with fire procedures. The most notable aspect of fire safety month has been the fire drills taking place throughout the residence halls on campus these first few weeks.

“Every fall, the housing and dining department conducts fire drills from the residence halls, and we invite the fire department to come observe the proceedings,” said Scott Mooberry, the university safety officer.

The reason for the evacuations is to test not only the students’ knowledge of the fire drill proceedings, but also of the university’s ability to conduct a safe and well-organized dispersal of residents from buildings.

“The purpose is to have an orderly evacuation in the shortest amount of time possible,” said Eric Musselman, the coordinator of residential facilities. “We did not have any set time for the evacuation. The purpose of it is to act as an educational component.”

A positive sign

“They were a success,” Mooberry said of the evacuations. “One of our goals was to direct students to the exterior stairwell and then out the back door in order to exit the building. We try to encourage them to do that so that there is less travel time, and so that they get out of the building that much quicker.”

Another reason students are encouraged to utilize the doors at the bottom of the stairwell during an emergency evacuation is so traffic will flow much more efficiently out of the building, while leaving the lobby open for fire personnel to move about, Mooberry said.

The time of day can be a key for how efficiently a fire evacuation is conducted, Musselman said, citing that the fire drills were conducted in the late afternoon. If they were held at 3:00 a.m., students would likely not be in quite so big a hurry to exit the building, he said.

Students should take note that participation in fire evacuations, whether they be drills or legitimate alarms, is mandatory. Failure to do so will result in disciplinary action.

Safety first

Though knowing how to evacuate the residence halls in the event of a fire is crucial to ensure the well-being of the students, it’s even more important that students are aware of the steps that must be taken to prevent those fires from occurring in the first place.

“Statistics suggest that fires in residence halls are largely caused by leaving unattended candles burning, tipped over halogen lamps that catch fire on upholstery, frayed extension cords that are hid under rugs and any open flame,” Mooberry said, who also noted that NIU has not had a significant residence hall fire in several years.

Unsupervised candles and improperly disposed-of cigarettes are often the key culprits in sparking fatal fires in residence halls, according to the National Fire Protection Association. However, it is against the rules for students to burn candles or possess halogen lamps in NIU’s residence halls. Smoking in any of the residence halls is also prohibited, according to the official NIU Housing and Dining Web site.

Past cases have indicated that there are four main components to many fatal residence hall fires: Cigarettes left burning, inoperative or absent smoke alarms, alcohol consumption and lack of a sufficient automatic sprinkler system.