Although two recent fires at Wendy’s restaurants were caused by overheated kitchen grease, fire hazards in homes and buildings can cause similar destruction if ignored.

University officials and DeKalb firefighters want to be sure that students are educated on fire safety, as well as confident enough to trust their own instincts.

“Students should always call 911 when a fire breaks out,” said Dennis Votaw, assistant DeKalb fire chief. “Don’t rely on the alarm systems in the dorm because some systems are local alarms for those dorms alone. They don’t send any signal to the fire department.”

NIU residential housing requires all students to use metal wastebaskets to keep fires from starting. Votaw noted that careful selection of room decor can prevent mishaps, as well.

“We discourage halogen lights because of the amount of heat they produce,” he said. “Candles are also extremely dangerous, and they should never be left alone.”

Residence hall staff, along with community advisers, help to aid in fire prevention.

“Part of the training for the CAs is fire prevention,” said Linda Tillis, associate director for residence hall facilities. “The fire department sets up different fire situations for the staff and teaches them how to put out different types of fires they may run into.”

But some students wish the dorms would do more for fire prevention.

“We had two fire drills during the course of last semester,” said Libby Saathoff, a junior secondary education and history major. “Both of them occurred in the same week and at night, so maybe they could space them out a little more.”

NIU provides a number of devices to keep resident safety a priority.

“Each semester, we have one announced and one unannounced fire drill,” Tillis said.

NIU also has numerous fire extinguishers that are tagged and checked every semester.

“We have smoke alarms in all of the rooms,” she said. “They’re checked at the beginning and end of each year.”

Junior FCNS major Jenny Mulligan said she feels safe in her Stevenson Towers home.

“They do their fire drills, so I guess I feel safe,” she said. “People who have things like candles and cigarettes don’t really care, though, and are usually the ones who push people out of the way when there is a fire.”

Tillis was quick to point out some of the most common reasons why fires start in the residence halls.

“Off the top of my head, the leading cause of fires in the residence halls … has to be smoking or someone attempting to use candles,” Tillis said. “I used to say hot pots or blenders cause a lot of fires, but with the micro-fridges, that’s made things easier.”

Any heating appliance should have at least 36 inches of clearance from anything combustible, Votaw said.

“Smoking material is one of the higher causes of fires,” he said. “Students should be fully aware that they should extinguish cigarettes in an appropriate container, and never smoke in bed. There have been many mattress fires in the past.”

One way to decrease the chance of a fire in a room is to invest in a power strip instead of overloading an outlet, Tillis said.

“Our fire systems are very advanced and with our budget, we try to upgrade as often as possible,” she said.

Some residence halls are more equipped than others, but are considered to be safe by residential housing.

“We have sprinkler systems in Stevenson Towers around the public areas but not in the other residence halls,” Tillis said.

NIU presently doesn’t plan to install sprinkler systems in the other residence halls.

“The main thing to do when there is a fire is to get students out of the building,” Tillis said.