Film demonstrates importance of off-campus fire safety

The scene opened with a student trapped in a burning off-campus house, five minutes after a fire began. The flames had already reached his room, and the smoke from the inferno below was suffocating him.

The student in the film didn't know the fire had started until he could feel the flames because other people in the house dismantled the smoke detector. A simple misplaced cigarette led to the fire that put his life in danger, and the lack of an alternative exit hindered his ability to escape the situation.

This scene from the seven-minute film "The Alarming Truth," shown on Friday at the Singh Center for Nanotechnology, demonstrates the message that its creators — a group of students from Rowan University — wanted to convey: Fire safety off campus shouldn't be taken lightly.

The film, which was funded by the Federal Emergency Management Agency, was shown as part of a fire safety event on Friday organized by the Division of Public Safety, the Clery Center for Security on Campus and the Philadelphia Fire Department. In addition to the screening, representatives from DPS, the Clery Center and the PFD, as well as other organizations in attendance, presented on how students, institutions, communities and fire departments can improve fire safety in off-campus houses.

President of Penn's Pi Kappa Phi chapter Jack Beckwith, a Wharton junior on the panel, proposed having an educational fire safety module, similar to the Penn Alcohol Module, for students intending to live off-campus their sophomore years.

Drexel's Fraternity Vice President & Fire Marshal Matt Herman, also a member of Friday's panel, said that requiring sophomores to continue living in university-approved housing improves their knowledge about fire safety issues before they can move off campus.

The panelists agreed that most importantly, students should be educated on this topic and have "a sense of urgency" both before fires occur and when put into a difficult situation.

Engineering junior Jacob Henner, an Undergraduate Assembly representative on the DPS Advisory Board, appreciated efforts put into improving fire safety for students by so many people. "I think this is very good work on behalf of everyone involved," Henner said. "And I think the three issues they mentioned [in the film] — smoking, smoke alarms and alternative exits — are something all students, especially those living off-campus, should keep in mind."

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