Eighty students and campus fire-safety advocates joined law- and policy-makers on Capitol Hill on Tuesday to launch National Campus Fire Safety Month.

A national coalition including the Congressional Fire Service Institute, the Ohio Fire Safety Coalition, Campus Firewatch, the Chapel Hill (N.C.) Fire Department, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, the University of South Carolina, parents of fire victims, and survivors of campus-related fires visited U.S. representatives and senators from across the country to urge continued improvements in campus and off-campus fire safety prevention and education efforts.

“It is important to recognize the National Campus Fire Safety Month announcement for its emphasis on protecting our young people,” said Chapel Hill (N.C.) Fire Chief Dan Jones. “However, it is even more significant that universities tied together in fire loss tragedies are bringing students together in Washington D.C. to meet with members of Congress and other federal officials in order to prevent other institutions of higher learning from suffering similar tragedies.”

Senator Frank Lautenberg (D-N.J.), Rep. Bill Pascrell (D-N.J.), Rep. Joe Wilson (R-S.C.), Rep. David Price (D-N.C.), and Rep. James Clyburn (D-S.C.) joined coalition leaders for a press conference calling for national attention to the issue of campus fire safety.

Nearly 30 states have declared September Campus Fire Safety Month. This is the first year that U.S. advocates were joined by the Cheshire (U.K.) Fire and Rescue Service, which also launched an aggressive awareness campaign to reduce student-related fires. Teaming up for an international awareness reflects the many common factors between campus fires in the two countries, including a lack of smoke alarms, use of candles and other open flame, and the lethal combination of alcohol and fire — a central component of the U.K. campaign.

“Thousands, if not millions, of parents on either side of the Atlantic, share similar concerns as they say goodbye to young people who are going off to study and find their way in life,” said Steve McGuirk, Chief Fire Officer of Cheshire Fire and Rescue Service. “Many young people will reflect on this period as being the best time of their lives. Our joint campaigns have been designed to ensure that we make those young people aware of the dangers in order to protect themselves and prevent tragedy like we’ve seen the past. We hope this is the start of a cross-Atlantic relationship that will truly save lives”.

Organizers have created a new campus fire prevention website www.igot2kno.org co-sponsored by the Peoples Burn Foundation of Indiana and Campus Firewatch.