Following a recent fatal off-campus fire in Huntington, W.Va., that killed three Marshall University students and two visitors, Campus Firewatch offered steps for students to take to help prevent fires.

Since January 2000, there have been 99 campus-related fire deaths across the country, with almost 90% of them occurring in off-campus and Greek housing. Four common factors have been identified in a number of the off-campus fatal fires, including:

• Lack of automatic fire sprinklers.
• Missing or disabled smoke alarms.
• Careless disposal of smoking materials.
• Impaired judgment from alcohol consumption.

"It is critically important that students know how they can protect themselves from becoming a tragic victim of a fire," said Ed Comeau, publisher of Campus Firewatch. "There are a number of steps that they can take that will help to improve their chances of either not having a fire, or surviving one if it does occur."

These steps include: 

• Live in housing equipped with an automatic fire sprinkler system.
• Ensure that your housing has interconnected smoke alarms on all levels and that they are working at all times.
• Take each alarm activation seriously and evacuate. If an alarm is being activated needlessly by cooking or by a shower, relocate the alarm; do not disable it.
• Always know two ways out of the building you are in, whether it is your house, apartment, residence hall, movie theater or nightclub.
• A number of fires have started because cigarettes have been carelessly discarded. Use ashtrays and dispose of the cigarette butts properly.
• After a party, check the seat cushions on couches and chairs for cigarettes that may be smoldering, waiting to start a fire in the middle of the night.
• Do not overload extension cords, which may cause them to overheat.
• Make sure you have a fire extinguisher and, more importantly, know how to use it before the fire breaks out.