The Center for Campus Fire Safety went on the offensive on Capitol Hill in May, holding a summit to seek solutions to college student deaths in fires and lobbying Congress to support legislation to address the problem.

Fire safety advocates met with legislators in both houses to ask for support for bills to have September declared Campus Fire Safety Month as a platform for nationwide on-campus education programs and awareness raising.

Seven fatal fires occurred this academic year, killing 11 students; 75 students have died in fires since the year 2000. Off-campus housing is the highest risk area for students, with 75% of student deaths occurring off-campus, 13% in campus dormitories, and 11% in fraternity and sorority housing.

When investigators are called to the scene of fatal fires in student housing, they commonly find a lack of automatic fire sprinklers, missing or disabled smoke alarms, careless disposal of smoking materials and alcohol, according to Ed Comeau, director of the Center for Campus Fire Safety.

More than 40 fire officials, fire scientists, legislators and university officials attended the May 25 summit in Washington organized by the center and Rep. Stephanie Tubbs Jones (D-Ohio). Tubbs Jones earlier this year introduced the College Fire Prevention Act, H.R. 128, to provide federal matching funds to colleges for installing sprinkler systems and other fire protection technology in student housing.

Regardless of action on the legislation, Comeau said his organization is moving ahead with plans for Campus Fire Safety Month this September. Nine schools across the nation will act as beta-testing sites for educational campaigns the center plans to roll out nationally next year.

The Center for Campus Fire Safety, based in Amherst, Mass., is a nonprofit organization that includes fire safety professionals and advocates from across the nation. The center maintains a Web site to provide information and resources on campus fire safety to parents, university officials and students. It also publishes Campus Firewatch, an online newsletter.

The center advocates a three-pronged approach:

1. Prevention to educate students, parents and administrators about safe fire behavior.

2. Detection to provide early warning to students of the fire and notify fire departments.

3. Early suppression through the installation of automatic sprinkler systems in student housing.

Two other bills currently in Congress also may help:

The Campus Fire Safety Right to Know Act. Similar to the Clery Act, which requires universities and colleges to provide statistics on violent crimes on campus, this bill introduced by Rep. Bill Pascrell (D-N.J.) requires schools to provide information about fire safety to the U.S. Department of Education, helping parents and students make informed decisions on the safety of schools.

The Fire Sprinkler Incentive Act. Introduced in the House by Rep. Curt Weldon (R-Pa.), H.R. 1131 reduces the tax depreciation schedule on the installation of fire sprinkler systems in buildings from 27 years to five years, encouraging owners of off-campus housing to install sprinkler systems. Similar legislation was introduced in the Senate, S. 512.

For more information, see www.campusfire.org.