Great Escape on Campus
© CAMPUS Firewatch September 2000

By Randy Hormann,
Fire/Safety Specialist,
Miami University

OXFORD, Ohio --

     Stay low because heat and smoke rise. Stop, drop and roll, keep fresh batteries in the smoke detector, and feel doors for heat. These adages of fire safety are easy to take for granted. That is until you are in a residence hall corridor filled with smoke, relying on the walls for balance and direction. You extend an arm and realize your hand has disappeared. Disorientation sets in as a thick haze swirls in the hallway and a blaring smoke alarm makes it difficult to think.

     You get low and it is still nearly impossible to see. Exit signs are invisible so you cannot find a door, let alone feel if it is warm. You are wandering blindly in search of an escape route and the smoke continues to thicken.

     Yet there is little sense of urgency among these students--only a smattering of giggles and a string of comments about the potency of the enveloping shroud of fog. This was the experience for residents at Miami University this year. All first year students living on campus are required to attend a fire safety training program called "The Great Escape On Campus." The recent fires and fire related deaths involving college and university students prompted the need to develop a training program that would educate the students while making it fun and exciting.

     The program, developed at Miami University, was modeled on the successful NFPA fire safety program. By using "safe smoke," which is the same chemical fog used in fire training programs, dance halls and haunted houses, the disorienting aspects of a smoke-filled corridor that would be experienced in an actual fire was simulated. The program opened with a presentation discussing the dangers of false alarms, tampering with fire protection and detection systems, halogen lamps, incense and candles. The video "Get Out and Stay Alive," which was produced by the United States Fire Administration, was shown to the students to underscore the potential dangers that exist in a residence hall.

     While the lecture was taking place, university fire safety staff members were filling a corridor with smoke using a smoke generator. Students then walked to the smoke-filled corridor where they tentatively tried to move through a usually familiar hallway, quickly becoming lost, disoriented, and confused in the hallway of the building they call home. After the students went through the smoke-filled corridor, they regrouped and discussed what they experienced and learned. Most of the students who go through the program stated that it would be beneficial for all first-year students to attend. Miami University administration has made a strong commitment to fire prevention and safety programs and is very supportive in the creation of this "state of the art" college education program. A presentation on the Great Escape on Campus will be made at the Campus Fire Safety Forum II at the NFPA Fall Education Conference in November in Orlando, Florida.

     Randy Hormann, a professional fire fighter of 15 years, joined Miami's environmental health and safety office in 1997, after spending many years in fire safety with the University of Cincinnati. Randy is the Executive Director for Campus Fire Safety . Com, he is also the chair and founder of the e-mail discussion group "International Association of Campus Fire Safety Officials".