Scene Depiction

The cool morning air and dewy grass lend their refreshing aroma to a bucolic scene of rolling hills and nearby buildings of classical architecture – even as traffic from one of Lexington’s busiest asphalt arteries rages only yards away. Sidewalks give a welcome reprieve from wet shoes and occasional mud holes.

Amidst all of this peace comes a piercing cry: “Free tee-shirts!” That’s when wandering eyes are drawn to the booth piled high with shirts and other sundries. But of greater curiosity is the ribbed steel trailer and its strange contents – a couch, computer, posters, pizza, laundry – and not exactly in the cleanest of sorts. In other words, all the trappings of a typical college dorm room.

Why is this oddity sitting on a campus lawn, and what’s with the shirts? Closer inspection (i.e., reading the signs) reveals it all. It is September – Campus Fire Safety Month – declared statewide by the Commonwealth of Kentucky Governor’s Office (Beshear, 2014). Naturally, if you’re a student, this is likely something you didn’t know and probably wouldn’t care about if you did. It is that very sort of apathy the already growing contingent around this trailer hopes to change. Fire trucks roll in, cameras are set, and a podium is assembled while yet again… “FREE TEE-SHIRTS!”

Of course, no matter how loud the call, students are used to tee-shirts, and no amount of crafty slogans or declarations will pierce the fog of youthful apathy. That’s where the dorm room on wheels comes in. Rather than merely explaining fire safety to students – or even showing videos and giving shirts – the UK Safety Community (EHS) has developed a far more visceral method: burning stuff. Nothing draws a crowd like fire, except perhaps the anticipation of fire. All you have to do is stick around and enjoy the show as the dorm room in a box meets its pyro-riffic end.

So what is it we are going to analyze? Burning a bit of furniture is pretty straightforward. A couch is either ash or it isn’t – not a whole lot of debate there. But what about the psychological effect? Does it really make a difference to see a replica dorm room reduced to carbon slag? Will learning about flashover and convective heat really convince a tired co-ed in pajamas – or less – to jump out of bed and into the cold night air when the alarm blares? During finals week?

The UK Fire Marshal’s Office certainly hopes so. According to the Governor’s Fire Safety Month Proclamation, 166 individuals have died in campus fire-related incidents nationwide since January 2000 (Beshear, 2014). The proclamation states:

“It is vital to educate the future generation of our nation about the importance of fire safety behavior in order to reduce the occurrence of fires and the resulting loss of life…” (Beshear, 2014).

The real question is how to deliver that education effectively. The University of Kentucky is by no means without fire safety protocols. A cursory glance at the online Fire Policy List reveals procedures outlined for ADA accommodations, evacuation, electrical wiring, floats, open fire camping, office heaters, stoves, microwaves, vending machines, and more.

Even something as simple as a fire extinguisher is taken seriously. The University employs a dedicated extinguisher specialist whose primary concern is ensuring that every location on campus has a sufficient number of extinguishers – and that those extinguishers are inspected, up to date, and always ready (Caskey, 2014).

Still, do these measures actually affect fire safety? To find out, we look at the numbers. In September 2010, the UK Fire Marshal’s Office launched the Don’t Be an Ash program and began conducting public dorm burn demonstrations to raise awareness. According to the UK Campus Fire Log, from January 1, 2010, to December 31, 2014, there were 1,913 fire incidents reported on campus. Of these, four resulted in injuries. From 2005 to 2009, there were 2,116 incidents – five resulting in injury (Caskey, 2006).

Statistically, incidents decreased by roughly 9.6%, and injuries dropped by 20%. The injury-per-incident rate also improved by about 11.4%. This reduction occurred despite a slight increase in enrollment during the same time period (Blackford, 2013). One might argue the impact is small, but even maintaining a safety baseline while the student population grows is a success. And if even one life is saved, the effort is more than worth it.

Back to that crisp fall morning. The murmurs of curious onlookers now threaten to drown out the educational monologue at the podium and the cries of “Free tee-shirts!” Most attendees can guess what’s about to happen, but few understand the how. That’s exactly what event organizers are counting on: the shocking effect of a deadly phenomenon called “flashover.” Defined by Merriam-Webster as “the sudden spread of flame over an area when it becomes heated to the flash point” (Merriam-Webster, 2015), it’s further illustrated by Greg Williamson in a recorded demonstration (Williamson, 2012). Flashover is a lethal moment where heat ignites everything in the room almost simultaneously. Even well-equipped firefighters stand little chance once flashover has occurred.

But that horrifying moment also makes for an unforgettable lesson. Seeing is believing. Most people expect a fire to build slowly, like logs on a campfire. In reality, a dorm fire starts small – then hits a critical point and erupts into an all-consuming inferno. All of it happens in less time than a commercial break.

Up until now, we’ve focused on the dorm burn. But here’s the real image we want to leave you with:

A smoke alarm blares. It’s three in the morning. You’re tired. Tomorrow is a big day. It’s cold outside and probably wet. Your professor couldn’t care less that you had to get up, and the last three alarms were false. Odds are this one is too. Or there could be a trash can fire next door—harmless now, but in two minutes utterly impassable. Do you wait and gather your clothes and phone before heading out? Do you ignore it entirely? Or do you remember the dorm burn and that instant flashover, and decide the risk isn’t worth it?

If you get out, then the job has been done. If even one life is saved, it was all worth it.

References 

Beshear, S. L. (2014, August 19). Governor’s proclamation: Campus Fire Safety Month. Commonwealth of Kentucky. Retrieved March 8, 2015, from [URL if available]

Caskey, D. V. (2014). Table: dbo.tbl_extinguisher_inspection [Data file]. In J. Ellis, B. Ernest, & R. Harrison (Eds.), UK EHS Extinguisher Inspection Manifest. University of Kentucky. Retrieved March 9, 2015, from [URL if available]

Caskey, D. V. (2006). University of Kentucky Campus Fire Log. (UK Public Safety Dispatch, Ed.). University of Kentucky. Retrieved March 8, 2015, from http://ehs.uky.edu/apps/flashpoint/incident_log.php

Blackford, L. (2013, September 10). University of Kentucky enrollment tops 29,000 for first time. Kentucky.com. Knight Ridder. Retrieved March 8, 2015, from https://www.kentucky.com or article-specific URL

Merriam-Webster. (2015). Flashover – Definition. In Merriam-Webster.com dictionary. Retrieved March 8, 2015, from https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/flashover

Williamson, G. (2012, September 19). Dorm Room Burn [Video]. YouTube. University of Kentucky EHS. Edited by D. V. Caskey. Retrieved March 8, 2015, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nYA2ntW9oNE