Al's' 23-year-old son, Scott, was one of three UW-Stout students who died in an off-campus house fire on April 5, 2008, while they slept in separate upstairs bedrooms of a duplex at 1415 Eighth St. E. in Menomonie. The blaze was reported at 3:30 a.m.; within 23 minutes the three were pronounced dead at a local hospital ... Read More
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The leading causes of fire related deaths among college age students, annual death tolls, and injury statistics.

Fire alarm Smoking Burner

Facts and Figures:

  • Alcohol use contributes to an estimated 40% of residential fire deaths

  • Dormitory fires occur most often when school is in session

  • Most injuries (56%) from dormitory fires are incurred while the victim attempts to suppress the blaze

  • Alarms were present in 93% of dormitory fires

  • Over 83 percent of the campus-related fire fatalities across the nation since January 2000 have occurred in off-campus housing

Fatal Fires 2008-2009 academic year (5 total):
  • UCLA Los Angeles, CA: 1 killed in a laboratory fire
  • International Business College Fort Wayne, IN: 3 killed in an off-campus fire
  • Plattsburgh State University Plattsburgh, NY: 1 killed in an off-campus fire
Campus-related fire fatalities from January 2000 to present:
  • Off-campus 112
  • Residence Hall 10
  • Greek housing 10
  • Other 2
  • Total 134

  • When people become intoxicated, they also become more likely to be careless with or forget their smoking materials.

  • 75% of fire fatalities occurring in student housing were in off-campus residences-attributed to disabled smoke alarms, alcohol consumption, lack of sprinklers, etc.

  • Smoke detectors save lives by alerting you to the danger and ultimately giving you more time to escape - working detectors reduce the chances of death by 50%

  • You have approximately 1-2 minutes to escape before being overcome by smoke (suffering from smoke inhalation)

  • Heat produced by a fire increases 100 degrees with each foot towards the ceiling (4 feet = 400 degrees) - STAY LOW to the ground by crawling

  • In the U.S., a residential structure fire is reported every 79 seconds and someone is fatally injured in a home fire every 135 minutes.

  • 3 in 10 reported residential fires start in the kitchen - more than any other room in the house.

  • 82% die in their own homes, mostly while they are sleeping (most vulnerable between 8PM and 8AM)
Four common factors in a number of these fires include:
  1. Lack of automatic fire sprinklers
  2. Missing or disabled smoke alarms
  3. Careless disposal of smoking materials
  4. Impaired judgment from alcohol consumption