Many students attending the St. Lawrence University club fair may have wondered what the strange structure was next to Piskor Hall. The club fair is an opportunity for students to connect with campus organizations and is also utilized for a demonstration that simulates a dorm catching on fire. This is used to spread awareness on fire safety. In this demonstration, students see how fast a fire can spread in their rooms and how dangerous it is.   

While this simulated fire occurred, many students commented on whether we needed this demonstration, while others wondered about the environmental damage behind such an event.   

The Hill News contacted the Environmental Health and Safety Coordinator for the University, Dean Manley ’20.  

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He discussed the controlled burn, its importance, and fire safety in general. Manley focuses on job hazards on campus, fair ergonomic conditions on campus, and being the liaison to the state’s fire inspection crews.   

While some students may wonder why we must coordinate these controlled burn events on campus, Manley pointed out that this was something implemented after The Boland Hall Fire at Seton Hall University in Orange County, New Jersey. In the year 2000, a fire took place at Boland Hall, which resulted in the death of three people and 58 injuries. Since then, New York State, as well as other states in the US have implemented stricter fire policies for schools across the country.   

SLU, like many other schools in the area, knows that it is important to spread awareness of the dangers of improper fire safety. This is the primary reason for our controlled burn. SLU is not the only one to do these controlled burns, as Manley informed THN that all four Universities in the area have these events just to show how dangerous it can be. “A fire can double every minute,” Manley stated while referring to dorm fires and their severity.   

Students in the past have complained about the strict rules that come with our yearly fire inspections. Still, Manley stood firm on the fact that a line must be drawn to protect everyone on this campus, and as he said, “we are not willing to lose a single student.”   

In discussing the contents of the mock dorm room, students pointed out that there were plastic items, lamps and other electrical components. When asked about the environmental aspect of this burn, Manley pointed out that they had removed any batteries and many other dangerous toxins that had been in the items of concern, but he also pointed out the importance of the visual representation of the dorm. The plume of black smoke shows how bad it is when it happens. Manley had remarked, “The more you can get it to resemble a dorm, the more it hits home with people”. In further discussion, when talking about the items, he also stated that while this demonstration does have some plastic burning involved, the environmental effects are minimal, and the importance of this event supersedes the burning of these few products.   

Speaking about personal responsibility and fire safety, Manley conveyed a point that he believes that students are very responsible, but the fact is that fire safety must be taken seriously, and that situations involving fire safety need to be treated as such. Looking forward this semester, Manley says that if people want to learn more about fire safety, there are resources such as RCs, as well as information available on SLU’s website on fire safety and knowledge pertaining to it.   

Fire safety is not something that should be taken lightly, as seen through this demonstration, and every student on campus should be as careful as possible to keep everyone safe.