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See It Before You Sign It Campaign

See It Before You Sign It campaign encourages parents to help their college students pick fire-safe off-campus housing.

 

Since 2005, every college-related fire death has occurred in off-campus housing.

 

(April 4, 2016) - See It Before You Sign It is a campaign encouraging parents to see the off-campus house or apartment where their college student will be living next fall before a lease is signed, helping to make sure they are living in a fire-safe place. So often, the first time a parent does see the house or apartment is when they are moving their child in, and by then it may be too late.

Did you know, according to the U.S. Fire Administration:

  • Since 2005, every college-related fatal fire has happened off-campus
  • Smoking is the leading cause of these fatal fires
  • In over half of the fires, the smoke alarms were missing or disabled
  • Three-quarters of the time alcohol was involved

What is important to a student about an apartment might be that it is close to campus, inexpensive and that they have their own room. What they may not realize is how vital it is that it has working smoke alarms, two ways out and other fire safety features, and this is where parents can help. A house or apartment with these features can make the difference in whether your child survives a fire and is probably something they are not thinking about. This is also an excellent opportunity to teach your children what they should be looking for in an apartment after they graduate, information they will need for the rest of their lives.

See It Before You Sign It (Twitter hashtag #OffCampusFire) suggests that if parents can't visit the rental, get a virtual tour using Skype or Facetime before a lease is signed, and to use a fire-safety checklist from:

See It Before You Sign It is a collaboration of Campus Firewatch, the Consumer Product Safety Commission, the National Fire Protection Association and the United States Fire Administration. Each of these organizations is dedicated to making sure that everyone lives a safer life, and you can find a number of free campus fire safety resources such as checklists, posters and videos at each of these websites.

About Campus Firewatch

Campus Firewatch is a social entrepreneurship focused on helping save lives at our nation's campuses. Facebook | @campusfirewatch

About the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA)

Founded in 1986, NFPA is a global, nonprofit organization devoted to eliminating death, injury, property and economic loss due to fire, electrical and related hazards. The association delivers information and knowledge through more than 300 consensus codes and standards, research, training, education, outreach and advocacy; and by partnering with others who share an interest in furthering the NFPA mission. For more information, visit www.nfpa.org.  All NFPA codes and standards can be viewed online for free at www.nfpa.org/freeaccess.

About the United States Fire Administration

As an entity of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security's Federal Emergency Management Agency, the mission of the U.S. Fire Administration is to provide national leadership to foster a solid foundation for our fire and emergency services stakeholders in prevention, preparedness and response.

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