Off-campus housing should be as safe as on-campus housing

As many throughout the region have already heard, an Albright College student died on September 13th as a result of a fire in an off-campus residence. Though the fire department did an excellent job getting the majority of the students inside to safety, Matthew Rein, a 19 year old sophomore from South River, NJ, was pronounced dead at the scene. The news came as a shock to all, rattling the Albright community and upsetting those of us outside of it.

Amidst my sadness there is also a level of frustration. As far as accidental fires go, everything went “right.” The smoke alarm sounded, the fire department arrived on the scene quickly and still a young man died and two others were hospitalized for smoke inhalation. There is no doubt that working smoke alarms save lives. The problem with smoke alarms, however, is that they are reactive and not proactive. They can only alert someone to a fire, and rely on people to be reactive when at times not everyone is capable. People sleep through smoke alarms. Sometimes people are disabled, sometimes they are impaired and sometimes they are trapped or become disoriented. Fire sprinklers remain the only form of proactive fire protection, typically extinguishing the flames before firefighters even arrive on scene. Many colleges and universities in Pennsylvania recognized the potential of fire harming students and voluntarily installed sprinklers in their dormitories. Those leasing apartment and homes to students need to recognize the danger as well.

With September being National Campus Fire Safety month, I urge students to educate themselves and to be prepared in the wake of this tragedy. Check the batteries in your smoke alarms and keep a small fire extinguisher on hand and have pre-planned escape routes in the event that a fire occurs. I also advise parents to be weary of allowing their children to rent off-campus apartments and houses that are not equipped with fire sprinklers.

My heart goes out to the family and friends of Matthew Rein and the entire Albright College community. I hope that as we continue this school year, students realize the importance of proactive fire safety and education so that we may avoid future fire disasters going forward.

Ray Lonabaugh

Mid Atlantic Regional Manager, National Fire Sprinkler Association

(610) 521-4768

Lonabaugh@nfsa.org