Campus Firewatch Radio Ed Comeau, Campus Firewatch

Food trucks are becoming more common on campuses and in communities across the country - but who is regulating them when it comes to fire safety? Several high-profile fires have put this on the forefront, and in this episode we talk with Jacqueline Wilmot and Kristin Bigda from the NFPA about what NFPA is doing and where you can find some information to help you.

For more information, go to http://www.campus-firewatch.com/foodtrucks or http://www.nfpa.org/foodtrucks.

To subscribe to Campus Firewatch, visit http://www.campus-firewatch.com.

This episode is an interview that I did with the Greater Media Boston group about the statewide campaign we are doing in Massachusetts, "Smoke alarms and two ways out, Best College Roommates Evah!"

This interview aired on a number of Boston stations, and I appreciate their sharing it with me to include in this podcast.

You can find more information on the campaign at http://www.BestRoommatesEvah.org and more on campus fire safety at http://www.campus-firewatch.com.

The American Red Cross in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, partnered with two of the colleges in the city and the Sioux Falls Fire Department to do a series of home safety visits, installing smoke alarms, doing blood pressure checks and helping make for a more resilient community. Listen to what ARC Chapter Executive Director Tony Burke has to say about their very successful program.

In this episode I am joined by Corey Lewis, the Fire Prevention/Public Information Officer for the Richmond, Kentucky, Fire Department, where we talk about our "Ten Things to Try" when it comes to campus fire safety.

These Ten Things to Try are a list of ideas that we have seen in practice and we talk about their return on investment...in other words, their effectiveness in communicating campus fire safety ideas versus the amount of effort that goes into doing it. Some are simple, such as writing articles for the student newspaper, while others are more complex, such as doing live burns of student room mockups. Some are "must do's" while others, while taking some work, can have a big impact.

Corey Lewis, my partner on this episode, has been closely involved in campus fire safety, both in Richmond and across the nation. We both worked on the Campus Fire Safety Community Service grant project for the Michael H. Minger Foundation, and also filmed and produced the series Did YOU Know for the Foundation.

If you are looking for campus fire safety resources, you can find a lot on the Campus Firewatch page under the "Resource" tab.

Campus Firewatch
http://www.campus-firewatch.com

The Michael H. Minger Foundation also has a lot of resources such as videos, guides, posters and more, all free, that were developed under DHS Fire Prevention and Safety grants.

Michael H. Minger Foundation
http://www.mingerfoundation.org

We also developed a video, The Alarming Truth, that can be streamed, embedded or downloaded.

The Alarming Truth
http://www.alarming-truth.org

Campus Firewatch is a quarterly newsletter focusing on the complex issues of campus fire safety. You can subscribe to it at Campus Firewatch by clicking on "Campus Store."

For more information, please contact me at ecomeau@campus-firewatch.com.

Ed Comeau

Engaging students in fire safety is a challenge that takes creativity. Paul Otenti, the fire safety officer at Paul Smiths College, has come up with some very creative ideas to get the fire safety message to the students, ideas that go far beyond the standard PowerPoint presentation, ranging from zipper pulls to body bags.

You can find more information, tools and resources for campus fire safety at

Campus Firewatch http://www.campus-firewatch.com

Minger Foundation http://www.mingerfoundation.org

Shawn Simons and Alvaro Llanos are survivors of the 2000 Seton Hall fire. Their incredibly compelling story was told in the book After the Fire by Robin Gaby Fisher and turned into a documentary by the same name. They both travel across the country, sharing their story with college and high school students, and it is an incredibly impactful event that is being used to teach students about the importance of fire safety.

You can learn more about Shawn and Alvaro, buy their book and documentary and contact them at www.alvaroandshawn.com.