Off-campus safety should be a priority

I certainly agree that trying to educate kids going to college about fire safety is helpful, but probably futile – but to say that “Only you can prevent college fires” borders on ... well, I can’t think of a word. To say something is a bad idea without suggesting something else is pointless. My daughter, Julie Turnbull, died in a fire at Miami University in April 2005. My personal opinion is that college kids can’t be safe unless they are sleeping under sprinklers. Universities know this, and if the dorms don’t have sprinklers now, they will in the very near future. College towns need to step up and pass ordinances to require landlords of college students to put sprinklers in the houses. Kids going off to college think they are invincible; even though they are careful sometimes, it’s a time in their lives when they will be looking for the edges, their first taste of independence. The house my daughter was in when she died was rebuilt after the fire and rents for $65,000 for nine months – and the landlord didn’t put sprinklers in it because he didn’t have to – although it certainly seems like he could afford to. The argument that it’s a financial burden on landlords doesn’t fly if they all have to do it. \nTo say that “Obviously, universities can only control fire safety protocols and protections on properties they own” is perhaps true, but college towns exist by the grace of the college or university. I don’t advocate university responsibility for off-campus housing. But when my daughter died in an off-campus house, it was called the “Miami University Fire.” It was a “Miami University Student” – not a kid living in a house in town. Universities could play a big role in the safety of off-campus housing if they just came out and said they were concerned about off-campus housing. Perhaps print a preferred list of off-campus houses for rent. Perhaps support town ordinances for sprinklers. In the meantime, parents need to be involved.