DeWine continues Fight to Keep College Students Safe

DEWINE CONTINUES FIGHT TO KEEP COLLEGE STUDENTS SAFE

U.S. Senator Mike DeWine (R-OH), a Senate leader on fire prevention and safety issues, today sent letters to Ohio's 150 college and university presidents encouraging them to apply for fire prevention grants through his FIRE Act Grant program. It is a step in Senator DeWine's national initiative to prevent college and university students from being victims of house, apartment or dorm fires.

Since 2000, at least 12 of Ohio's college and university students were killed in housing fires. Nationwide, 75 lives have been claimed in such fires over the same period, six of which came in April, 2005, alone. The majority of these incidents have occurred in privately owned off-campus housing or fraternities and sororities. Three students were killed and several others were injured in a fire at an off-campus house at Miami University last month. This tragic incident comes on the heels of a deadly fire in 2003 that killed five students at The Ohio State University.

"Protecting Ohio's college students, and students across the nation, from the dangers of campus fire deaths is an enormous responsibility," said Senator DeWine. "College Administrators, parents, students, and housing owners need to know they don't have to ‘go it alone.' There are resources like FIRE Act grants available to make students' homes away from home safer."

Senator DeWine wrote and passed the Firefighter Investment and Response Enhancement (FIRE) Act (S. 1941) in 2000 establishing a grant program to provide federal assistance to local fire departments. During the fiscal year 2005 appropriations process, Senator DeWine, a member of the Appropriations Committee, helped secure $650 million for the FIRE Act. While the program's primary goal is to provide direct financial assistance to local fire departments and EMS squads, five percent of the total money appropriated each fiscal year is set aside for fire prevention programs. Colleges and universities are eligible to receive fire prevention funding for a wide array of fire safety initiatives. Eligible uses for grant funding include:

-- Promoting and installing smoke alarms

-- Planning for fire escape routes and inspection of fire escape equipment

-- Promoting the adoption or awareness of building codes and enforcement

-- Training/hiring of fire safety inspectors

-- Fire safety education props (trailers, handouts) in conjunction with public safety education campaigns

-- General fire prevention and awareness initiatives targeted at high-risk populations

FIRE Act Grants for fire prevention do not require local matching funds and may not exceed a total of $750,000. The expected deadline to file for the current round of grants is September 30, 2005.

Senator DeWine plans to introduce a resolution establishing September as Campus Fire Safety Month, timed to coincide with millions of college students nationwide returning to college campuses after summer break. This resolution would encourage administrators and municipalities to provide educational programs during the month and to evaluate the level of fire safety both on-campus and off. Senator DeWine is also looking at options for legislation that would increase outreach and education efforts about campus fire safety at the federal level and is looking at data collection issues with respect to on and off campus fires. Senator DeWine discussed these issues last week with U.S. Fire Administrator David Paulison, and it may be possible to achieve those goals without legislation.

Additionally, Senator DeWine co-sponsored Senator Rick Santorum's (R-PA) Fire Sprinkler Incentive Act of 2005, which would create a new tax incentive for the voluntary installation and retrofitting of buildings with automated sprinkler systems to save the lives of countless individuals and responding firefighters as well as drastically reduce the costs from property damage.

http://dewine.senate.gov/