Kent State Students Learn Campus Fire Safety

The Ohio Department of Commerce, Division of State Fire Marshal is doing its part to keep Ohio college students safe by conducting a Campus Fire Safety Ambassador Program.  

Staff from the Division’s Fire Prevention Bureau and the Ohio Fire Academy trained students from Kent State University on identifying the dangers of fire development, the effective use of fire safety equipment, and how to develop and execute effective exit strategies.

“You cannot understate the importance of training students and staff,” said Bob Armstrong, Director of Emergency Management and Fire Prevention for the Ohio State University, who was on hand to observe.  “It’s vitally important for them to understand fire safety.  We can always do a better job on campus, so partnering with the State Fire Marshal’s office and our local fire department is going to be immensely important and make our campus more fire safe.”

This pilot program will continue to evolve so that it can be offered at the Ohio Fire Academy or by local fire departments who serve university and college communities.  The Division of State Fire Marshal’s Fire Prevention Bureau has fire safety educators throughout the state that can assist in this type of training. 

The students receiving the training will go back to their respective institutions and impart the skills and knowledge they received to resident advisors, security officers and other students. 

“We have a responsibility to prepare our students to leave the high school environment, where they are living at home, to enter a college environment and living on their own.  To keep them safe,” said State Fire Marshal Larry Flowers.  “This program will go a long way towards improving their safety prospects so that their parents can rest easy.”

In addition to the representatives from Kent State University and the Ohio State University, Chief Jeff Hussey of the Granville Fire Department, who serves the Dennison University area, a representative from the Oxford Fire Department near Miami University, as well as members of the Columbus Fire Department, were observing to so that they could enhance or develop their own programs on campus fire safety.