NIC Press Release
Michigan Tech Fraternity Man Dies In Fire
A fire at the Phi Kappa Theta house at Michigan Tech University caused the death of a young fraternity member yesterday. The North-American Interfraternity Conference continues to advocate for fire safety in fraternity houses across the United States of America in order to prevent tragedies such as this from happening in the future.
There are four fires a day in college dormitories and fraternity/sorority housing across this country. The sad reality is that life saving fire suppression technology like fire sprinkler systems is present in only 35% of those fires. The damage from these fires is measured in the millions of dollars, but the real cost comes form the students needlessly killed and injured in fires that could have been contained by fire safety technology. Over the past few years, fires in residence halls and fraternity houses have taken the lives of students in Indiana, Illinois, Ohio, Missouri, New Jersey, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, and Texas.
According to the National Fire Protection Association, no more than two people have ever been killed in a completely fire sprinklered public assembly, educational, institutional, or residential building where the sprinkler system was operating properly. Yet, we allow the majority of our college students to live in places that do not adequately protect their lives.
There is current federal legislation that can correct this problem. The College Fire Prevention Act authorizes federal funding to upgrade fire safety in collegiate housing, thereby preventing further student injuries and deaths caused by inadequate fire prevention technology. The bill provides for fire sprinkler systems, or other fire suppression or prevention technologies, in public and private college and university housing and dormitories, including fraternity and sorority housing and dormitories.
Across the country, fraternities and sororities own and manage more than $2 billion in student housing at no cost to the host schools or the American tax payers. This translates into more than 250,000 students living in 8,000 chapter houses, with a replacement cost that colleges and universities cannot afford to bear.
Current interpretation of tax laws makes it nearly impossible to privately finance fire safety improvements in fraternity and sorority housing. Alumni members are prohibited from providing the financial support needed to make basic fire safety and capital improvements. The College Fire Prevention Act authorizes $100 million a year in matching grants for the next five fiscal years to fix this safety problem on our campuses. Improved fire safety on our campuses and for student living spaces will ensure the safety of future generations of American leaders.