- Joined
- Sep 2, 2016
- Messages
- 585
There was a fire in the dorm up the street from my sons dorm the other day. Thankfully, no injuries to either students or responding firefighters. Although sprinklers contained the fire to the room of origin, there was significant smoke and water damage such that there are some students who will be displaced for the remainder of the academic year. Urban location with a fully staffed, 24x7x365 paid professional fire department that did an outstanding job extinguishing the smoldering mattress and getting it outside the building quickly.
Mattress fires - even when contained by a sprinkler - generate a LOT of nasty smoke!
(1) Great opportunity to educate your student(s) about RENTERS INSURANCE - very affordable and worth every penny. Help them set up their own account and arrange for the payment; it's an easy exercise in "adulting" that they'll appreciate.
(2) Purchase a small fireproof box for their vital documents - passport, birth certificate, etc. Usually less than $50 at your local big box store. Small enough that they can easily grab it should they have to hit the bricks at 0-dark-30 due to a real world fire or other serious incident in their dorm. They're generally waterproof to the point that if they are left behind during a fire, they'll keep the documents safe - although I wouldn't necessarily dunk one under water for an extended period of time.
Get them used to evacuating a dorm or apartment building when they hear the alarm sound, regardless of time of day or temperature outside.
Don't get me started on extension cords, unattended candles, and overloaded dollar store surge suppressors...
Mattress fires - even when contained by a sprinkler - generate a LOT of nasty smoke!
(1) Great opportunity to educate your student(s) about RENTERS INSURANCE - very affordable and worth every penny. Help them set up their own account and arrange for the payment; it's an easy exercise in "adulting" that they'll appreciate.
(2) Purchase a small fireproof box for their vital documents - passport, birth certificate, etc. Usually less than $50 at your local big box store. Small enough that they can easily grab it should they have to hit the bricks at 0-dark-30 due to a real world fire or other serious incident in their dorm. They're generally waterproof to the point that if they are left behind during a fire, they'll keep the documents safe - although I wouldn't necessarily dunk one under water for an extended period of time.
Get them used to evacuating a dorm or apartment building when they hear the alarm sound, regardless of time of day or temperature outside.
Don't get me started on extension cords, unattended candles, and overloaded dollar store surge suppressors...
