New Campus Fire Safety Video Series “Did YOU Know?”

Available for National Campus Fire Safety Month

Series is an addition to the growing library of free resources for schools and communities to use in reaching out to students 

NICEVILLE, FL (July 21, 2015) – September is National Campus Fire Safety Month, and there is a new series of free videos titled “Did YOU Know?” from the Michael H. Minger Foundation that schools and communities can use in their outreach efforts as students are returning to campus. 

These short videos, each about a minute long, feature students giving important fire safety information by asking questions such as “Did you know that smoking is the leading cause of fire deaths?”  along with other messages on exits, cooking, smoke alarms, and much more. They are available for streaming, downloading or embedding from the Michael H.  Minger Foundation’s website at www.mingerfoundation.org.

Additional free resources focusing on campus fire safety from the Minger Foundation include:

• Posters that can be downloaded for RAs to use
• Videos featuring students with disabilities talking about the importance of fire safety as well as a Guide to Teaching Fire Safety to Students with Disabilities
• Videos with RAs discussing the importance of fire alarms and knowing two ways out and an RA Guide to Teaching Fire Safety
• 9 Fires, a compelling story about nine fires that happened within weeks of each other in residence halls, laboratories and off-campus housing and the impact that they had on the schools, community, families and friends.

Other free resources are available from Campus Firewatch and the Clery Center for Security on Campus, including the landmark video The Alarming Truth (www.alarmingtruth.org) that tells the tragic impact of an off-campus fire. Written, filmed and featuring students from Rowan University, The Alarming Truth has the real-world perspective needed to appeal to today’s students and is also available for download or streaming. 

Since the start of National Campus Fire Safety Month in 2005, college and university-related fire deaths have dropped significantly, from a high of 20 in 2006/2007 to four in the 2014/2015 academic year (click here to download the Campus Firewatch Information Sheet). Over four out of five of these deaths happen in off-campus housing where approximately 2/3 of the students across the nation live. Much of this decrease can be attributed to the strong efforts that schools and communities are doing to raise awareness about the role that students and parents have in picking and living in fire-safe housing. 

The Did YOU Know? series, and a number of the other resources listed, were funded by Department of Homeland Security Fire Prevention and Safety Grants to the Michael H. Minger Foundation and the Clery Center for Security on Campus.

The Michael H. Minger Foundation is dedicated to reducing the loss of life and injuries caused by fires at your nation’s campuses. More information is available at www.mingerfoundation.org.