William Woods students learn fire safety during controlled dorm burn

Fulton firefighters partnered with William Woods University officials to teach students the importance of fire safety and prevention Wednesday.

They demonstrated how quickly a fire can turn deadly by setting up a fake dorm in the middle of an open field and setting fire to it.

The fire destroyed the small building, which many students said replicated their own dorms, in just under five minutes. But in two minutes, firefighters said there would likely be no survivors.

“It was probably within two minutes that it was 500 degrees at the 4-foot level, so becoming a survivable situation was slim to none,” said Capt. Todd Gray.

In order to prepare students to prevent a deadly blaze, Gray explained how to use a fire extinguisher properly and showed that it should be charged or it won’t work.

He also pointed out items that are frequent fire starters, like coffee pots, Christmas lights and space heaters.

Candles are banned from William Woods buildings and dorms.

“Maybe this is information you might know, but it’s always good to refresh your mind,” said Williams Wood student Aaron Westerlund.

Gray explained that cooking equipment was involved in nearly nine out of 10 reported fires in dorm-type properties in the United States from 2011 to 2015.

Campus adviser and student Megan Tolias said that was one of the best lessons she thought students should take away from Wednesday’s demonstration.

“Read the directions on your food, make sure you’re not putting anything that is flammable in the microwave, or oven for that matter,” she said. “Always be right there in case something goes wrong.”

Tolias was also given the opportunity to be a firefighter for the day. She got into the full uniform and equipment and used the fire department’s hose to help douse the blaze. She said it gave her a new appreciation of a firefighter’s job.

The amount of equipment they have to use surprised her, she said.

“Like, how precise you have to be on putting it on and the face mask especially,” she said. “You have to put that on, make sure everything is tight. But you don’t want it to be too tight because you still want movement and stuff, you don’t want to end up getting burned because of how tight you have your equipment.”

In addition to the burn event, William Woods has instituted a number of other safety measures, including a system of emergency notification called Woods Alert that will notify the community of a crisis situation or severe weather alert.

Officials have also installed a new security camera this year in addition to several already placed around campus. There are also emergency call boxes around campus that have a red button that calls 911 to contact the police and a black button that contacts campus security.