Fire Kills - you can prevent it

Partying, smoking and drinking are all part of a student lifestyle, but could be putting you at higher risk of fire. Over the past five years cigarettes, smoking materials and candles have been the cause of 1,500 injuries among 18 – 24 years olds. More than half of all accidental fire deaths amongst this age group occur in the kitchen when cooking, when handling hot substances or through misuse of electrical equipment.

Take extra care if you smoke when you have been drinking and be careful if you fancy chips in the middle of the night – a third of all deep frying injuries occur between 10pm and 4am!

Fit a smoke alarm

Make sure that smoke alarms are installed on each level of your house - rented properties are less likely to be fitted with smoke alarms and without a smoke alarm you are twice as likely to die in a fire. If you are a student in England you can request a home fire safety visit from your local fire and rescue service who can provide and fit a smoke alarm for free.

Find your local Fire and Rescue service (opens in new window) 

Support the Student Brand Ambassador Campaign

Each year, the Fire Kills campaign takes the fire safety message on campus by recruiting ‘student ambassadors’ from universities across England to promote fire safety messages amongst their peers.

The ambassadors are tasked with generating publicity in student and local press as well as distributing leaflets and posters to fellow students. They also work closely with their local fire and rescue service to organise special events to demonstrate the real dangers of not being aware of fire safety issues.

Is your university taking part? In 2008, the campaign will be taking place in the following universities:

In 2008, the campaign will be taking place in the following universities:

Bedfordshire, Birmingham, Bournemouth, Cranfield, De Montfort, Durham, Exeter, Gloucester, Hull, Keele, Leeds, Leeds Met, Leicester, Liverpool JM, Manchester, Middlesex, Nottingham, Plymouth, Reading, Sheffield, Southampton, Suffolk, Teeside, West of England

Student Brand Ambassador campaign materials:

• Beer poster (PDF, 748K)
• Protect yourself leaflet (PDF, 114K)
• SBA press release (PDF, 27k)

Have you thought about what would happen to your possessions in the event of a fire? A fire may result in the loss of treasured items such as photographs, cameras, MP3 players and other expensive items. Follow the link below to see a recent fire safety advert from the Fire Kills campaign and MTV.

• MTV fire safety video (MPG, 5.2mb)

• More information on fire safety in shared and rented accommodation