Mock burn leaves impression on students

9/23/2011 Mary Ann Beahon
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE (573) 592-1127

 

Up in flames in less than two minutes—that’s what happened to a mock dorm room Wednesday—all in the name of keeping William Woods University students safe.

The Fulton Fire Department (FFD) conducted the mock burn of a typical residence hall room at the fire station just off campus. Todd Grey, firefighter, shared useful facts, statistics, safety precautions and procedures with William Woods students before the room was torched.
 
Students had been anticipating the event for several days, knowing how important it would be to their safety on campus.
 
Liza Payne, senior, said she looked forward to the mock burn because, “I think this is an incredibly informative LEAD event.”
 
James Strobel, a freshman, reinforced the idea behind the event, stating, “This teaches us good fire safety and shows us why it is so important to follow fire safety procedures.”
 
 “We wanted to do this to show people what a fire is really capable of doing because we want [students] to be safe,” said Tyler Ginnever, FFD firefighter. “In a way it helps both of us (firefighters and students) because it reminds us about important safety precautions. We want to get back to our families safely just like you students do.” 
 
With donations from Sutherlands, firefighters constructed a mock dorm room, which included everything from typical dorm room furniture to posters, articles of clothing and notebooks.
 
Starting with a candle falling into a trashcan, the room was completely engulfed in flames within two minutes. After about three minutes, firefighters extinguished the fire.
 
“I had no idea it could take only a few minutes to completely burn a room,” said Rachel Sennett, a senior.
 
Learning about fire safety and then seeing the potential risk of breaking fire safety procedure evoked some different emotions from students.
 
T.J. Green, a freshman, said after the event, “I think it is an important event to see and it puts things in perspective.”
 
Paige Groves, a sophomore, learned a lot from the event, “After seeing how fast the room burned down, I’m going to be very cautious about not having any fire hazards in my room.” 
 
This is the second mock burn William Woods and the FFD have teamed up on. The first event was in 2008.