Kansas Joins National Campus Fire Safety Month

TO THE PEOPLE OF KANSAS, GREETINGS:

WHEREAS, students across Kansas have gone off to college this fall and have moved into dormitories and residence halls, fraternity and sorority houses, and off-campus housing; and

WHEREAS, since January of 2000, at least 155 people have died nationally in campus related fires; and

WHEREAS, approximately eighty-five percent of these deaths occurred in off-campus occupancies where a majority of students live; and

WHEREAS, many off campus student resident properties are not protected with automatic fire sprinkler systems and automatic fire alarm systems; and

WHEREAS, many injuries and fatal fires have occurred in occupancies where existing fire safety systems have been compromised or disabled by the residents; and

WHEREAS, many fires can be avoided by practicing simple fire safety procedures such as installing & testing smoke alarms weekly, replacing batteries semi-annually in 9-volt units, and replacing the entire smoke alarm unit, including lithium battery units according to manufacturer’s instructions; and

WHEREAS, it is recognized that fire safety education is an effective method of reducing the occurrence of fires and reducing the resulting loss of life and property damage; and

WHEREAS, it is vital to educate our college students about the importance of fire safety behavior so that these behaviors can help to ensure their safety during their college years and beyond; and

WHEREAS, by developing a future generation of fire safe adults, future loss of life from fires can be significantly reduced:

NOW, THEREFORE, I, Sam Brownback, GOVERNOR OF THE STATE OF KANSAS, do hereby proclaim September of 2012, as

CAMPUS FIRE SAFETY MONTH

in Kansas and urge all citizens to join in this observation.

DONE: At the Capitol in Topeka

under the Great Seal of the

State this 24th day of

August, A.D. 2012