Living in a dorm or apartment can be an exciting time for students, especially those who have never lived away from home. Along with a more independent living situation comes new responsibilities. We are fortunate at UTPB to have such outstanding student housing available to our students. With the growth of our UTPB student body, we have expanded our housing units to accommodate the residents that reside in the units.
We want to make sure that your college experience is a positive one and one of the best ways to achieve this is by living safely and creating awareness. Whether you live on campus or off campus in an apartment, it is important to realize that others reside in the same complex as you, which makes your safety responsibilities vital.
See UTPB Student Housing for details on the policies and guidelines for living on campus.
Tips to Prevent Campus Fires from the National Fire Prevention Association
- Look for fully sprinklered housing when choosing a dorm or off-campus housing.
- Make sure you can hear the building alarm system when you are in your dorm room.
- If you smoke, smoke outside and only where it is permitted.
- Awareness fact: fires in dormitories are more common during the evening hours, between 5–11 pm, and on weekends.
- Roughly six out of seven fires in dormitories are started by cooking.
- If you live in a dormitory, make sure your sleeping room has a smoke alarm, or your dormitory suite has a smoke alarm in each living area as well as the sleeping room. For the best protection, all smoke alarms in the dormitory suite should be interconnected so that when one sounds, they all sound.
- If you live in an apartment or house, make sure smoke alarms are installed in each sleeping room, outside every sleeping area, and on each level of the apartment unit or house. For the best protection, all smoke alarms in the apartment unit or house should be interconnected so that when one sounds, they all sound.
- Test all smoke alarms at least monthly.
- Never remove batteries or disable the alarm.
- Learn your building’s evacuation plan and practice all drills as if they were the real thing.
- If you live off campus, have a fire escape plan with two ways out of every room.
- When the smoke alarm or fire alarm sounds, get out of the building quickly and stay out.
- Stay in the kitchen when cooking.
- Cook only when you are alert, not sleepy or drowsy from medicine or alcohol.
- Check with your local fire department for any restrictions before using a barbeque grill, fire pit, or chimenea.