n April 24 a fast-moving fire spread through the Riverbend Apartments in West Lafayette, claiming the life of 22-year-old Cody Day, who was spending the night at a friend’s apartment. The apartments are near Purdue University and house mostly Purdue students. This is the second life claimed by fire in a Purdue off-campus housing unit this academic school year. Scott Notary, a Purdue senior, was killed on Nov. 16, 2013, in a fire at his West Lafayette apartment.
The structure at South Riverbend did not feature an automatic fire sprinkler system because they were not required by code at the time it was built. This left residents to rely on smoke alarms to alert them to danger with enough time to escape. Witnesses recall that a passer-by who saw the flames alerted residents to the fire, many of whom were fast asleep. As a former fire chief in Fort Wayne I can tell you honestly that while smoke alarms do save lives there are many examples where notification of a fire occurrence does not happen fast enough for residents to escape. Sadly, this appears to be one of those cases.
If this property were built today, the building codes would require a fire sprinkler system. Fire sprinklers actively respond to a fire, one sprinkler head at a time, controlling or extinguishing flames and providing occupants with enough time to safely evacuate a structure. Parents should ask if the unit their child will be staying in is properly protected with fire sprinklers. Existing properties, especially those that house students, can be retrofitted with fire sprinkler systems in order to protect our children’s lives and property. When students, parents and universities start demanding that student housing structures be protected by fire sprinkler systems we will see a reduction in life and property loss.
My thoughts and prayers are with the victims of this terrible tragedy along with their family and friends.
Ron Brown
Great Lakes Regional Manager
National Fire Sprinkler Association
Bridgewater, N.J.
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