Emporia Gazette – August 27, 2013
Two international students, Zheng Lin and Yawei Fan — who died in an apartment fire two years ago — have inspired a prevention workshop on the Emporia State University campus.
It was held from 11 a.m. to 12 p.m. today and gave attending students an opportunity to brush up on fire safety.
The fire at 12 East 11th Street in Emporia started because combustibles were too close to the floor furnace in the apartment on Oct. 20, 2011. When firefighters arrived shortly after midnight, heavy smoke had inundated the main floor.
Fan was pronounced dead at the scene, and an autopsy showed that he died as a result of breathing hot gasses and products of the combustion.
Lin was taken to Newman Regional Health and transferred to Via Christi Health in Wichita for treatment. She later died from her injuries.
The deaths resounded with many across campus who knew the two personally. A memorial service was planned for the two students from the Liaoning province in China.
Fan, 23, was a sophomore studying chemistry, and Lin, 22, was studying for her master’s degree in the Department of English, Modern Languages and Journalism.
ESU and the Emporia Fire Department present a fire prevention workshop every semester to teach students how to prevent fires and stay safe in their homes.
Now, the Fan-Lin Fire Prevention Workshop is in memory of the two — an opportunity for ESU students to get information about how to use safety equipment, safety routines, their rights as a tenant and what to do in case of fire.
The timing could not be more appropriate, as Gov. Sam Brownback declared September as Campus Fire Safety Month to help remind students to keep fire safety in mind as they return to campus.
A letter from the governor’s press team iterates that the beginning of a new school year means classes, friends, sporting events, activities and parties.
With such hectic lives, college students often don’t pay attention to one thing that could kill them: accidental fires.
As the new school year begins, the Office of the State Fire Marshal (OSFM) wants to remind students to take action to protect themselves and their friends from fire.
According to Campus Firewatch, since 2,000 there have been 162 deaths as a result of campus-related fires, with four out of five of these deaths occurring in off-campus homes where a vast majority of the nation’s 18,000,000 students live.
The common factors associated with a number of these fires include:
Lack of automatic fire sprinklers
Missing or disabled smoke alarms
Careless disposal of smoking materials
Impaired judgment from alcohol consumption
Fires originating on upholstered furniture or decks or porches
“Many college students do not realize how quickly a fire can occur, and perhaps for the first time in their lives they are the ones in charge of ensuring they are living in a fire-safe environment,” said Doug Jorgensen, Kansas Fire Marshal. “Students need to realize that they are not invincible, that fires do happen, and that they can take steps to protect themselves — no matter where they live.”
For more tips on fire safety, visit the OSFM’s website at www.FireMarshal.ks.gov.
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