If you have a college student who does not live with you, chances are that you are often concerned about their safety. You do not know what can happen when they are far from you and feel bad since you cannot take care of them yourself.

Even though it might not be easy for your child to experience campus fires, you should be concerned since many campus fires occur in dorm rooms. So what can you do to keep your child safe even when you are away from them?

The only thing for you, and of course the college, is to follow these simple tips to reduce the risks of fires. Here are a few of them.

Install and Regularly Check Smoke Alarms

Would you be happy with your child living in a dorm room that does not have smoke alarms installed? What about smoke alarms that do not work? The first thing for you to do as a parent is to ensure that your child lives in a dorm room with smoke alarms installed.

Even though you might argue that this is the responsibility of the college or school, it is also your responsibility. If the dorm room does not have these alarms, you can push the college with other parents to force the installation of the smoke alarms. Smoke alarms are among the best fire system solutions every dorm room needs to install.

In addition, check to ensure that smoke alarms are not only installed inside the dorm rooms alone but also on every floor of the building. The alarms should not just be installed, they should also be checked or serviced regularly. This is one of the easiest ways of reducing risks when your child is living far from you.

Sprinklers Should Be Checked Regularly

Did you know that fire sprinklers play a very crucial role when it comes to putting out fires in colleges and schools? According to a study, colleges hit by fatal fires in the United States between 2000 and 2015 did not have fire sprinklers.

To reduce the risks of fire, tell your child to ensure that there are fire sprinklers in their dorm rooms. If they are not there, they should ask their school administrator to install them immediately. However, this is not enough to help reduce risks.

They also need to make sure that the fire sprinklers are working well. The storage tank should always be full. In addition, the water shut-off valves should be open all the time. Students should understand how to use them and run tests regularly. This ensures that they can put out fires on their own.

Stay in the Kitchen When Cooking

As a parent, you should understand that your child does not live alone in a dorm room. Whether living on or off campus, there are many other students in the whole building, and most of them might be friends. This means that distractions will always be there.

When someone is cooking, they might be distracted to leave the kitchen and engage in other things. This is wrong. You should tell your child to ensure that they remain in the kitchen whenever they are cooking.

Even though most dorms and schools do not allow students to use toasters and hot plates, among others, it is difficult for them to keep tabs on what every student is using. Parents should advise their children to only cook when they are sober, present, and alert. This can go a long way in reducing the risk of fires in dorm rooms.

Ensure You Have an Evacuation Plan

No parent wants to hear that there is a fire where their child lives. However, no matter how shattering this news might be, accidents happen. The best thing for every parent and school is to ensure that every student is prepared.

One way of reducing risks is ensuring there is an evacuation plan in dorms. In case of an accident, every student needs to know what to do to save their lives and those of their fellow students.

You should also go through the evacuation plan from time to time. When going through this plan, discuss the quickest and smartest way to get outside. You can also organize drills to ensure every student knows what is required of them in case of a fire. This will help keep students safe.

Avoid Candles

Power failures are a common occurrence in dorm rooms. Fortunately, most of them have installed backup generators to handle power failures. As a parent, tell your child to avoid using candles in case both power and backup fail in their dorm room.

Colleges should also be strict with the use of candles. They should make sure that students are not allowed to use candles while inside their dorm rooms. This is because candles are some of the causes of fires in both schools and homes.

Keeping your child safe, especially when they live in a dorm room is not easy. The only thing you can do is to advise them on what to do to take care of themselves. In case of fires in dorm rooms, follow the guidelines discussed above, and you will reduce risks.