Group works on _¶ re safety

In 1996 five UNC students died in a fire that burned the Phi Gamma Delta fraternity house to the ground.

In 2008 their members are still working to make sure that such a tragedy never happens again.

Thirty UNC students including Phi Gamma Delta members are leaving today for Washington" D.C. to mark N.C. Campus Fire Safety Month by raising awareness of fire safety with lawmakers.

""Fire safety is very important to every member of our fraternity"" said Phi Gamma Delta President Penn Clarke. Everyone in the house knows the details of the '96 fire. We know the names of the people who died.""

The group will meet with congressional staffers Monday and hold a press conference Tuesday with legislators" including U.S. Rep. David Price D-N.C. whose district includes Orange County.

Congressmen are used to parents fire victims fire professionals and major corporations advocating for greater fire safety said Jenny Levering" assistant dean of students for fraternity and sorority life.

""But to hear that it's coming from the students' voice and the students' concern I think is something different than has ever been done before.""

The students" mostly Greeks will be accompanied by Chapel Hill Fire Chief Dan Jones" Chapel Hill Fire Marshal Matt Lawrence and Levering.

""We came together with the Chapel Hill Fire Department because they do stuff like this all the time" but they've never had students involved in it" Levering said.

The idea for the lobbying effort came partly from the members at Phi Gamma Delta and partly from Bonnie Woodruff, who lost her son, Ben Woodruff, in the 1996 fire.

Bonnie Woodruff has been a very strong fire safety advocate over the last 10 years since her son's death" Levering said. She said" ‘Wouldn't it be great if we went up and did some education in Congress?'""

The group also will be joined by representatives from the University of South Carolina. Six USC Greek students and one Clemson student were killed last October in a beach house fire at Ocean Isle Beach in North Carolina.

Because both fires took place in off-campus houses"" the group is advocating for legislation that will put pressure on local landlords to adhere to higher safety standards.

""The majority of campus fire deaths occur in off-campus housing"" Lawrence said. So there are some legislative movements that would provide tax incentives for landlords to provide sprinkler systems in housing for college students.""

After the 1996 Phi Gamma Delta fire" the Chapel Hill Town Council pushed the N.C. General Assembly to require all fraternity and sorority houses to install sprinkler systems by 2001" which 26 out of 32 of the houses did. The ones that did not were closed down.

The N.C. General Assembly also mandated that all residence halls be retrofitted with sprinklers by 2012.

""Off-campus housing is a point of emphasis for us"" Penn said. To do something to open people's eyes and to make people realize that these off-campus houses in Chapel Hill and other college towns need to be safer.""



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