In light of the recent fire on Boston Avenue that destroyed a three-story building and left five Tufts students homeless, fire safety issues have become a major concern for the off-campus community. While residential dormitories are regularly inspected to ensure that they comply with the Massachusetts fire safety code, off-campus houses, which are maintained by landlords, cannot be as easily regulated.
Massachusetts law requires that every residential building be equipped with smoke detectors, according to Chief Kevin Kelleher of the Somerville Fire Department. The requirements differ depending on the size of the building in question. "If someone's living in a two-family house, the rules will be different from a 40-unit apartment building," he said.
Kelleher said that it is the landlord's responsibility to provide and maintain smoke detectors in off-campus houses. In fact, it is illegal for tenants to tamper with smoke detectors, which includes removing batteries if the detectors go off accidentally.
According to Director of Off-Campus Housing Suzy Solomon-Yarin, most landlords do comply with fire safety rules. However, one potential problem is when the room for rent is part of an add-on to the house, or is an attic or basement apartment. "If you see a unit that only has one exit, you should know that it's dangerous and illegal," Solomon-Yarin said.
She said that tenants often block emergency exits by putting things in hallways, which could be life threatening in the case of a fire.
One of the problems with fire safety is a lack of awareness on the part of students, as many seem to subscribe to an "It can't happen to me" mentality. The Boston Ave. fire points highlights the need for students to be educated on the regulations governing fire safety and the responsibilities that residents and landlords are expected to assume.
The Nov. 7 fire that burned down the three-story house began in the basement heating system, which is the landlord's responsibility to maintain. Sean McDermott, one of the students who lived in the building, said that previously he had not been overly concerned with fire prevention.
"I had mentioned it to [my landlord] in the early fall, and he had said he basically didn't think it needed to be fixed," McDermott said. "He said he had been told that it was too old, but he wanted to get another opinion. That was several months before the fire, and I never heard much about it until the issues with repairs in the last couple days before the fire." According to McDermott, the boiler had been inspected the day before the fire and had reportedly been fixed.
"I didn't seriously think it was that big of a problem when I first mentioned it to the landlord several months ago," said McDermott.
Many students, whether they live on or off campus, do not have fire prevention foremost in their minds. "People don't think about it," said senior Charlie Needelman, who lives in an off-campus house on College Ave.
Sophomore David Truong, who sub-let an apartment over the summer, said that students do not protect themselves from the dangers of fire. "I know I didn't think about it," he said, "People I know don't even look into renter's insurance."
Truong also said that many of the houses in the Medford/Somerville area are very old and may not be as well-equipped as recently constructed houses. When he moved in, he and his housemates had to figure out how to light their aged oven. He noted that their landlord never discussed safety issues concerning the house with them.
Some landlords are willing to do more to ensure fire safety than others. For example, while Needelman's landlord instructed tenants on how to operate one of the smoke detectors, McDermott's landlord gave his tenants no information on safety issues at all, aside from instructing them to call immediately if any problems arose.
To help students keep the issue of fire safety in mind when they move off campus, the Office of Off-Campus Housing includes fire safety information in its checklist of important factors to look into when considering renting or leasing an off-campus house.
