“If a fire breaks out, you either survive or you die,” said the People’s Burn Foundation video that was played in Founders Hall during the fire safety demonstration held on Sept. 17. The video was just one of several on-campus fire safety awareness events that were hosted by the local Greensboro Fire Department.

The other activities included a relay race in firefighter gear to hose down a wooden cut-out of fire, a smoke filled room, fire extinguisher practice, and a grand finale burning of two mock dorm rooms. Many students came out to learn the hard facts about the dangers of fire and how to employ fire safety in a college living space, and to have a little fun during the learning process.

According to the video, “The key to survival is active awareness.”

“Always be aware of what you have going on around you like with cooking, candles, plugs,” said firefighter Eric Knowles. “Try not to get lazy about leaving things on; always check behind yourself.”

A fire can start as simply as a mishap in the kitchen or a burnt out extension cord. The most important aspect of fire safety that a student should know is to simply always be aware of your surroundings, especially if there are any obvious fire hazards involved.

Not all of the event was focused on the harsh realities of fire danger.

“Fire is scary,” said firefighter captain Garret Roberts. “This right here is entertainment.”

The activities were set up so that students could enjoy themselves while learning. Junior Lily Wotkyns participated in the relay race and said, “(Firefighters) really have to wear this stuff? This is absolutely miserable. I respect you guys. Thanks for saving our lives.”

Even members of the men’s lacrosse and cross country teams stopped to have some fun with a friendly competition over whose team was fastest in the relay; cross country won the race.

One of the other main attractions was a smoke-filled Sternberger Auditorium that was meant to demonstrate how difficult it is to navigate through smoke. Whether it achieved this effect is questionable.

“It was not really hard to find the way out but it did have an effect on me,” junior Neisha Washington. “I know I need to crawl on the floor.”

“It was pretty cool how it was surreal to have a smoke filled room in Founders but it had no impact except a smoke filled room is cool,” said sophomore Nick Perl.

A crowd gathered for the final event of the demonstration: the incineration of two wooden constructions that were set up to resemble dorm rooms. The look was completed with old Guilford furniture, scattered laundry, and a pile of trash in each room.

One room was equipped with a sprinkler and the other was not. The sprinkler was triggered in a matter of seconds, saving the hypothetical student located in the burning room. In the other room, a fire raged with destructive force. If there were somebody in that room, it is unlikely they would have survived if they had not made an immediate escape when the fire started.

The sobering lesson here was that once a fire starts it is almost too late.

“Today was a lot of fun but I didn’t really take it too seriously until now,” junior Danny Whalen said. “It was really cool to watch it burn like that, but I think the point was to teach us how quickly something like that can happen. We all know to stop, drop, and roll when you’re on fire but you never realize how quickly that can happen and how little you can actually do when it reaches that point.”