Fire Chief, UWPD Chief Support Initiative to Improve Campus Fire Safety
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UWPD Chief of Police Susan Riseling and the family of Peter Talen will join Madison Fire Chief Steven A. Davis at Firehouse #1, 316 W. Dayton St., on September 2 at 4:00 p.m. to express their support of a Council Resolution proclaiming September as Campus Fire Safety month. The Council meets at 6:30 p.m. to consider the resolution. Since January 2000, at least 163 people, including students, parents, and children, have died in campus-related fires. In Madison, the death of a young man in off-campus housing was the impetus for renewed interest in campus fire safety. Peter Talen was 23 when he died in a fire at 123 North Bedford on November 18, 2007. There was only one working smoke alarm in the two-story house. He was one of 5 people to die in fires in Madison that year. The City of Madison Common Council later unanimously passed a new smoke alarm ordinance that was named in Peter’s memory. His parents have signed a letter in support of the Campus Fire Safety proclamation. The goal of the proclamation is to encourage schools throughout the county to evaluate the level of fire safety being provided in both on- and off-campus student housing and take the necessary steps to ensure fire-safe living environments through fire safety education, installation of fire suppression and detection systems and smoke alarms, and the development and enforcement of applicable codes relating to fire safety.
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