After the one-year anniversary of the tragic house fire at 123 Bedford street that took the life of UW-LaCrosse student Peter Talen, Ald. Mike Verveer, District 4, proposed an ordinance to require stricter fire-alarm guidelines and safeguards in downtown and off-campus student housing.
If passed, the ordinance would come into effect in August 2009 and require smoke detectors to have lithium batteries with a ten-year lifespan and feature a silence button rather than battery removal. The ordinance also requires landlords to place fire alarms in every bedroom and be tamper-resistant.
What's important is to avoid another tragedy. If the ordinance saves one life, it's worth it,"" Verveer said. ""There is no price tag on a life.""
Although it is unfortunate that measures to improve student safety have to come in reaction to tragedies such as last year's fatal fire and Brittany Zimmermann's murder in April, at least officials like Verveer are taking appropriate actions in response.
In the Bedford street fire a year ago, the smoke alarms were not working properly, and one can only speculate whether or not working alarms may have saved Talen's life. However, any improvements that do not put the burden on students to be responsible for fire alarm maintenance is a reasonable and promising ordinance.
Landlords should get behind this ordinance despite the extra costs to update their buildings. As bad as extra smoke alarm costs are for their pocketbooks, the stigma of tenant endangerment or death is far more consequential in the end. Students staying in off-campus housing live in predominantly older houses with much looser safety codes. Updating these buildings should not be a burden, but rather a necessary duty for Madison landlords.
Hopefully, city officials' future updates will be active measures rather than reactionary safeguards following another campus tragedy.
