Over 250,000 college students per year are housed in 8,000 Greek housing facilities nationwide with a replacement cost and capacity that universities cannot afford to bear. Most Greek housing facilities operate independently of their host institutions, and by current tax code, are therefore not able to raise the same tax-deductible funding for sufficient life safety and capital improvements that universities can raise and allocate. These facts create an interesting and unjust situation for collegians across the country – a situation which is laced with the tragic history of fraternity and sorority fires.

• While fraternity and sorority housing accounts for only 10% of fires on campuses each year, the sustained damage rate is five times the average cost of a dormitory fire, and the injury rate is twice as high.
• Fraternity and sorority housing averages 141 fires per year, or one every 2.5 days.
• Since 1976, there have been at least 50 fatalities in fires at fraternity and sorority houses.
• According to the American Fire Sprinkler Association, 36 of the last 41 fire fatalities in university-related fires occurred in fraternity housing or off-campus housing.
• Combining fire sprinklers and smoke detectors enhances an individual’s chances of surviving a fire by 97%, compared with just 50% when smoke detectors alone are deployed.
• With that being said, only about 8% of all Greek housing facilities are protected by a sprinkler system, and there has never been a fire-related fatality in fraternal housing that has sprinklers.

This serious issue has caught the attention of the public and the media in recent years, but the minor steps that have been taken to address the problem have not provided an adequate solution. In the aftermath of several fatal fires, some universities and cities have passed regulations and ordinances requiring certain fire code requirements to be met. Unfortunately, many Greek organizations do not have the funding to make these necessary life-safety improvements, nor do they have the ability to raise tax-deductible funds for these purposes.

Greek Housing Fires History – Important Dates

Recent Greek Housing Fires - 2010

Recent Greek Housing Fires - 2009

Recent Greek Housing Fires - 2008