Yesterday, the Statesboro Fire Department showed students the power and dangers of fire in an event titled “Up in Flames”.

The Statesboro Fire Department came to the Performing Arts Center and set fire to three display rooms. Accompanied with commentary, the dorms showed a real-life example of how quickly a fire could spread and affect an entire dormitory.

“We do this event to show the importance of fire safety to college students. A lot of departments are geared towards the younger crowd,” Chris Colson, prevention chief of the Statesboro Fire Department, said.

Once students graduate high school they are no longer exposed to knowledge on fire safety. It is very important, especially if it is a student’s first time ever cooking away from home, Colson said.

As a community leader, Odari White came to the event to show his residents the potential dangers of not complying with the rules set forth by the university concerning fire safety.

“It’s a little scary because people are really irresponsible here apparently,” Brittany Railing, freshman early childhood education major, said.

“What interested me the most was how quickly the fire engulfed the entire apartment and the responsiveness of the extinguishers,” Dwight Gustard, graduate mechanical engineering student, said.

Since making “Up in Flames” an annual event, calls to the fire department from the university have gone down, Colson said.

White said, “It was something to see. I knew that fire was definitely a dangerous thing but you never really get how dangerous until you see it first hand.”