Fire advice aimed at new students

The two students were trapped in a bedroom by the fire

A campaign aimed at preventing fires in student accommodation is highlighting the dangers of partying and smoking.

Cigarettes and candles have been the cause of about 1,500 injuries among 18 to 24 years olds over the past five years, the campaign Fire Kills said.

Parents are being urged to pack a smoke alarm in with students' belongings.

Fire Minister Parmjit Dhanda said: "It is a sad fact that you are more than twice as likely to die in a fire if you do not have a working smoke alarm."

He added that rented properties are less likely to be fitted with smoke alarms.

The Fire Kills campaign is targeting students at universities across England, including Leicester, Loughborough and Nottingham Trent.

Engulfed in smoke

About 55% of accidental fire deaths in the 18 to 24 year old age group are a result of carelessness in the kitchen and misuse of electrical equipment the group said.

Kirsty MacDonald, 20, of Rochester, Kent and Victoria Ganely, 21, of Normanton, West Yorkshire, students at Lincoln University, escaped a serious fire at their house in Lincoln in February 2007.

Ms MacDonald said a flatmate had lit some tea lights in his room as the light was not working.

"One of the lights started to melt into the TV which began to smoulder for hours."

The three housemates were woken by the smoke alarm and managed to barricade themselves in an upstairs bedroom but could not reach the door to escape.

They were eventually rescued by the fire brigade from their bedroom window.