While some students might overlook the necessity behind fire drills, alarms and sprinklers, Alvaro Llanos and Shawn Simons emphasized just how crucial that knowledge can be.
In light of National Fire Prevention Week, Simons and Llanos — who once survived a fire on a New Jersey college campus — came to Hoff Theater on Wednesday evening to talk and host a screening of “After the Fire,” a documentary about their experience.
In 2000, a fire erupted in the lounge of a dorm at Seton Hall University, killing three students and injuring 58. This was the biggest tragedy the university had ever seen, causing detrimental effects for students, their families and their colleagues, according to the documentary.
“Fire has no prejudice,” Simons said, adding that it can happen anywhere. “Whenever you enter a room, take time to look around the room for two exits.”
Simons and Llanos came to share their story with 14 university students who attended the screening. They want to be able to provide a new perspective on fire safety, and bring attention to a danger often misinterpreted as rare and improbable, Simons said.
Luisa Ferreira, the assistant fire marshal at this university’s Environmental Safety, Sustainability and Risk office, reached out to the survivors because of their ability to relate to college students, she said.
“A lot of the time, students are stressed out with classes, homework and boyfriends, and this can give perspective of what can go wrong,” Ferreira said.
The two began their presentation by showing the documentary, which included images of the two roommates throughout their recovery from the fire and testimonials from family members.
Simons spent three weeks in a coma, and said he had estimated hospital bills of about $3 million. Llanos was in a coma for three months, was in and out of the hospital for five years and had estimated hospital bills of about $17 to $18 million, he said.
Both 18 years old at the time, the two had to take a break from their education to recover and learn to walk, talk and eat again, in addition to becoming comfortable in new skin from burns. They talked about how difficult it was to go back to school after the fire.
“You’re worried about what people are thinking and you try to be comfortable with yourself while knocking the cobwebs out of your brain,” Llanos said.
READ MORE: Ex-UMD student with paralysis seeks funds for wheelchair-accessible van
The two read an excerpt from a book about their experience, After the Fire, during the lecture. When the fire alarm sounded, Simons said, all he could think about was that he did not want to get out of bed. Both roommates hesitated to get up, but opened the door to pure darkness — the smoke and heat were hard to describe, and he remembers seeing floor tiles melting, he said.
“The images [in the film] shock you,” said Anna Young, a junior communication major. “Fire can do so much damage.”
Simons and Llanos said they are aware of how students might typically think of fire safety — not often reacting to fire alarms with urgency, or thinking it’s not going to happen. But this is not surprising, Simons said, because the last time most students might have heard about fire safety could have been from the Stop, Drop and Roll lessons in elementary school.
Llanos said when students typically see there will be a presentation about fire safety, they think it will be a PowerPoint or “something cheesy.”
“There are no other documentaries like ours,” Llanos said.
Llanos and Simons also gave several fire safety tips, citing things like knowing where fire exits are in buildings, as well as knowing the layout of a dorm or apartment. If there is a fire and one cannot see through smoke, it might be easier to feel the way out.
“If we can inspire one person, that means the world to us,” Llanos said.
