College dorm arsonists threaten student property

Arson is one of the biggest causes of fire in college dormitories, and it's one of the biggest reasons why renters insurance is a good choice for students living in the dorms. A quick search of the news reveals several cases of fires intentionally set in college and university dormitories in 2011 alone. 

• An individual attempted to light three different fires with paper in the men's restrooms at a dorm dining hall at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, according to an article in The Record. The fire was quickly extinguished upon firefighters' arrival. 
• At Middlebury College, police were investigating a fire that was discovered in a residence hall trash can at 4:30 a.m. on a Saturday, according to The Rutland Herald. "Police said firefighters arrived to find the third floor of the building heavily inundated with smoke, but that the building's sprinkler system quickly put out the fire," The Herald reported. "Fire and water damage were moderate, according to the police." 
• A 2 a.m. fire caused $50,000 in damage to an Ohio University dormitory, according to The Columbus Dispatch. The common room on the ground floor was heavily damaged, and some residents could not return to their rooms due to smoke damage, The Dispatch reported. 

In all of the cases mentioned above, authorities were unable to identify a suspect (at least by the time the respective articles were written). In other cases from 2011, students have been arrested and convicted of dorm arson.

• A student was actually charged with aggravated arson after she set a fire in a dormitory elevator. The Claiborne Progress reported that a Lincoln Memorial University student was arrested and charged after evidence showed she lit wrappers in an elevator. Smoke spread throughout the building and caused some students to suffocate, though no lasting injuries were reported. 
• A Kentucky State student was convicted of arson and sentenced to 180 days in jail after she set fire to a dorm room because she was mad at another girl, according to WLKY.

The evidence is abundant: dormitory residents are prone to arson. These incidents don't always lead to catastrophic fires, but they regularly do cause some damage, whether it's actual property burning to a crisp, property being damaged by smoke, or items being damaged by water from automatically-activated fire sprinklers. 

Given the frequency of arson in the dorms, California college renters insurance is a wise choice for student residents. For a very small annual premium, renters insurance can replace items damaged in a dorm arson incident. In the case of a catastrophic fire, it can also cover the cost of finding a new place to live after a fire. To find out more about how renters insurance might be an affordable option for you or your college student, call Purves & Associates for a free quote today.

(Photo credit: Special Collections Research Center, Swem Library on Flickr, used here with permission according to a Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 license)