Trailer Set Ablaze In Fire Safety Demonstration At Ramapo College

MAHWAH, NJ — A trailer was set ablaze Monday at Ramapo College during National Fire Sprinkler Association's side-by-side burn demonstration to an audience of over 400 freshmen.

NFSA's Mid-Atlantic Team offered the educational event, which showed students how sprinkler heads would activate in their dorms, should they be needed, David Kurasz, Executive Director of the New Jersey Fire Sprinkler Advisory Board, said.

The team demonstrated what live fire conditions would look like in a space protected by a fire sprinkler and in a space that is not, NFSA State Coordinator David Davis said in a Facebook post.

The goal of the demonstration, Kurasz said, was to show students, faculty and parents how quickly a fire can start and spread. In addition, he said, the demonstration shows how quickly a sprinkler head works to knock down the fire, providing occupants much-needed time to escape.

In the wake of the freshman dorm fire at Seton Hall University in 2000, New Jersey became the first state in the nation to mandate all dorms to be outfitted with a fire sprinkler system. Since that time, the state has not had a single death in a college dorm, "in large part due to fire sprinklers," Kurasz noted.

Demonstration units, with help from Ramapo College Fire Safety and Mahwah Fire Company 4, executed a successful event, Davis said.

"Thank you all and good luck to the class of 2026," Davis added.