Scene of the January 2012 off-campus fire that
killed three college students
POUGHKEEPSIE – It has been four years since three college students died in a fire in off-campus housing in the Town of Poughkeepsie.
One of those girls, Kerry Rose Fitzsimmons, a Marist College student, was the niece of John Prodomakis, a member of the New York Fire Sprinkler Council.
He said old dormitories should be retrofitted with sprinklers and new
ones should automatically have them installed and the same goes for off-campus
student housing.
“Any rentals, especially for college students, but if you are renting apartments, more than a two-family, you should put sprinklers, at least at minimal, put them in the boiler room and over the stoves where 95 percent of the fires start,” Prodomakis said. “For sure, fully sprinkle the dorms in the campuses.”
Another Marist student, Eva Block, also died in the fire. Both were 21 years of age. A Friend, Kevin Johnson, 20, was also killed.
Two other female Marist students and their boyfriends, who were sleeping at the time the fire was discovered in the middle of the night, jumped out windows to safety.
