Fire awareness stems from tragedy

College sophomore Josh Dembowitz described his brother Seth as “the ultimate big brother.”

After Seth’s death in a Hoboken, N.J., fire three years ago, Dembowitz and his family decided to turn their grief into something positive by starting the 243 Foundation, an organization — named for Seth’s fraternity bond number — dedicated to promoting fire prevention, safety and awareness.

This week is national Fire Prevention Week, and in honor of the event, the 243 Foundation has planned programming with Penn’s Department of Fire and Emergency Services to educate students about fire safety.

The Foundation’s efforts, Dembowitz said, aim to honor Seth’s memory and prevent such a tragedy from happening in the future.

In addition to signs along Locust Walk displaying safety tips and discussing the prevalence of fire-related injuries and deaths, there will be a booth on College Green on Thursday featuring photos and remnants from campus fires.

Thursday night at 7 p.m. in Amado Recital Hall in Irvine Auditorium, Dembowitz will tell his story and talk about prevention strategies.

Dembowitz, a member of Zeta Beta Tau fraternity, has also spoken at many fraternity and sorority houses. It is especially important to speak to the Greek community because off-campus housing is very susceptible to fires, Dembowitz said.

“Hearing [Josh’s] story and his message was an extremely important thing for us,” College junior and ZBT President Bennett Mayrock wrote in an e-mail.

Eugene Janda, chief of FES, said off-campus housing is “where we have our highest exposure.” On campus, “the trustees have made sure that everywhere that people sleep there are smoke detectors and sprinkler systems,” Janda added.

While the Foundation’s educational efforts are starting here at Penn, Adam Dembowitz — Dembowitz’s brother and the executive director of the Foundation — said the group is “going to hopefully expand it to other campuses.”

As they educate the Penn community, the leaders of the 243 Foundation and FES are keeping sight of the tremendous consequences of ignoring fire safety. “Fires don’t happen that often,” Janda said. “When they do it can affect an individual, a family and a community.”

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