An item in “This day in history” caught my eye in the Globe Metro section on March 25: “In 1911, 146 people, mostly young female immigrants, were killed when a fire broke out at the Triangle Shirtwaist Co. garment factory in New York. The tragedy led to legal reforms for workers’ rights and workplace safety.”
This commitment to safety should extend elsewhere. Massachusetts could ensure that every student in the state — in middle school, high school, and higher education — receives education in fire safety. It should pass pending legislation for several reasons.
The first is that people might be in an apartment or home that has carbon monoxide leaks, such as in the recent case of a Newton family of four who died in their New Hampshire vacation home as a result of what officials said was probably a faulty propane heating system.
The second is that, once they are off on their own, students are more likely to be in crowded apartments off campus without a sprinkler system or even equipment such as fire alarms and extinguishers.
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The third is that people with disabilities need to know how to take care of themselves in case of fire or carbon monoxide poisoning.
The fourth is that low-income tenants may be at the mercy of unresponsive landlords.
The fifth is that immigrants, besides often living in poor housing, may not speak English sufficiently to hear what a firefighter or 911 operator might say to them.
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I say all of this as a mother whose only child died in an off-campus fire at college in Oregon eight years ago, six weeks before she would have turned 20. Mara’s birthday was March 24.
Lauren Gibbs
Cambridge
