"I attempt to educate people as to why we do certain things. Unfortunately, fire safety, and safety in general, is reactionary."
-Thomas Costello, fire marshal

Thomas Costello, Montclair State’s first full-time fire marshal, firmly believes in dealing with safety issues before a tragedy occurs. He commends the University for opening a search for his position prior to the fire at Seton Hall University, rather than in response to it.

Costello brings to Montclair State 15 years' experience, the past five as a fire prevention/fire protection inspector and investigator with the Clifton Fire Department. He also serves as an assistant chief at the Park Ridge Volunteer Fire Department.

Q: Why were you chosen for this position?
A: The director of Environmental Health and Safety [Amy Johnson-Ferdinand] was attempting to deal with environmental health and safety, and fire safety issues. Those were too many hats to wear. The University wanted to bring in someone with specific fire knowledge, code expertise and experience to assist in rectifying fire code violations and maintain fire codes.

Q: Tell us about your duties.
A: I'm responsible for inspecting every academic building and residence hall on campus to ensure that they maintain safe fire environments. As a trained fire investigator, I look into the cause and origin of any fires that occur on campus. I also serve as a liaison between the University and the state fire inspector, and am putting together some fire safety lectures on campus. Next month an instructor from the New Jersey state Division of Fire and Safety will teach student residence assistants, directors and managers about fire safety specifically for universities. In addition to my other responsibilities, I lend a hand to Montclair State's emergency medical squad by driving the ambulance.

Q: What is the most important lesson you learned in the transition from municipal to university fire inspection and investigation?
A: At the municipal level I came in as the firm hand of the code and told people certain things had to be done. I'm still doing that, but I'm more customer-service oriented. I attempt to educate people as to why we do certain things. Unfortunately, fire safety, and safety in general, is reactionary. A new code or standard is created after something has happened to somebody else. For instance, extension cords at one time were a leading cause of fires, so now I explain why extension cords are not allowed in buildings with commercial occupancy.

Q: Where is Montclair State strong and where is there room for improvement?
A: MSU is strong simply because it was looking for a fire safety person before the Seton Hall fire. The University should be proud that it moved ahead of the additional legislation that came out regarding sprinklers in the dorms. However, we need more funding to resolve some issues. They are minor, but they need to be resolved, and the University is aggressively looking for that additional funding. We first have to comply with the dormitory sprinkler act. Freeman and Bohn are the only two residence halls without sprinklers, and installation is scheduled for the summer. Also, Blanton Hall has a five-story open atrium that has to be closed because there's no smoke removal system. We plan to enclose the atrium and install a smoke removal system. The problem of fire department vehicles not being able to get access through the new parking gates may be rectified with a siren-activated device.

Q: How does Montclair State's fire safety program measure up to the other New Jersey colleges and universities?
A: Right now I'm working with the fire safety representatives from Ramapo and William Paterson. I've also met with people from New York University and Rutgers, which has a full fire safety staff. We'd like to build on those informal meetings by forming a coalition among colleges and universities. Eventually I'd like to see a national coalition so we can all get together, hash out some of the major problems and come up with uniform solutions.

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