Tragedies happen every day. But some occur under circumstances so frighteningly familiar, it’s a wonder similar events don’t often directly touch the lives of people at Iowa State.

Wednesday was one of those days.

Fire broke out in a dormitory at Seton Hall University, southwest of New York City, taking the lives of three students and injuring 62 others.

Because the residents of Boland Hall had been through 18 false fire alarms since September, the sound that rang through the building at about 4:30 that morning was dismissed by many students, who simply went back to bed.

But this time it was the real thing, which they soon discovered from the screams of some residents and the smell of smoke wafting through the halls.

Although the cause of the blaze hasn’t been determined, an investigator said Thursday that careless smoking or electrical problems were still possibilities as the fire’s source.

Smoking isn’t permitted in the halls or lounges of the dorm, although students can smoke in their rooms if they please. Residents reportedly had a tendency to smoke in the lounge where the flames began.

Replace “Seton Hall” and “Boland Hall” with “Iowa State” and “Maple Hall,” and this story begins to sound eerily like something that could happen right here in Ames.

Like Boland, many ISU residence halls forbid smoking in halls and common areas but allow it in student rooms.

And like Boland, some ISU dorms, especially Maple-Willow-Larch, tend to have a lot of false smoke alarms.

Even though the Department of Residence warns against smoking and other potentially hazardous acts such as burning candles and plugging in too many electrical devices, students still do those things.

If a careless smoker did start the fire at Seton, imagine how easily an ISU student could do the same thing.

Closer to home, two girls living in Dancer Hall at University of Northern Iowa left a candle unattended last October that later burned out the first floor of that building.

It’s difficult for some students to conform to rules posted by the Department of Residence, but those officials do usually know what they’re doing.

It’s one thing to throw around a cigarette or burn a candle in a private residence, where the inhabitants are putting at risk their lives alone.

It’s entirely another to live among 600 other students and behave carelessly, knowing that one false move could lead to a tragedy far too similar to the one at Seton Hall.

Iowa State Daily Editorial Board: Sara Ziegler, Greg Jerrett, Kate Kompas, Carrie Tett and David Roepke.