LANSING - Public schools and universities would be forced to add lockdown drills with emergency drills for fire and tornadoes under a new proposal.

Legislation to remove two fire drills from the year’s schedule and add two lockdown drills for emergencies like hazardous materials spills or weapons near the schools has unanimously passed the House Education Committee, despite opposition from some fire safety officials.

Extra security measures shouldn’t come at the expense of fire drills, said Ron Farr, chair of the state Fire Safety Board and Kalamazoo Township fire chief.

“We cannot, and should not, reduce the level of fire safety training in our schools any further,” he said. “There is no segment in the fire safety community, from the state Fire Marshal to the volunteers, that supports this.”

The Fire Safety Board works with the state Bureau of Construction Codes and Fire Safety to prepare for emergencies and prevent fire-related damage to public buildings.

But Kent Randall, Clare’s fire chief, said “attaboy” to the proposal. The risk of a weapon in a school is a lot higher than that of a fire, he said, and there are enough backups in fire safety precautions to shift the drills.

“There are a ton of smoke detectors in the buildings,” he said. “In my humble opinion, there’s more than adequate smoke detection in those facilities.”

Materials in a school are much less flammable than things in a home like scrap wood, rags and cardboard, Randall said. “Everything’s block and stone and hard,” and children are at a far higher risk of fire in their homes than at school.

“I would love to have more drills at home,” he said.

Fire drills at school help children be more prepared for fire-related emergencies at home, said Farr.

But the bill’s sponsor, Rep. Willim Van Regenmorter, R-Jenison, said that school children must be prepared for many different emergencies.

“It’s becoming more obvious that violence is a leading threat to children,” he said. “Those children and supervisors need this life-saving training.”

There were 157 fires and no fire-related deaths at educational buildings in Michigan in 2003. But 44 Michigan children under the age of 19 died that same year, and another 25 died in fires in 2004.

Van Regenmorter added that the bill would still require at least a half-dozen fire drills for each year, and said he would work with fire safety experts on the issue.

Co-sponsors include Reps. Roger Kahn, R-Saginaw, Shelley Taub, R-Bloomfield Hills, and Bruce Caswell, R-Pittsford.