Local officials say fire-related student deaths are a rare occurrence in State College, despite a USA Today report released Jan. 24, finding that fires account for 10 percent of all deaths of four-year college students.

Penn State spokesman Bill Mahon said only one student has died in an off-campus fire during the 23 years he has worked for the university.

"With 80,000 students a year, there's no trend," he said.

Seventy-six percent of students who died in fires were within two miles of campus and 73 percent were within one mile, according to the reports cited by USA Today. Only 14 percent of fire-related student deaths occurred on campus.

USA Today compiled a report that included 568 incidents and 620 deaths from 2000 to 2005 that met specific criteria.

Students must have been enrolled in a four-year institution, and their deaths must have occurred within the college community.

Classes must have been in session or the student must have been involved in a school-related activity.

"Off-campus fires in the Centre Region are not that common," Brian Bittner, president of the Alpha Fire Company, said.

The fire departments in Centre County respond to between 800 and 900 incidents a year, including only about a dozen major fires, Centre Region Code Administration Fire Inspector Shawn Kauffman said. Of these fires, only about half typically occur in Penn State's off-campus housing, he added.

The fire that killed Penn State student Christopher Raspanti in April 2005 prompted officials to revise outmoded fire safety codes.

"Fire codes get reviewed and updated about every three years. The incident in 2005 prompted it to occur out of cycle," Kauffman said.

The incident and the related changes affected landlords' points of view more than the students', Kauffman said.

"Fire safety attitudes in this community are very transient," Kauffman said. "Students aren't affected as much because they come in and out of this community so frequently. Landlords have changed because they're more aware."

New fire codes in State College now require each property to have smoke detectors in every bedroom and on every level of an apartment building, Kauffman said.

"The detectors are interconnected; so if one goes off, they all go off," he said.

The new smoke detectors are tamper-resistant to make it more difficult for residents to remove batteries.

Residents often remove batteries to turn off the detectors' alarms during smoky parties or after a mishap in the kitchen, preventing the system from detecting serious fires.

"Around 25 percent to 35 percent of smoke detectors we inspect are disabled," Kauffman said.

The Alpha Fire Company was called to 945 fires in the past year but recorded only Raspanti's death in April of 2005.

Their coverage areas include the State College Borough, College, Ferguson and Patton townships and Penn State.

Statistics for past years were not available.

Seniors account for 36 percent of the fire fatalities, according to USA Today's study.

Triebold, first assistant chief of the Alpha Fire Company, said most students at Penn State experience beneficial fire safety programs much sooner than their senior years.

"If they're going through the Penn State system here, they'll be exposed to the programs on campus offered by Centre Region Codes. There are programs offered on and off campus," Triebold said. "And students start to learn fire safety messages in elementary school."