As the family and friends of late Penn State student Christopher Raspanti remember him a year after he died in a house fire, local officials agree his death resulted in positive changes in fire safety.

Raspanti, 21, died April 24, 2005, when he was unable to escape from his house at 500 E. Beaver Ave. after it caught on fire, which may have been caused by faulty wiring.

Following his death, the State College Borough Council and Centre Region Code Administration passed measures to increase the safety of rental units in the area.

Kimi Raspanti, Chris' mother, of Fairless Hills, said the changes over the past year were necessary to protect students.

"If all these changes can save one other family from going through what we have gone through in the past year, then it's worth it," she said. "Unfortunately, it took our tragedy and Chris' death to bring things to light."

The house where Raspanti lived passed inspection in 2001. Following the fire, the investigation revealed that the four smoke detectors in the house were disabled, and there was no smoke detector on the third floor, where Raspanti was sleeping at the time of the fire.

The Raspantis have filed a lawsuit against landlords Rodney Hendricks and Charles Tabolsky and Continental Real Estate Management Inc. for negligence.

Tim Knisely, a senior fire and housing inspector for the Centre Region Code Administration, said the borough was considering the recent changes for some time, but the tragedy placed greater emphasis on passing the ordinances.

"Initially, the biggest impact from this fire was that it really raised awareness about fire safety in this community," he said.

Knisely said the ordinance requiring a smoke alarm in every bedroom of rental units has been the most significant change. Previously, alarms were required only on every level outside of the bedrooms.

The borough has also enacted a $150 fine for tampering with fire alarms and increased education, he said.

Since a majority of the 42,000 Penn State students will live off campus sometime during their college years, local officials are working with the university to educate students about fire safety before they leave on-campus housing, Knisely said.

"As bad as [the tragedy] seems, we have to make something positive come from this," Knisely said. "If you don't do that, the death is in vain."

Tom Fountaine, State College Borough manager, said requiring a second exit from the third floor of rental units is an important change that came as a result of Raspanti's death.

"Without a doubt, some of the changes that have occurred in the past year are a result of the fire," he said. "I think as of a result of [the changes], we will have a safer community."

Borough Council member Elizabeth Goreham said she believes the most significant change is requiring all smoke detectors in rental units to be interconnected. If one alarm in a rental unit is triggered, all alarms go off as well.

Rental units have essentially doubled their numbers of smoke and carbon monoxide detectors, Goreham said.

Kimi Raspanti said the family commemorated the one-year mark in State College by having a picnic Sunday night with Raspanti's former roommates and by attending Monday's mass at the Pasquerilla Spiritual Center, conducted in Raspanti's name.

Following the service, the family visited the site of the fire in which Raspanti died, where they planted an azalea bush and laid flowers, Kimi Raspanti said.

"It's hard," she said. "It's a hard day. It's hard to believe it's been a year already ... We have to keep going forward. We have other children, and they have helped to us to move on."