Following a kitchen fire last Monday in the Marvin Gardens apartment complex, the Centre Region Code Administration is conducting an investigation to determine if the landlord was in compliance with borough smoke detector ordinances.

Senior Fire and Housing Inspector Tim Knisley said the investigation is a routine procedure after a residential fire. A fire marshal is also conducting an investigation into the cause of the fire. Officials are expected to release more information in the next week, Knisley said.

Landlord Rodney Hendricks would receive a citation if the investigation determines he was not in compliance with a 2005 ordinance passed by the State College Borough Council that requires the installation of fire alarms on all floors of apartments, as well as in every bedroom, Borough Manager Tom Fountaine said.

The deadline to meet the new requirements was set for July 1, 2006, he said.

Hendricks did not return repeated calls for comment by press time yesterday.

If the apartment complex is found to have violated the ordinance, Hendricks would receive a minimum $150 fine. For a severe case or repeat offenses, a citation would be issued along with a $300 to $1,000 fine, Knisley said.

All rental units will also be required to have interconnected smoke detectors by October 2007. The rule insures that the sounding of one detector would activate all smoke detectors within the apartment, Knisley said.

Carbon monoxide detectors are required only in places where a release of carbon monoxide is a possibility, he said.

Knisley said the investigation will also determine if the apartment was susceptible to carbon monoxide.

The ordinance was passed after Penn State student Christopher Raspanti, 21, died in a house fire at 500 E. Beaver Ave. Raspanti was unable to escape from the fire, which authorities say may have been caused by faulty wiring. Hendricks was the landlord of the house and is currently involved in a lawsuit concerning the fatality.

Alpha Fire Co. and police responded to last Monday's blaze at 4:40 a.m. at Marvin Garden apartments, 1010 S. Pugh St., when apartment 31 was destroyed after a fire in the kitchen spread through the residence.

Michael Benvenuto (sophomore-agribusiness management), who lives in the same building as the victims, said he believes that the residents of the destroyed apartment are both Penn State students.

The residents of the apartment across the hall that was damaged by smoke are believed to be a student and a faculty member, Benvenuto said.

James Bowman, who lives in the complex, said all of his smoke detectors were replaced after the fire last Monday. He said maintenance workers also installed carbon monoxide detectors last Tuesday and Centre Region Code Administration officials arrived last Monday to check the smoke detectors.

The detectors are now interconnected within each apartment, as required by the borough, Bowman said.

Apartment 13 in the Marvin Gardens complex caught fire in March after a resident said he fell asleep on his couch with a lit cigarette. The incident was ruled accidental.

Bowman said he has never had any issues with his landlord, though there was no hot water in the building last Monday.

"I feel bad for the landlord," Sunita Mognet, a resident of the complex, said. "He does a really good job. He's renovated everything... I like him as my landlord."