Fire Safety Inspections More Frequent For Fraternities

By Sophie Whorf

Miami University journalism student

Three Miami University students died in an off-campus house fire in April 2005. Eight years later, the Phi Gamma Delta (FIJI) fraternity house burned to the ground. Luckily, the tenants had already left town for summer break. Over spring break a few weeks ago, another off-campus house burned while tenants were out of town.

The Oxford Fire Department does not currently inspect off-campus rental properties, although they routinely inspect the interior of Miami fraternity houses.

"There’s a history of finding problems in fraternity houses," says Oxford Fire Chief John Detherage.

According to Chief Detherage, fraternity houses are a greater fire hazard due to the large size of the buildings, high number of occupants and, historically, “reckless” behavior among tenants.

Detherage says there are about 30 fraternity houses in Oxford compared to a total of 4,573 approved Oxford rental properties. Fraternities don’t even make up one percent of Oxford rentals, yet they are inspected four times a year (or every three months), as opposed to the remainder of Oxford rentals that are inspected 18-24 months on average.

Doug Paulick, Oxford’s sole rental property inspector, inspects fraternities in the winter and summer seasons while the OFD covers the fall and spring.

High Occupancy Structures Main Concern

Most Oxford rental properties are approved for four tenants, while fraternity houses are much larger. The average fraternity house is home to about 40 tenants. The new FIJI house, which was re-built following the May 2013 fire and finished in August 2015, has 44 tenants.

"The fires in fraternity houses are huge. We have to consider the safety of fire fighters, too," Detherage says. "We do those inspections as much for us as we do for them."

He says that the OFD normally has four firefighters staffed full time, with an additional fifth firefighter on Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights.

Community Development Director Jung-han Chen says that, in addition to fearing for the safety of so many tenants under one roof, fraternity house inspections occur more frequently than other Oxford rental inspections due to the lack of a local contact.

"Problems can be handled much easier when we know the owner or agent," Chen says.

Less Attention To Other Rentals

Detherage says he would prefer that other rentals be inspected more often than the current 18-24-month average.

"A lot of [tenants] dismantle smoke detectors," Detherage says. "We need to make sure that isn’t happening because it’s often the only [fire protection] system these rentals have."

He says that most Oxford rentals do not possess another means of fire protection, such as a sprinkler system. He says he's shocked there hasn’t been a deadly fire in Oxford since 2005.

"This is the luckiest town in the world," he says.

The city inspections include structural aspects of the house, as well as fire detectors. While responding to an emergency call last April, Detherage entered an off-campus student rental property when he suddenly fell through the floor.

"The floor was rotten under the carpet," Detherage says.

Nearly a year later, he is still wearing a leg brace.

Photo: Fraternity houses in Oxford are inspected more frequently than other rental housing due, in part, to the high number of occupants. -- Photo by Elise St. Esprit