JACKSON - A state official says a bill awaiting the governor's signature is meant to erase the "gray area" in Mississippi law that could have been a factor in a fraternity house fire that killed three University of Mississippi students.
The bill allows the state Fire Marshal's Office to inspect all fraternity and sorority houses on university campuses and require the installation of smoke and fire detectors. The bill also calls for the state's university system to conduct a feasibility study on the installation of water sprinklers.
Previously, the fire marshal inspected all public buildings, but some Greek houses located on campuses are privately owned. That means other entities were inspecting the buildings.
"I really don't know who was looking at them. It was our understanding that universities were doing it different ways," Millard Mackey, chief of the state Fire Marshal's office, said Monday.
The new law would raise the safety standards of fraternity houses to the level of all other public buildings on campus, Mackey said.
On Aug. 27, 2004, a fire swept through the Alpha Tau Omega fraternity house at Ole Miss, killing Howard Stone, 19, of Martinsville, Va., William Townsend, 19, of Clarksdale, and Jordan Williams, 20, of Atlanta.
A joint investigation by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and state and local officials concluded the cause of the blaze could not be determined. ATF investigators found no evidence that the fire was intentionally set and there was no evidence of foul play.
Wynn Smiley, Alpha Tau Omega's national CEO, said the fraternity has always made its houses open to inspections. "If the state feels that's helpful, then we're supportive," Smiley said of the bill.
Ole Miss officials had said the house had undergone a routine fire inspection Aug. 17 that found problems including a lack of fire extinguishers in the kitchen area, paint stored in the basement and doors blocked with mattresses. No citation was issued.
"Even though the universities were looking at those buildings, it appeared there were some gray areas on how to get things repaired," Mackey said. "Some concerns regarding enforcement were raised."
Johnny Williams, Ole Miss' vice chancellor for administration and finance, said fraternities and sororities on campus are required to have smoke and fire detectors.
"We support the action requiring the state Fire Marshal to inspect all private fraternity and sorority houses," Williams said in a faxed statement to The Associated Press.
Mackey said a survey by his office found that only two universities - Ole Miss and Mississippi State University - actually have privately owned fraternity or sorority houses on campus.
At the other universities, members of Greek organizations either stay in public buildings or in houses located off campus.
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