Fraternity house fires that have occurred recently across the United States leave many asking the question: is UTM taking the appropriate steps to prevent fires from occurring in the off-campus fraternity houses here in Martin?

Early Sunday morning the Sigma Alpha Epsilon (SAE) fraternity house at Western Kentucky University caught fire while four members were sleeping inside the house. Fortunately, no one was injured. However, the fraternity house and all of the members’ belongings inside the house have been completely destroyed by the blaze.

Only a few months ago, a fire ripped through the fraternity house of Alpha Tau Omega at Ole Miss and the outcome was much more tragic. The fire claimed the lives of Howard Stone, 19, of Martinsville, Va., William Townsend, 19, of Clarksdale, Miss., and Jordan Williams, 20, of Atlanta.

According to data released by the National Fire Incident Reporting System, fraternity fires happen all too often in the United States. The report says that each year at least 150 fires occur in fraternity and sorority houses across the country. These fires result in 10 civilian deaths per year and an average of more than $2.1 million in property damage.

What is the city of Martin and UTM doing to keep this from occurring in our own back yard?

Vice Chancellor of Student Affairs, Katie High, tells The Pacer that her office has been working with Chief Oran True of the Martin Fire Department to ensure that the fraternity houses have taken the appropriate methods to prevent fires from occurring and to help keep everyone safe should one occur.

“Within the past year (academic year) we have had one regular and two surprise inspections of each fraternity house,” High says. “During the inspections each fraternity was given a list of the items that were out of compliance. At this point each house is in compliance with the regulations,” High says. Chief True was the one conducting these inspections.

High says that some of the items that were originally out of compliance at the UTM fraternity houses included keeping working batteries in the smoke detectors. While to some this may seem trivial, working smoke detectors are being credited with saving lives of those at the Western Kentucky fire.

Vice President for University Relations, Bob Evans, at Western Kentucky University told The Pacer that last semester their university made sure that the fraternity houses were in compliance with the fire safety regulations.