Missouri college town to require sprinklers in Greek houses

COLUMBIA, Mo. (AP) -- Fraternities and sororities at the University of Missouri-Columbia must install sprinkler systems in their houses by 2012 under a new city ordinance.

The Columbia City Council voted Tuesday to require the Greek houses to install sprinklers by Dec. 31, 2012. The mandate resembles enhanced fire codes in other college towns across the country, including Lawrence, Kan., home to the University of Kansas.

Calls for tougher standards in Columbia emerged after the May 8, 1999, death of Dominic Passantino, 19, a Sigma Chi freshman who was killed after a candle he placed in a shoe box ignited his bed.

More recently, a 25-year-old student at the University of Missouri-St. Louis was killed in a November fire in the Pi Kappa Alpha fraternity.

More than 90 people have been killed in campus-related fires since January 2000, according to the national Center for Campus Fire Safety. Most of those deaths occurred at off-campus rental housing.

Representatives of the University of Missouri-Columbia's 37 Greek houses objected to the sprinkler system requirement, telling council members the new code poses a financial burden and may force some houses to shut down.

Council members sympathized with those concerns but kept the deadline intact.

"Safety comes first, up front," said Councilwoman Almeta Crayton. "Brotherhood is one thing. Brotherhood doesn't do you any good if you don't come out of it."

Because Greek houses are private and usually located off-campus, they fall under the legal authority of local governments.

Sprinkler systems are also being installed at university residence halls over the next six to seven years, fire officials said.

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Information from: Columbia Missourian, http://www.digmo.org