Fire citations issued by the East Lansing Fire Department have nearly doubled since last year, said Fire Marshal Bob Pratt.
"In past years, we might have given out a warning," he said of violations that include tampering with a smoke detector. "We're not doing that anymore."
The crackdown on fire violations in East Lansing and other universities has drawn attention in the wake of three recent fatal fires at other schools.
"We've seen, in the last two weeks, three fatalities in college campuses," Pratt said. "All of them off-campus."
Fires occurred last month at two fraternity houses at the University of Missouri-St. Louis and Nebraska Wesleyan University. A University of Pittsburgh student also died Nov. 17 after an apartment building caught fire.
To prevent such fires from happening in East Lansing, the fire department has instigated a "no-tolerance policy" in regard to fire code violations.
So far this year, the department has given out 11 tickets to owners and renters of off-campus student housing, including apartment buildings, fraternities, sororities and co-ops.
In 2004 and 2005, the fire department wrote eight tickets, Pratt said.
The latest ticket was issued on Dec. 1 to the Alpha Tau Omega fraternity house, where 26 men live in two connected buildings at 237 and 243 Louis St.
Fraternity President Thomas Dixon received a $500 misdemeanor ticket on behalf of his fraternity for smoke detectors covered with plastic bags and propped-open fire doors.
Dixon said he didn't know who in the fraternity was responsible for covering the smoke detectors or how the situation had occurred.
No party had taken place last week, the construction management junior said.
"We're going to be meeting with Bob Pratt, the fire marshal, to discuss the importance and the ramifications of such incidents," Dixon said.
Pratt acknowledged this isn't a problem at only fraternity houses.
"It's co-ops, regular family houses — it happens all over," he said. "It just happens to be a fraternity house in this instance."
Some people living off-campus are taking extra precautions to avoid a hefty fire violation ticket.
At Vlach-Bower Co-op, 127 Whitehills Drive — a 19-person house near the Northern Tier — fire safety is taken seriously when new members move in, said history sophomore Danielle Berry.
"In the co-op, we're really careful when we orientate to new members," said Berry, who represents her group at the Student Housing Cooperative. "We try to make it very clear at the beginning of the year."
Sara Armstrong, president of Gamma Phi Beta, 258 E. Michigan Ave., a sorority where about 50 women live, isn't concerned with members violating the fire code.
Since the sorority house doesn't host parties, the only issue has been leaving candles unattended, Armstrong said.
"It's never really been a problem," the French senior said.
In 2005, East Lansing had 26 structure fires, none of which were considered major, Pratt said. But in the last five years, the fire department has become stricter in making sure off-campus residents follow the fire code.
"Our student housing is the most dangerous property we have," Pratt said. "We don't have a lot of car plants or chemical plants that are typically the most dangerous parts of a municipality. What we have (is) a rental housing industry."
