Officials at the University of Maryland are trying to spread their fire safety message to students in off-campus housing and the landlords that own the structures.

A team of fire experts from across the country gathered at the College Park campus in February just weeks after a fire at an off-campus residence left one dead. It was the second fatal off-campus fire at the university in nine months.

State, county and campus fire officials, as well as landlords and students, participated in the meetings aimed at helping the campus community develop a comprehensive fire strategy. Ed Comeau, director of the Center for Campus Fire Safety, a nonprofit group, says sharing experiences at meetings like the one held at the University of Maryland can help colleges across the nation develop education programs to improve fire safety.

"We can't rely on the old methods of reaching today's students," he says. "Fire safety programs have to be creative, cutting-edge and use graphic demonstrations that show how fast fire can spread and kill."

Some colleges have gone as far as building mockups of student rooms in the middle of campus and then setting them on fire.

Nearly 80 percent of college fire fatalities happen off campus, according to the Center for Campus Fire Safety. Since January 2000,84 students have died in student housing fires. Factors common in the student housing fires include a lack of automatic sprinklers, missing or disabled smoke alarms, careless disposal of smoking materials, and alcohol consumption.

The meeting at the University of Maryland comes just months after a similar gathering State College, Pa., where a fatal off-campus fire erupted in April 2005. Officials there convened a task force to identify strategies to prevent a second occurrence and implemented sweeping changes within six months.

The Center for Campus Fire Safety suggests students and their parents should make sure off-campus housing facilities have working smoke alarms and at least two exits. It also suggests asking a fire inspector to look at the building and its electrical wiring.