In response to two deadly fires that swept through non-Boston University apartments near South Campus in three weeks, local fire departments are working with university officials to plan a fire and personal-safety program.

BU plans to help students prevent fires by using a multi-step process, said BU spokesman Colin Riley. The initiative comes a few days after a fire blazed through a 49 St. Mary’s St. apartment early Friday morning and killed Bloomsburg University sophomore Derek Crowl, 19, of Elysburg, Pa., and injured two firefighters.

A Feb. 24 fire in a 21 Aberdeen St. apartment killed School of Management senior Stephen Adelipour and College of Arts and Sciences junior Rhiannon McCuish. The fire also hospitalized CAS senior Steven Boursiquot, who is recovering from burn wounds at Massachusetts General Hospital.

“[Step] one is sort of going beyond our regular inspections and increasing those,” Riley said. “[Step two is] reaching out to students who live off campus about making sure they’re aware of fire-safety issues and prevention in their residences that are not university-owned buildings.

“[Step three is] to find additional ways to communicate this information and emphasize personal safety . . . not just fire safety,” he continued.

Brookline Fire Department Deputy Chief Steve Sweeney said “human carelessness is the biggest factor” in the recent fires.

Authorities believe a burning piece of charcoal started the four-alarm fire Friday morning, slipping through a hole in a grill and burning a wooden porch, though an official investigation is underway, officials said. It is illegal to operate charcoal and propane grills on porches in Brookline, Sweeney said.

“The alarm system worked, and thank goodness [for] that, because there could have been more fatalities,” he said. “It’s a constant problem in that area where there are college students.”

Sweeney said the Brookline Fire Department has begun meeting with BU officials to discuss fire prevention and personal-safety programs for next fall.

“[The program] will be resolved in the next few weeks,” Sweeney said. “[We] want to get parents involved, too.”

The plans are in their preliminary stages, but the main goal is to make parents “aware of the students’ surroundings,” Sweeney said.

The fire department had a conference with police, health and other fire departments, the BU administration and town leaders yesterday afternoon, said Brookline Fire Department Deputy Chief Keith Flaherty.

“We sat and discussed a multi-faceted type of presentation and the target audiences,” which mainly consists of students, their parents and neighbors and building owners and managers, he said.

“We talked about the various ways of heightening their awareness of their own personal responsibility,” Flaherty said.

Although Flaherty said he is unsure what BU will ultimately decide to do to raise fire safety awareness, there are many ways it could spread information about fire prevention.

“We discussed many different alternatives . . . mailings, freshman orientation opportunities to discuss [fire prevention and personal safety] and orientation with the parents,” he said.

“It’s going to be a cooperative effort between the town and the university, and hopefully, we can reach out and explain to people what they need to do,” he continued.

Dean of Students Kenneth Elmore said the fact that the fires were not in on-campus residences does not stop students from being emotionally hurt. President Robert Brown wants to “double our efforts” of inspecting campus systems, Elmore said.

“There’s something that’s very hard-hitting when you deal with it for the first time, and there is an emotional element to this that is entirely understandable, and we’ll do what we typically do,” Elmore said. “[We’ll] provide support for those directly affected.”

The St. Mary’s St. fire destroyed the apartment building, forcing 15 BU students to find alternative housing for the rest of the semester. The university has offered on-campus housing to all of the displaced students.

“It’s up to [the students] to make their decision,” Riley said. “Some move in with friends, some with family, and now we’ve said, ‘Here is an on-campus room.'”

Riley said these students will be housed on campus until the end of the semester, and “then, it’s a matter of what they choose to do.”