Tailgaters beware.

There is a new ban being enforced this year in the Jack Trice Stadium parking lots – no stuffed furniture.

Doug Houghton, program coordinator with Department of Public Safety, said stuffed furniture, such as couches, will be banned from parking lots and grass lots this year because it is a fire hazard.

“Iowa State football games have a history of furniture being set ablaze during or after the games, especially in grass lots,” Houghton said.

Frank Randall, assistant athletics director and events manager, said setting stuffed furniture on fire has been a problem in recent years.

Randall said the athletics department will not fine anyone for bringing stuffed furniture in.

“The athletics department would prefer that stuffed furniture not be brought to the games,” Randall said. “Security people will be going around and asking people to put the furniture back in their vehicle.”

In the past few years, Houghton said, there were a few serious fires at the games.

“One of the fires got extremely large and became dangerous,” he said. “It got so out of hand, we couldn’t put it out with our extinguishers, and the fire department had to be called.”

Houghton said a couch was set on fire and people started throwing more stuffed furniture on top of it.

“Luckily, nobody was hurt, but there could have been,” he said. “There was property damage done to the lot, as well as to a lot of cars around the area.”

Houghton said the fires usually are set on purpose, but some are accidental.

“There was an instance when a cigarette fell into a couch and was caught on fire,” he said.

Officers were able to control the fire quickly, Houghton said. However, the fires are not always caught in time.

Houghton said people will be fined if they are caught setting the furniture on fire.

“Setting a couch on fire is arson,” he said. “That is a very serious crime in Iowa.”

The amount of space the furniture takes up is another concern.

“We don’t have a problem with lawn chairs,” Randall said. “They are less of a hazard and take up less room.”

Houghton said space is going to be a bit tighter this year, so people will need to adjust to make room for others.

“The students that regularly brought the furniture with them were in lot S-1, which is now closed because of construction,” Houghton said.

Houghton said the furniture often causes a mess in the area around Jack Trice Stadium when it is left behind.

Houghton said there will be signs posted in the entrance of each lot, alerting fans of the ban on the stuffed furniture.

He said there also will be a ban this year on glass in grass lots.

Houghton said DPS will be more direct this year about enforcing a rule that has been around for years.

“It has always been a rule that fires must be contained to a grill,” he said. “This year we will be strongly enforcing that rule.”