Lack of sprinklers in high-rises has been an issue for years

It was November 1991, and Pittsburgh City Council was holding a public hearing on a proposal that would give owners of old high-rise buildings six to 10 years to retrofit the structures with sprinkler systems. The Apartment Association of Metropolitan Pittsburgh was among the groups opposed to the requirement because of the costs.

Besides, said the association’s executive director, no one had died in a high-rise fire in Pittsburgh in the past 80 years.

The bill failed. Buildings erected since 1981 have to have sprinkler systems, but older structures are exempt.

Early Monday, a fire claimed the life of 75-year-old Mary Robinson, a resident of Midtown Towers, an 18-story apartment building built in 1907 on Liberty Avenue, Downtown. The upper floors had no sprinkler system.

“It’s fairly difficult to get building owners [to install sprinklers] unless the city jurisdiction passes a retrofit sprinkler law,” Robert Solomon, division manager for building and life safety codes National Fire Protection Association in Quincy, Mass., said Monday. “It almost becomes an economic issue that a lot of landlords and building owners simply aren’t going to do until they are compelled to do it.”

That view was echoed Monday by the city’s fire chief, Darryl E. Jones.

“Sprinklers have been around for about 100 years now — a little more. And in that 100-year time, there has never been a fatality as a result of fire in a building with a working sprinkler system,” Chief Jones said. He advocated tougher sprinkler requirements but said he doesn’t “have any control over that.”

City code requires high-rise buildings that undergo a renovation of more than half their space

to have sprinkler systems installed. But owners of older buildings can avoid that requirement by updating only some floors, leaving others alone.

“We lobby with local officials and we lobby with politicians in Harrisburg for stricter codes and trying to get better laws in place for retrofitting buildings,” said Jim Kress, business manager with Sprinkler Fitters Local Union #542 in Millvale. “Of course, with new construction, they’re on board, they have to have those permits. The new construction is solid and not a problem. It’s the older buildings that are sitting there with no renovations that get kind of pushed off to the side.

“If there is any resistance, it’s probably from the owners because naturally there’s a cost. We always say, ‘Can you put a cost on a life?’ and the answer is no. That answer’s easy.”

But changing the codes is not.

“And it’s important, especially in an apartment building, where people are living,” Mr. Kress said. “I mean, in office buildings, it’s important, too. But the ones that are occupied around the clock, where people are living — they should have sprinkler systems.”

Mr. Kress could not say how many older Pittsburgh high-rises are without sprinkler systems.

“Boy, that’s a great question. I wish I could tell you,” he said. “I’d be guessing. Not enough, obviously. One is too many.”

Mr. Solomon said the NFPA provides statistical support and experts to explain the need for sprinklers to legislative groups considering such requirements.

“Sprinkler systems are designed to provide a high level of safety,” he said. “The smoke alarm provides problem awareness. ‘Get out, get out, start moving!’

“But sprinkler systems control the fire, they start to knock it down. They allow the room to maintain some tenable condition. There might still be smoke, some steam, but [sprinklers are] knocking down the generation of carbon monoxide, maintaining an adequate level of oxygen if the occupant is unable to evacuate.

“The NFPA has been taking a closer look at buildings with a fair number of elderly residents. If it’s assisted living or long-term care, yes, I want the early warning device, but now I have a population that may not be able to use the exit stairs or may require extra time or assistance from a neighbor or the fire department to get out. That changes the argument. We’d love to see sprinkler systems installed in every high-rise structure in the country, but it’s a difficult thing to accomplish,” Mr. Solomon said.

“It sounds horrible, but you sometimes have to do it while the [fatal] incident is still fresh, because otherwise what happens is that other priorities come up, whether it’s police or garbage disposal or whatever it might be. You have to get people to keep the narrative going.

“And you have to get the firefighters involved. You have to have that perspective, because fighting a fire in a high-rise is one of the more daunting things that responders can do. That’s a challenging task to get the personnel and equipment up there. They’re trained to do it and they do an excellent job, but I’m sure they’d rather go in there and mop it up with a small hose line and cleanup and transport somebody to the hospital instead of to the medical examiner’s office.”