City should aid sprinkler retrofits

The owners of 30 high-rise business buildings that could be required to retrofit sprinkler systems are understandably concerned about the steep expense — up to $1 million per building.

The 30 buildings are those erected before a 1975 sprinkler law went into effect, requiring them in all new buildings higher than 75 feet.

City Council Chairman Jon Yoshimura says he thinks the Council, perhaps by the end of summer, will require the retrofit in commercial buildings.

But why stop there? Why not also require retrofitting of some 300 pre-1975 residential high-rises? Perhaps the Council thinks businesses can "pass through" the expense, while apartment or condo owners cannot.

But surely a fire in a residential high-rise can be every bit as devastating as the April 1 fire last year in the Interstate Building on King Street. It took 125 firefighters nearly four hours to control the fire, which caused an estimated $10 million in damage to the building and $2 million to its contents.

When you add public expenses for liability — 11 firefighters were injured in the Interstate fire — plus what it costs the city to be prepared to battle fires in high-rises unprotected by sprinklers, it becomes clear that there is a strong public interest in mandating retrofits.

For that reason, the owners of these buildings should not have to go it alone. It's in the city's best interest to offer some sort of tax credit to ease the burden.

It's good that the Council is ready to order retrofitting of business high-rises, but it's just a start. The potential for loss of life in pre-1975 residential high-rises is even greater. The Council must finish the job.