Officials still aren't sure what caused the blaze in Todd Brassner's Trump Tower apartment. But one thing is certain, if the building had been fitted with a sprinkler system, his chances of survival would have been much better.
Unfortunately, that wasn't the case.
And after a fire ravaged his apartment the 67-year-old art collector succumbed to his injuries in a New York hospital. Trump, for his part, was one of the most outspoken opponents of the 1999 building code updates that required high-rises to be retrofitted with sprinklers. He claimed that the process would be
too expensive. Ultimately, a new building code was adopted that did require sprinkler systems, but owners of older high-rises weren't obligated retrofit their apartments unless the building was being renovated.
That is how — even after Trump finally agreed to install sprinklers in a different tower — Mr. Brassner ended up living on the 50th floor of the Trump Tower without any sprinkler system to help protect against blazes. Trump is using the current NY building code to avoid doing what's right. Because his building was built in 1983 he isn't, technically, required to add any sort of sprinkler system. But after this terrible tragedy, it is plainly clear that all high-rises both new and old could benefit from this important safety measure.
Tell Trump to be a responsible developer and help ensure that something like this never happens again. Tell Trump to install sprinklers in the Trump Tower.