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Some urge sprinkler mandates across US after Honolulu fire

FILE - In this July 15, 2017 file photo the Marco Polo building is shown after a fire the day before gutted several of the top floors of the residential high-rise in Honolulu. Across the United States, there is a mixed bag of laws on whether older high-rise apartment buildings must install fire sprinklers that weren't required when the towers were first built. Many cities _ including New York, Chicago, Dallas and San Francisco _ still have high-rises without the safety measure. Cost is often cited, but after the deadly blaze in Honolulu, many question if the economics outweigh the potential for tragedy. (AP Photo/Marco Garcia, File)
FILE - In this July 15, 2017 file photo the Marco Polo building is shown after a fire the day before gutted several of the top floors of the residential high-rise in Honolulu. Across the United States, there is a mixed bag of laws on whether older high-rise apartment buildings must install fire sprinklers that weren't required when the towers were first built. Many cities _ including New York, Chicago, Dallas and San Francisco _ still have high-rises without the safety measure. Cost is often cited, but after the deadly blaze in Honolulu, many question if the economics outweigh the potential for tragedy. (AP Photo/Marco Garcia, File) FILE - In this July 15, 2017 file photo the Marco Polo building is shown after a fire the day before gutted several of the top floors of the residential high-rise in Honolulu. Across the United States, there is a mixed bag of laws on whether older high-rise apartment buildings must install fire sprinklers that weren't required when the towers were first built. Many cities _ including New York, Chicago, Dallas and San Francisco _ still have high-rises without the safety measure. Cost is often cited, but after the deadly blaze in Honolulu, many question if the economics outweigh the potential for tragedy. (AP Photo/Marco Garcia, File)

By Associated Press 5 min read

HONOLULU (AP) – When Moon Yun Pellerin’s parents bought a 27th-floor apartment in a high-rise overlooking Waikiki about 15 years ago, they didn’t realize the wave-shaped building had no fire sprinklers.

“We didn’t even consider it,” Pellerin said.

But a week after a massive fire broke out one floor below her apartment, killing three neighbors, Pellerin and her family “definitely want sprinklers” installed – even if it means spending thousands of dollars.

The Marco Polo Apartments were built in 1971, before sprinklers became mandatory for new construction in Honolulu.

Despite local lawmakers’ efforts to require older buildings to install sprinkler systems, officials estimate about 300 high-rises on Oahu still lack the fire prevention measure.