Tinley Park, IL (January 24, 2024) – One year ago, a fatal fire at the 25-story Harper Square Cooperative building at 4850 S. Lake Park Ave in Chicago could have been prevented if the high-rise would have been fully protected with a fire sprinkler system according to the Northern Illinois Fire Sprinkler Advisory Board (NIFSAB). Because the building was not protected with fire sprinklers, the fire spread from the 15th to the 24th floor. In addition to one fatality, eight residents were sent to the hospital, one firefighter was injured, more than 140 units were damaged and 200 people are still displaced living with relatives or in temporary housing.
The Harper Square fire was the first of 17 reported fires in unsprinklered Chicago residential high-rise buildings during 2023 that resulted in two fatalities, including a firefighter, multiple injuries, and hundreds of residents displaced with millions of dollars in property loss. All 17 buildings were constructed before the 1975 City of Chicago Code that required fire sprinklers in high-rise buildings. Following the deadly fire at the Cook County Administration building in 2003, high-rise building owners were encouraged to retrofit their buildings with fire sprinklers. However, today, more than 600 residential high-rise buildings in Chicago are not protected with fire sprinkler systems, placing residents and firefighters at greater risk of injury and death.
According to NIFSAB Executive Director Erik Hoffer, many building owners and managers claim the cost of retrofitting a high-rise building prevents them from protecting these older buildings. “After seeing the resulting tragedies of these 17 unsprinklered fires, the concern is the true long-term impact and cost of not protecting these buildings, not to mention the risk to occupants and firefighters. What is the cost of lives lost and injured?”
For more information about the 17 Chicago high-rise fires in 2023, please visit: https://highriselifesafety.com/high-rise-fires-in-2023/
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