HONOLULU (KHON2) – Nearly four years after the fatal fire in Marco Polo, hundreds of high-rise apartment buildings across Honolulu are still grappling with updated fire safety requirements.
Requirements passed in the course of the fire give building associations the choice between sprinkler systems or an alternative “Life Safety Evaluation” (LSE).
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Only a third of more than 300 old LSE-enabled buildings passed the exam, and only a handful were able to pass.
In July 2017, a fire in the skyscraper of the Marco Polo condominium in Honolulu killed four people, injured more than a dozen others and caused more than $ 100 million in damage.
The following spring, a new law went into effect mandating more than 300 older residential high-rise buildings to either install sprinklers or pass alternative LSEs – something only six of the 100 buildings that have reported to the Honolulu Fire Department have so far managed to do.
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“You have all of these buildings that are failing, and the buildings are going to have to spend a lot of money to comply,” said Jane Sugimura, president of the Hawaii Council of Community Associations.
Sugimura lives in one of the buildings that failed, the Pearl One condos.
“One of our engineer’s recommendations was that we need to upgrade our fire alarm system,” said Sugimura. “It will cost us maybe $ 1.2 million. Sprinklers will cost us maybe $ 10 million. “
Some of the most common errors that cause the evaluation to fail are vertical openings, which are areas of pipes and conduits within the walls that span many or most of the floors.
“You told us during the task force meetings that the vertical openings in the Marco Polo are big enough for a person to pass through,” said Sugimura. “That creates a problem because the fire and air are moving upwards.”
The passing of scores also made more difficult: fire and smoke alarm deficiencies and adequate closing of the hall doors.
“The fire brigade says the Marco Polo doors were left open,” said Sugimura. “These are corridor doors that didn’t close, unit doors that didn’t close. This has caused the fire to spread. “
Hundreds of other buildings have not even completed the life safety assessment and have an already extended deadline for the report next May instead of last spring. Then all fixes that were flagged for failed evaluations must be completed by spring 2025.
“You get point by point,” Sugimura said. “I think we need to have about 20 things on ours. Some of it was small, but some was big. “
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A Honolulu City Council committee is holding a briefing Tuesday afternoon on the challenges so far, and homeowners could try more time to apply for subsidies like property tax credits or help with permits.
“Your maintenance fees will go up,” said Sugimura. “If you have to get all of these buildings to get permits, they have to haunt us quickly.”
The rating system is rare for a large city with sprinkler alternative rating; only Chicago has anything like it. Honolulus LSE is a rigorous chart that evaluates building components and whether residents and firefighters can get out safely in the event of a fire.
“If it looks like it’s just too hard to pass, then maybe it is time to change the matrix,” Sugimura said. “Change the requirements but keep the life safety rating to ensure the buildings are safer.”
Previously, the Honolulu Fire Department notified the city council that they had no proposed changes to the Fire Safety Act or the rating system. We will follow up after the hearing on Tuesday.