Along with the smell of smoke from the fire that started on the 36th floor of a Streetervilled high-rise apartment building (ABC 7 Chicago) came the distinct whiff of lawsuits, since the building lacked adequate fire sprinklers. But the 12 victims and the family members of a resident killed in the fire may have little legal recourse.
Even though the death and injuries likely would have been prevented by sprinklers, weak laws probably will protect the building's owner against negligence claims, as least so far as the absence of sprinklers is concerned. This is the second fire at the same building in seven years, the last one also claiming one life and injuring 11.
Reporters explain why there wasn't more pressure to install the sprinklers after the first fire in an ABC news report about the incident:
Chicago law requiring commercial buildings to be at least partially retrofitted with fire sprinklers by 2012 (and completed by 2017) does not equally apply to residential buildings. Pre-1975, high-rise residential buildings are exempt (PDF, City of Chicago).
Sprinkler systems are extremely effective at protecting people in the event of fire (US Fire Administration). It's not that city officials doubt this, but politics-as-usual and the influence of vested real estate interests have been blamed for the weak ordinance.
I know, I know, what a shock that Chicago politics has anything to do with it.
Perhaps the only way victims of the Streeterville inferno will have any reason to contact Chicago injury attorneys is if the investigation determines it was caused by some other form of negligence or an intentional act.
- Star Fire Sprinklers Recalled by Mealane (FindLaw)
- Fire Investigation Mythunderstandings (InterFire)
- Find an Illinois Injury Lawyer (FindLaw)
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