- Sprinklers are not installed on the Trump Tower floor where a fire broke out on Saturday. One man died in the blaze, and four firefighters were injured.
- After two deadly fires in 1998, NYC legislation was proposed to require sprinklers in all residential buildings. President Donald Trump fought the bill.
- The bill was later passed in March 1999 allowing buildings built before that year to not have sprinklers unless there were major renovations.
Sprinklers are not installed on the Trump Tower floor where a fire broke out on Saturday, and President Donald Trump once fought a New York City law requiring them.
One man was killed and four firefighters received minor injuries after a four-alarm blaze broke out about 5:30 p.m. on the 50th floor of Trump Tower in Manhattan, New York City.
In 1998, after two deadly NYC fires, legislation was proposed to require sprinklers in all residential buildings — but Trump lobbied against the bill, the New York Daily News reported.
He later tempered his criticism for the March 1999 bill after learning it was amended to allow buildings built before that year to not have sprinklers unless it was completely renovated, the Daily News reported.
Trump Tower opened in 1983, and only has sprinklers on the first 10 floors, which have commercial tenants.
—FDNY (@FDNY) April 7, 2018
In 1999, Trump still didn't see the point of sprinklers in high-rise buildings.
"People feel safer with sprinklers," Trump said at the time, according to The New York Times. "But the problem with the bill is that it doesn't address the buildings that need sprinklers the most. If you look at the fire deaths in New York, almost all of them are in one- or two-family houses."
The fire on Saturday was the second at Trump Tower this year, with the first happening on January 8, which injured three people, including one firefighter.
The cause of Saturday's fire is still unknown, according to CBS, as is the cause of the man's death, the Daily News reported.
Authorities identified the man who died as 67-year-old Todd Brassner, whom the Associated Press reported was an art dealer who purchased the apartment in 1996.
