San Antonio Fire Chief Charles Hood is recommending the city adopt an ordinance for retrofitting high-rise fire sprinklers. He’ll brief a city council committee on details this morning.
The recommendation follows a heightened concern after five people died in a fire at the Wedgwood Senior Living apartments in Castle Hills last December. The 11-story complex did not have sprinklers.
Shortly after the tragedy fire officials identified nine residential high-rises in San Antonio that lacked sprinklers. Five of them have a large number of elderly residents.
Fire officials have said that if the Wedgewood had been equipped with sprinklers there would probably have been fewer casualties.