A fire in a Honolulu high-rise building killed three people and injured 12 others. It was only after the flames and smoke spread from a the 26th floor that many residents learned the building wasn’t equipped with sprinklers. If it had been, officials said it’s very likely the fire would have been put out shortly after it started and no one would have died. The fire comes just weeks after the London Grenfell Tower blaze killed 80 people, an incident that has caused many cities to reevaluate fire saftey codes.

The fire at the Marco Polo residences started at about 3 p.m. local time but burned into the night. More than 100 firefighters from 30 battalions worked to put out the flames, and because elevators were down they had to form a human chain up the stairs to pass along equipment. The heat from the fire was at times so intense that firefighters were repeatedly forced to evacuate. The two dead, a woman and her adult son, were found on the 26th floor. The injured were taken to the hospital in serious condition.

Investigators don’t yet know what caused the fire, but said the damage would not have been as severe if it had a sprinkler system, something many residents said they’d never been told. “Without a doubt, if there were sprinklers the fire would have been contained to the unit or origin, even in the room of origin,” Honolulu Fire Department Chief Manuel Neves told local media. Many residents were upset, saying they felt unsafe now living in a building without sprinklers, and where many could not remember the last time there was a fire safety drill.

Four-alarm fire sweeps through Honolulu high-rise, killing three; building lacked sprinkler system, officials say https://t.co/a24pjbdBNg pic.twitter.com/VUyUp0q6VM — ABC News (@ABC) July 15, 2017



