Transcript for At least 3 people killed in Honolulu high-rise fire

Saturday night. I'm Tom llamas. And we begin with that deadly high-rise fire in Hawaii. Flames shooting out of the windows of the 36-story apartment building in Honolulu. The fire breaking out on the 26th floor. You can see it there, spreading to the floors directly above it. At least three people killed. About a dozen hurt. More than 100 firefighters on the scene, unable to use the elevators to reach that fire. And the fire chief revealing the building did not have a sprinkler system. ABC's Marci Gonzalez starts us off. Reporter: The flames tearing through the 26-floor of this high rise in Honolulu and quickly spreading. That was like a horror movie. Reporter: Apartments engulfed. Residents' chilling screams cutting through the roar of the inferno. I heard three women's voices screaming, pleading, moaning, please help me. Reporter: Those who could rushing out of the massive Marco polo condominium complex. Firefighters telling residents to shelter in place. Helpinothers through the. Blinding suffocating smoke through safety. So many smokes. Reporter: Residents watching in disbelief from a distance. The thick plumes visible from miles. Horrendous. There was flames shooting out and black smoke. Reporter: A dozen people injured and at least three people killed, found in two different units on the 26th floor. This 54-year-old called co-workers, saying he was hiding under a bed, unable to get his 58-year-old mother. Neither making it out alive. I drove down there and basically watched his floor be consumed. Reporter: Fire investigators at the scene tonight, still piecing together what caused the fire. But officials said what's clear is how much of this devastation was likely preventable. If there were sprinklers in this apartment, the fire would have been contained to the origin. Reporter: Building codes didn't require sprinklers when it was built in 1971. How is it possible that a corporation doesn't install something as an inexpensive and as effective as sprinkler yeah, there's anger. Reporter: There were no sprinklers in the apartment building in London where this fire tore through last month killing about 80 people. The mayor of Honolulu said the fire there will likely force a change, saying lawmakers will look into requiring that older buildings be retrofitted with sprinklers. Tom. Next tonight, the families living on dangerous ground in Florida.

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