Milwaukee apartment fire, sprinkler exemption; should law change?

Should law change after fatal fire?

FOX6 News questioned Wisconsin lawmakers about whether the state should mandate the retrofit of older buildings with sprinkler systems.

MILWAUKEE - A fire at Milwaukee's Highland Court Apartments on Sunday left five people dead and others injured. Built in 1968, it was exempt from a state law that requires fire sprinklers.

Lawmakers questioned

What they're saying:

FOX6 News questioned Wisconsin Assembly Speaker Robin Vos and other lawmakers about whether the state should mandate the retrofit of older buildings, which are currently exempt, with sprinkler systems.

Wisconsin Capitol, Madison

"We want to ensure that, of course, people are safe," Vos said, "but we have to be careful about overreacting to a single or unfortunate incident like this, which occur, but are less and less likely over time."

Vos' financial disclosures show he himself owns rental properties.

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"Wisconsin, like the most of the country, has a housing crisis, and it’s mostly focused on affordability," he said. "The last thing we want to do is make it more expensive to own a home or rent a home.

"Obviously, if you add on additional costs, landlords aren’t going to eat that. That would be passed along in higher rents. So I really think we need to think about that and what the potential ramifications are before we just pass a mandate that might feel good at the moment, but make people homeless, drive up costs, and certainly not have the intended effect."

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Milwaukee Highland Court apartments fire, investigation ongoing

Milwaukee officials and fire investigators are providing new information on Tuesday, May 13 about the Highland Court apartment fire in which five people died and several others were injured.

"I don’t know that his statement on its own implies that he’s against it. I think what he’s against is an overcorrection," said Milwaukee Fire Aaron Lipski. "I'm the fire chief. Sprinklers save lives. Should it be something everyone wants to pursue? They'd be wise to do it."

State Rep. Margaret Arney (D-Milwaukee) represents Highland Court tenants in Madison. She said she's going to be talking with her fellow lawmakers, community members and the city about what she said would be improving the structure of laws.

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"Even though I can understand the practical reasons why we grandfather older buildings, because it can be very cost-prohibitive, and it’s important to supply housing, we need to do better – to be creative about how to make buildings safe for people," Arney said. "That’s one of the reasons why we have to be thoughtful and careful about it. But, there’s not just one way to approach these things. We need to get creative. We need to take action."

What's next:

Milwaukee Ald. Bob Bauman will host a committee hearing this month on getting answers about building codes, sprinklers and more. Lipski said the fire department is still working on getting answers about how many Milwaukee buildings are grandfathered in without sprinklers.