More photos and detail from last night's fire at Galaxy Towers in Long Beach: the building didn't have sprinklers because it was constructed in 1966 before the equipment was mandated, according to the LA Times.
A proposed city ordinance that would require such retrofitting has not yet been approved by the Long Beach City Council. It was prompted by the devastating December 2006 Paradise Garden apartment fire in North Long Beach, which killed two, injured 18 and left hundreds homeless. That building also did not have working sprinklers. Long Beach Fire Dept. Capt. Jim Arvizu tells the paper that 54% of the city's 74 high rises lack sprinkler systems. Also, more details on John Carlyle Crews, the 60-year-old resident who died after jumping from his 18th floor condo: he jumped just as firefighters arrived at a stairwell one floor below him, according to the paper. Horrible.
· Man dies in Long Beach high-rise fire[LA Times]
· Man dies in tower blaze[Press-Telegram]