A massive fire sparked debate over apartment safety 5 years ago. What’s actually changed?

Edgewater Avalon Fire 2015

Apartments at the Avalon complex in Edgewater burned late into the night on Jan. 21, 2015. (Ashley Peskoe | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com)Ashley Peskoe | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com

Five years ago this month, a massive fire ripped through an Edgewater apartment complex. The flames’ towering, orange glow was visible from Manhattan’s West Side and the blaze burned through the night, displacing more than 1,000 people in the January cold.

More than 250 firefighters from nearly three dozen communities responded, including fireboats from the New York City Fire Department. Miraculously, no one was injured, but the fire wrecked The Avalon at Edgewater complex, destroying 240 of the complex’s 408 units.

The destruction came 15 years after a fire consumed the nearly completed Avalon River Mews at the same site. One resident, who had lived across the street long enough to witness both blazes, remarked it was "like deja vu” seeing the smoke waft up the cliffs of the Palisades.

The obvious question: could it happen again, in Edgewater or elsewhere in New Jersey where residential buildings climb dozens of stories into the sky?

The Edgewater fire sparked debate in Trenton over New Jersey’s building standards and inspired multiple legislative proposals from various state lawmakers, with measures ranging from expanded sprinkler and fire wall requirements to temporary bans on constructing developments like the Avalon.

In the half-decade since, those measures have failed to gain traction in the Statehouse — but some of the ideas have new rules.

Trenton stalls

The Edgewater fire in 2015 was ignited by two unlicensed maintenance workers who were using a blowtorch for repairs when they sparked the building’s wooden frame. The workers then called their bosses rather than 911, delaying the eventual response of emergency services.

The state Fire Safety Commission formed a committee to review fire risks associated with multiple dwelling structures constructed with lightweight wood frames, similar to the Avalon complex.

As a result of the committee’s findings, former Assemblyman John Wisniewski, a Democrat from Middlesex County who served as the chair of state’s Fire Safety Commission at the time, introduced legislation that would’ve amended the state’s building code to require more extensive sprinkler systems in developments like the Avalon in Edgewater.

That bill was introduced in December 2015, but Wisniewski said former Assembly Speaker Vincent Prieto a Hudson County Democrat, never acted on the bill.

“The Speaker at the time, who had a day job as a construction code official, seemed reluctant to actually move it forward,” Wisniewski told NJ Advance Media.

Other fire safety bills were proposed following the Edgewater fire. One, from state Sen. Brian Stack (D-Hudson,) aimed to strengthen fire wall requirements. Another, from former Assemblyman Joseph Lagana (D-Bergen,) sought to strengthen fire safety rules for complexes like the Avalon — and would’ve banned the construction of such developments in densely populated cities and towns.

Both of those measures stalled.

Stack has continued, with little progress, to refine his bill in each legislative session since the Edgewater fire. Stack said that he intended to reintroduce the bill again this session.

"I hope that the various organizations and agencies who have expressed opposition can work with me to reach meaningful and reasonable concessions resulting in the adoption of this important public safety legislation,” Stack said. “The overall goal is to avoid the type of fire that occurred in Edgewater from occurring again.”

Lagana, who now serves as a state Senator, did not respond to a request for comment.

Prieto did put forward two fire safety two bills in 2017. One initially included the same expanded sprinkler system requirements that Wisniewski had pushed for — but those requirements were later removed when the bill was amended.

The second bill would have required a fire watch — a person dedicated to fire safety — at all construction sites for developments similar to the Avalon complex.

Neither of the two bills Prieto introduced in 2017 was passed by the Assembly. Prieto did not respond to multiple requests for comment.

What has been done

Despite the stalled push for reform in the Statehouse, New Jersey’s building code has been updated since the Edgewater fire.

Some of the ideas pushed by state lawmakers were adopted in the most recent code update, including a new requirement for sprinkler systems in attics and similar spaces, as well as a rule that there be a fire watch during nonworking hours for all construction sites that are at least 40 feet tall.

“Ultimately, the State follows the nationally vetted process of the I-Codes so the Department does not see any added concern as long as designers/installers follow the construction code appropriately,” Tammori Petty, a spokeswoman for the New Jersey Department of Community Affairs said in a statement. “The country as a whole has accepted the use of this type of construction for this occupancy.”

The DCA manages the state’s building code, and the department is required by law to adopt national model codes.

The state currently uses the International Building Code, developed by the non-profit International Code Council. The code is updated every three years, through a process that involves stakeholders throughout the construction industry.

New Jersey adopted the latest version of the code last September, and the new rules take effect in March.

“This consensus process allows for debate to take place at the national level over technical changes to the provisions of the codes,” Petty said. “Codes officials, engineers, architects, industry professionals, installers, etc., not just from New Jersey, but from all across the country, participate in this process and lend their expertise to the debate.”

Robert Longo, who chairs the New Jersey Chapter of the American Institute of Architect’s codes and standards committee, said the new sprinkler rule will help prevent another fire like the one in Edgewater.

“That’s a significant change that’s going to make a huge difference,” Longo said.

Longo stressed that his organization prefers that state lawmakers step back, and let the established process for updating building codes play out.

“We do not want to see code changes made legislatively," Longo said. "The code change process is a consensus process, and it’s been proven to work.”

Carol Ann Short, the CEO of the New Jersey Builder’s Association, echoed that sentiment.

“NJBA believes that the national and state processes are functioning well and as intended, and that we should continue to defer to the experts that look at the cumulative impact of all the code requirements and not just certain requirements or materials in isolation,” Short said.

Wisniewski, no longer a state lawmaker, still advocates for stronger sprinkler requirements in the Garden State. He said the new model code is at least a step forward for fire safety in New Jersey.

“I think it brings us a lot closer to where we need to be,” Wisniewski said.

In Edgewater, the Avalon was eventually rebuilt, this time with more firewalls and sprinklers. The same additional safety measures were added to Avalon developments in Princeton and Maplewood.

AvalonBay Communities, which owns the Avalon in Edgewater, currently has 23 apartment complexes open in New Jersey, according to the company’s website. Kurt Conway, a spokesman for AvalonBay, said since the Edgewater fire, AvalonBay has installed masonry fire walls and more extensive sprinkler systems in each of its new high density, wood frame communities.

“The events of that day were a catalyst to review and further strengthen our standards, processes and capabilities to prevent fires from occurring and to rapidly respond if they do occur," Conway said.

Michael Sol Warren may be reached at mwarren@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @MSolDub. Find NJ.com on Facebook.

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