Details have begun to emerge from the fire at Trump Tower that left one man dead and six firefighters injured on Saturday.
“Police identified the man killed as Todd Brassner, 67, a resident of the building’s 50th floor,” CNN reported. “He was taken to the hospital in critical condition but later died, said spokeswoman Angelica Conroy of the Fire Department.”
“The fire was contained to the 50th floor of the tower, located on Fifth Avenue in New York,” CNN continued. “It was ruled under control around 9 p.m., two hours after it was originally reported… six firefighters suffered injuries that are not life threatening.”
Multiple reports have surfaced about the lack of sprinklers in Trump Tower’s upper floors, confirmed by Fire Commissioner Daniel A. Nigro.
“The upper floors which are residence floors are not sprinklered,” Nigro said. “But the building sure stood up quite well.”
Nigro’s commentary was a response the president’s tweet on Saturday in which he praised the tower’s infrastructure. “Fire at Trump Tower is out,” he wrote at 6:42 p.m. “Very confined (well built building). Firemen (and women) did a great job. THANK YOU!”
As the New York Dailiy News points out, Trump has previously fought legislation that would require buildings in New York City to require sprinklers. The fire is the second at Trump Tower this year.
According to ABC 7, New York’s ABC affiliate, investigators are working to determine the cause of the fire. “Investigators say there was no 911 call from inside the apartment,” they noted. “Instead they received an automatic notification that there was a fire inside.”
“Fire sprinklers were not required in New York City high-rises when Trump Tower was completed in 1983,” they continued. “Subsequent updates to the building code required commercial skyscrapers to install the sprinklers retroactively, but owners of older residential high-rises are not required to install sprinklers unless the building undergoes major renovations.”
Additional startling details were also made public, including these accounts from residents:
The Department of Buildings has issued a partial order to vacate residences 50C and 51C, they note, and residents are able to occupy the 55th floor and above or 45th floor and below.
While Trump has not yet tweeted about the resident’s death, he did begin Sunday morning by attacking the Washington Post, former Secretary of State and Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton and former President Barack Obama.
Photo via Twitter.