Worcester City Council to consider adopting fire sprinkler mandate law
The Worcester City Council will meet Tuesday to discuss whether to adopt an optional state law that mandates the installation of automatic sprinkler systems in some residential buildings.
Under the statute, any community that chooses to accept the section and its provisions must ensure that any new residential building, or a residential building that is being renovated to the point of it being classified as new construction, must have an approved automatic sprinkler system installed as part of the state's building code.
The buildings include, but are not limited to, lodging houses, boarding houses, fraternity houses, dormitories, apartments, townhouses, condominiums, hotels, motels and group residences — according to the section.
District 5 Councilor Etel Haxhiaj first submitted the order to the council in December 2024. And it was put before the council floor on April 1, which shuttled it off to the panel's Public Safety Committee, chaired by Councilor-at-Large Kathleen Toomey.
Haxhiaj's district saw two fires take place at the Washington Heights apartment complex near Mill Street in about six months.
The first fire took place in June 2024 , which resulted in the displacement of more than 30 people and a total loss of 36 units.
The second fire happened last month, resulting in the displacement of 28 people and a total loss of 24 apartment units, according to reporting from the Telegram and Gazette .
Both City Manager Eric D. Batista and Worcester Fire Chief Martin Dyer also expressed support for opting into the law.
"Automatic fire sprinkler systems have been instrumental in reducing fire fatalities and injuries in Worcester," Batista wrote to the council in February. "By containing fires in their early stages, these systems also reduce property damage, which helps prevent tenant displacement—an important factor in maintaining stable housing stock."
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