Terin Hopkins, NFSA Manager of Public Fire Protection

On the morning of June 26, 2026, Chicago firefighters responded to “just” another high-rise apartment fire, this time at the Wyndham Apartments in the Edgewater neighborhood. Flames were visible from a fifth-floor unit as thick smoke spread through portions of the building. Before firefighters could reach him, one resident made a desperate decision. He jumped from a fifth-floor window to escape the fire, suffering critical injuries. Residents described awakening to smoke-filled hallways, faint alarm sounds, and cries for help as firefighters worked to bring the incident under control.

For many, it was simply another breaking news story.

For those of us in the fire protection community, it should have been something much more, a reminder that we continue to accept preventable tragedies in older residential high-rise buildings as though they are inevitable.

Perhaps the most troubling aspect of fires like this is not the fire itself. Fires happen. The troubling part is how quickly society moves on.

Within hours, the story disappears from the headlines. Traffic resumes. Residents return to their apartments. Investigators determine the cause. Public attention shifts elsewhere until the next high-rise fire occurs.

This cycle has normalized these tragic events as acceptable.

We Have Accepted an Avoidable Risk

Across the United States, thousands of residential high-rise buildings constructed before modern sprinkler requirements, remain occupied without complete automatic sprinkler protection. Millions of Americans, including seniors, families, and individuals living in affordable housing, continue to reside in buildings that were designed to the minimum standards of their era but no longer reflect today’s understanding of fire and life safety.

When a fire occurs in one of these buildings, the discussion often centers on the heroism of firefighters, evacuation challenges, or the cause of the fire.

Rarely does the conversation ask the obvious question:

Why was this building still without the level of fire protection that has become the accepted minimum standard for virtually every new high-rise residential building?

The Edgewater Fire Is Not Unique

News coverage from Edgewater described residents opening hallway doors to find heavy smoke and little visibility. One resident recalled, “The hallway was full of smoke… we need to leave right now.” Another described hearing weak cries of “Fire! Fire!” before seeing smoke rapidly intensify.

These accounts are remarkably familiar.

They mirror stories from countless legacy high-rise fires across North America.

Occupants awaken to smoke.

Hallways become contaminated and unsurvivable.

Residents face impossible decisions between remaining in place, attempting evacuation, or waiting for firefighters.

In the Edgewater incident, one resident believed jumping from the building was his only option.

That should never be considered a normal or acceptable outcome.

Firefighters Continue to Bear the Risk

Modern high-rise firefighting is among the most demanding operations in the fire service.

Firefighters must transport equipment up multiple floors, establish water supplies, stretch hose lines through smoke-filled corridors, search for trapped occupants, control smoke movement, and rescue residents, all while relying solely on manual suppression.

The Chicago Fire Department once again demonstrated exceptional professionalism in bringing the fire under control and preventing additional injuries. Initial companies rapidly upgraded the incident and employed both interior and exterior attack strategies as conditions changed.

Their performance deserves recognition.

But heroism should not become a substitute for prevention.

Every successful rescue reinforces an uncomfortable truth: firefighters are repeatedly asked to compensate for the absence of built-in fire protection systems.

The Technology Already Exists

Automatic fire sprinklers are not new.

They are not emerging technology.

They have protected millions of buildings for well over 100 years.

National fire data consistently demonstrates that automatic sprinkler systems dramatically reduce civilian deaths, firefighter injuries, fire spread, and property damage. Fires controlled during their earliest stages rarely produce the catastrophic smoke conditions that place occupants in impossible situations or require large-scale rescue operations.

Simply put, sprinklers attack and control fire before firefighters arrive.

That is their purpose.

The question is no longer whether sprinklers work.

The question is why we continue accepting buildings without them.

Affordable Housing Deserves Affordable Protection

Many legacy high-rise apartment buildings serve lower-income residents, seniors, or individuals with limited mobility.

Ironically, these are often the very populations least capable of self-evacuation during a rapidly developing fire.

Communities routinely invest millions of dollars in renovating kitchens, replacing windows, modernizing elevators, upgrading HVAC systems, improving accessibility, and enhancing building aesthetics.

Yet fire sprinkler retrofits are frequently viewed as optional because they require additional investment.

Life safety should never be considered optional.

Residents of affordable housing deserve the same level of protection afforded to occupants of newly constructed luxury apartments.

Fire does not distinguish between income levels.

Neither should our commitment to protecting people.

We Must Stop Waiting for the Next Tragedy

History has repeatedly shown that meaningful fire safety improvements often occur only after catastrophic loss.

The fire occurs.

Lives are lost.

Investigations begin.

Task forces are formed.

Recommendations are written.

Eventually, codes change.

Unfortunately, those changes usually apply only to future buildings.

The legacy buildings remain.

The people remain.

The risk remains.

Perhaps the most disturbing sign of normalization is our response after the fire is over. We hear phrases like “only one person was killed”,  “only three people suffered non-critical injuries,” or “Accidental” as though those outcomes are acceptable because they were not worse. We have allowed preventable tragedies to become routine, and even fatal high-rise fires no longer reliably produce the urgency needed to improve fire and life safety.

A Different Conversation

Instead of asking whether sprinkler retrofits are difficult, we should be asking how to make them achievable.

Instead of debating whether existing buildings should meet today’s expectations, we should be identifying phased compliance strategies, financing mechanisms, insurance incentives, public-private partnerships, and regulatory pathways that allow owners to improve life safety over time.

These conversations are already occurring across the country.

Communities are proving that retrofit projects can be completed in occupied buildings with thoughtful planning and collaboration among owners, fire officials, housing agencies, contractors, and industry partners.

The question is not whether it can be done.

It is whether we choose to do it.

Normal Should Never Mean Acceptable

The Edgewater fire will soon fade from public memory.

Another news cycle will replace it.

Another emergency will dominate the headlines.

But somewhere, another unsprinklered high-rise is waiting for its turn.

As long as we continue accepting these incidents as routine, we normalize a level of risk that would never be tolerated in new construction.

We know how to prevent these tragedies.

We have the technology.

We have decades of experience.

We have nationally recognized codes and standards.

Now we need the collective will to stop treating unsprinklered high-rise fires as inevitable and begin treating them as preventable.

Because the day a resident believes jumping from a fifth-floor window is the safest option should never be considered just another day in the news.

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Terin Hopkins has 40 years of experience in public safety, fire protection, and life safety policy. He currently serves as the Manager of Public Fire Protection for the National Fire Sprinkler Association (NFSA), where he leads technical support and advocacy efforts nationwide, working closely with fire departments, code and standard, and policymakers to improve fire protection infrastructure and compliance. He represents NFSA on NFPA and UL technical committees, including NFPA 14 Standard for the Installation of Standpipe and Hose Systems.