New rules sought on anniversary of fatal Reno fire

RENO -- On the first anniversary of the city's deadliest fire, some victims' families are pressing the Reno City Council to require older residential buildings to have sprinkler systems.

Twelve people died of asphyxiation and 31 were injured in the Halloween night 2006 fire at the Mizpah Hotel, an 84-year-old building that was not outfitted with sprinklers where rooms rented for $150 a week.

The hotel was not required to have sprinkler systems under state law unless someone bought it.

City officials recommended in March 2006 that a potential Mizpah buyer install sprinklers, but the sale did not go through.

"I do hope the city of Reno sets in place laws that will protect people living at historical buildings, rather than worrying about the amount of money a corporation will have to spend to safeguard it," said Barbara Elswick, whose 35-year-old son, Jeremy Wren, died in the blaze.

Jan Bardsley, whose 50-year-old brother, Phillip Bridges, was among the victims, agreed.

"What we can do now is think of fire safety and remember that any building is a potential fire trap," she told the Reno Gazette-Journal.

After a yearlong study, council members have so far decided not to require older hotels and motels, which account for a large bulk of the city's affordable housing, to be retrofitted with sprinkler systems because of the high cost involved.

Councilwoman Sharon Zadra has asked Fire Chief Paul Wagner to submit one more report on what other cities are doing to make older buildings safe.

The report, the third in a series since the Mizpah fire, is due in early December.

The last study found that 155 of 335 residential hotels, motels and boarding houses do not have sprinklers.

Councilwoman Jessica Sferrazza said she realizes the improvements will cost owners hundreds of thousands of dollars and does not want to put any out of business.

Council members have endorsed the fire chief's plans to step up random inspections of residential hotels and apartments in an effort to prevent a similar disaster.

Plans call for firefighters, using a checklist, to augment the work of five inspectors who look after Reno's 26,000 licensed businesses.

In March, the woman who set the fire, Valerie Moore, was sentenced to 12 consecutive life prison terms, one for each person killed in the blaze.