Questions remain in Wednesday building fire

There's a lot of news from Wednesday's northeast Houston office building fire — but, at this point, there seem to be more questions than answers. Among those leading the questioning is KTRK's Wayne Dolcefino, who didn't have any luck getting information from the city about fire department response times. We imagine that'll come out eventually, but Dolcefino also raises questions about the building's safety systems — and the answers are a grim reminder of changing Houston fire codes.

The burned building, at 9343 North Loop East, was built in 1980, when structures of its size weren't required to have full sprinkler systems. And it's not the only one: As many as 50 similar midrise atrium-style buildings went up in the city before 1981, when full sprinkler systems began being required, so they were exempt from the requirement. Two years ago, the city began requiring full sprinkler systems to be installed in all buildings more than 75 feet tall — but many of the atrium-style buildings aren't that tall, which means they're still exempt. New requirements could be put in place covering those buildings, Mayor Bill White said yesterday: "Certainly, we need to go back and see if there is something we need to do to cover this particular (type of) structure," he said. "We'll take a look very carefully, and we'll try to do what's right. If we think there's a good reason to retrofit, then we will."

There are also questions about the building's fire alarm system: In 2000, the city began requiring high-occupancy buildings to have central fire system control panels, manual alarm pulls, strobe lights and loudspeakers. "This building did not require any kind of fire-alarm system whatsoever when it was permitted," Perry Schindewolf, a chief inspector in the city's fire marshal's office, said. Though Schindewolf said the North Loop East building had a partial sprinkler system, some pull fire alarms and audio devices — "beyond what was required" — it's unclear how the fire alarms functioned during Wednesday's fire. Some people who escaped from the fire said they heard alarms and others didn't, and it seems that the alarms didn't go off until some passing motorists stopped in and set them off.

There is some good news today: HFD Capt. Brad Langford, who was injured in a fall during the fire, was released from the hospital last night, though fellow fire Capt. Joel "Eric" Abbt, who got caught in the building when his oxygen ran out, remained in the hospital. Civilian Yogeshv Bali, a marine surveyor who worked on the building's sixth floor, had his condition updated from critical to serious yesterday. Though there are structural concerns about the building, investigators were able to begin a final search this morning; officials said they'll probably ask for the ATF's help in determining the cause of the fire.