Montgomery County Fire and Rescue Service claims to be the first large fire department in the nation to deploy smoke escape hoods systemwide. The safety tool was adopted due to the work of a family who lost their daughter in a 2023 Silver Spring high-rise fire.
In February 2023, 25-year-old Melanie Diaz died in a fire at the Arrive high-rise apartments on Georgia Avenue in downtown Silver Spring.
Due to the generosity of the Diaz family, on Saturday MCFRS Chief Corey Smedley announced every fire engine will get smoke evacuation hoods. They are protective hoods firefighters can put on civilians as they are rescued. He said the devices are widely used in the United Kingdom but rarely in the U.S.
“Melanie Diaz’s story re-shaped fire safety,” Smedley said Saturday.
“My family and I died inside,” said Cesar Diaz, Melanie’s father, recalling the day of the fire. “You see me here, talking to you, laughing sometimes. But behind my smile, it’s millions of tears.”
Diaz said he is here to fight every single day, “because I don’t want anybody here, or anybody everywhere to feel the same pain we feel.”
Since the fatal fire, MCFRS has also deployed floor-below nozzles, which can direct water from a lower level up to a higher floor if firefighters cannot safely get to the higher floor. The fire department now also has smoke curtains, which firefighters can hang in an open doorway to stop smoke from spreading.
Smedley said there are more than 75 high-rise residential buildings in the county without automatic sprinkler systems, which he calls “a hazard to our residents, families and firefighters.”
County Council President Natali Fani-González pointed out that Melanie was the child of Venezuelan immigrants “who had a beautiful spirit to make the world a better place.” Melanie was interested in climate justice. Fani-González recognized the Diaz family as great role models of the impact of immigrants in society. She said she’s not taking it out of context — “because what we’re facing today in this nation, how us, especially Venezuelans, get beat up by the system without understanding that we’re here to contribute, even in the face of tragedy.”
County Councilmember Kate Stewart, who represents Silver Spring, said that day in February 2023 is one she remembers almost daily.
Stewart was lead sponsor of a Council bill signed into law last year to better protect apartment renters’ fire safety, adopted after Diaz’s death.
A report following the fire found factors like a lack of sprinkler system affected severity of the blaze. The apartment complex had sprinklers only in the stairwells and mechanical rooms, according to officials. There were none in individual apartment units. And, there was reportedly no working smoke alarm in the apartment where the fire occurred.
The Council legislation requires leases for rental buildings must: clearly state if the building has automatic sprinklers, inform tenants about emergency plans, and include specific information about what is covered by insurance. In addition, multifamily apartment buildings must have emergency safety plans approved by the County’s Permitting Services.
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