Deadly Trump Tower Fire Ruled An Accident, FDNY Says

MIDTOWN MANHATTAN, NY — A fire that killed one resident of Trump Tower was caused accidentally, city fire marshals announced Monday.

Sequenced power strips that were powering "multiple components" were to blame for the April 7 electrical fire that broke out in an apartment on the 50th floor of Trump Tower, fire marshals said. Fire marshals found no evidence of a smoke alarm in the apartment.

Firefighters rushed to the tower on Fifth Avenue near East 57th after an automatic alarm went off in the building at about 5:30 p.m., Fire Commissioner Daniel Nigro said. Firefighters arrived at the 68-story building about five minutes later.

Firefighters discovered 67-year-old Todd Brassner's apartment engulfed in flames when they arrived on scene, officials said. Brassner was rushed to Mount Sinai Roosevelt Hospital in critical condition, police said. He was later pronounced dead at the hospital, according to NYPD officials.

Six firefighters suffered non life-threatening injuries during the blaze, officials said. More than 200 firefighters and medical workers responded to the scene.

Brassner was a prominent Andy Warhol art dealer who was so familiar with Warhol that the artist talked about his encounters with the collector multiple times in his autobiography, "The Andy Warhol Diaries." Warhol even painted a portrait of Brassner, a photo of which can still be seen on Brassner's Facebook page.

The Trump Tower resident bought his 50th floor unit in 1996. He had been trying unsuccessfully to sell the apartment since the 2016 presidential election, after which Trump Tower saw a massive increase of security while the president was living in his penthouse, the New York Times reported.

The fire has led to calls for new legislation regarding fire safety in multi-residence buildings in New York City. City Councilman Roberty Cornegy, Jr. intends to draft new fire safety legislation which would require buildings like Trump Tower to be retrofitted with fire sprinkler systems. The legislation would expand on a 1999 law that required all new residential buildings with multiple households to be built with sprinkler systems. When that law was passed, older buildings such as Trump Tower were exempt.

Photo by FDNY