Trump Tower Fire: Apartment Had No Smoke Detector, Reports Say

MIDTOWN MANHATTAN, NY — Investigators found no evidence of a working smoke detector in the Trump Tower apartment where a fatal fire broke out Saturday, according to multiple reports.

Firefighters were alerted to the presence of the fire Saturday by a fire detection system in Trump Tower's ductwork, not a detector in the 50th floor apartment where the fire originated, the New York Post first reported. The building system was able to help firefighters locate the exact source of the blaze, CNN reported.

Landlords of all multiple dwelling buildings are required to install smoke and carbon monoxide detectors in each residential unit, according to the city Department of Housing Preservation and Development. Individual tenants are responsible for replacing any broken, stolen or missing detectors while they occupy a unit, according to the department guidelines.

City Councilman Roberty Cornegy announced Monday his intention to draft legislation that would require buildings like Trump Tower to be retrofitted with new fire sprinkler systems. Trump Tower's residential floors are not currently equipped with an automatic sprinkler system, fire officials said. Because the high-rise was built before a 1999 law requiring developers to install sprinklers in multi-family buildings, it is exempt from the law.

The exact details of the proposed legislation are still unknown, but a spokesman for Cornegy said the law could include any residential building with four or more units, or any building taller than 40 feet.

On Saturday, a four-alarm fire broke out at 67-year-old Todd Brassner's 50th floor residence at Trump Tower. Images and video of President Donald Trump's namesake skyscraper showed fire billowing out of windows high above Fifth Avenue. Brassner was killed during the fire and six firefighters suffered non life-threatening injuries.

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.

Photo by FDNY