One wonders whether members of the Honolulu City Council embraced the irony.

On Thursday, Council members voted to let stand Mayor Rick Blangiardi’s veto of a bill allowing sales of sparklers and ground fountains — a veto strongly supported by the Honolulu Fire Department (HFD), citing fire risks to Oahu homes and communities.

The Council also adopted Resolution 242, “urging the Hawaii State Legislature to enact legislation that addresses the drastic increases in property insurance premiums and property insurance market instability,” with particular attention to the rising costs for condominium associations. These insurance increases have been supercharged since the Aug. 8, 2023, fire that devastated Lahaina.

Then, with no discussion, Council members gave Bill 62, “A Bill for an Ordinance Relating to Fire Safety,” its second reading, moving it one step closer to potential passage — and moving one step closer to extending or even nullifying fire sprinkler installation requirements for Honolulu’s high-rise residential buildings.

As the law now stands, by 2038 high-rise condos must install automatic fire sprinkler systems, or alternatively add fire prevention and safety systems that meet requirements of an HFD-administered “fire and life safety evaluation.” Action, in most cases, will be required within this decade: Buildings are required to pass the safety evaluation, should they choose that tack, by 2030, unless opting to add sprinklers.

HFD didn’t make a stand on Bill 62 last week, though fire officials were at the Council meeting to back Blangiardi’s fireworks veto. But HFD has spoken out clearly on the issue, with a position that can be most simply translated as “fire sprinklers are necessary, and worth it, because they save lives.”

Bill 62, aimed at weakening the sprinkler law, was introduced last year. It stayed in committee until last week — and could similarly stay in committee for another period of months. Rather than keeping the bill alive, however, the City Council must stop kicking this flammable can down the road and instead, act decisively to support implementation of the safety rules, providing assistance to residents when necessary.

Less than a year ago, in November 2023, a two-alarm fire broke out on the 14th floor of a 19-story Keeaumoku condo — forcing evacuations and damaging three units. The 1960s high-rise had no sprinklers — but property managers, prompted by the fire code, had installed a fire alarm and announcement system warning residents to evacuate. Thankfully, there were no fire injuries; however, a 98-year-old resident was hurt trying to descend the stairs.

Practically all condos built before 1975, when the fire code required sprinklers in high-rises, do not have sprinklers, which firefighters and safety analysts consider the most effective way to save lives. What cannot be allowed is the persistence of “low-rent” fire-traps that can’t reasonably be evacuated by seniors or others with limited mobility, leading to avoidable deaths in the name of cost savings.

Disconcerting as it may be, residents of high-rises — particularly those with limited mobility — must acknowledge safety risks in their homes and take measures to protect themselves.

There are mechanisms available to assist condo residents. Gov. Josh Green evoked one in August, when he used his emergency powers to activate state loans to back property insurance policies for condo associations. These loans, however, are only a stop-gap, and don’t solve the issue of rising risks. Only fire-safety preparation can do that.

Earlier this year, in May, the governor signed a bill offering government loans for fixes such as adding sprinklers — set up in such a way that the costs could be spread out over time, and unpaid portions of the loan could carry over with a condo unit, rather than the owner, if sold.

The city currently operates a tax credit program for condo owners who add sprinkler systems, and that program must be funded as needed.

Bill 57, introduced this year in the Council, would allow a tax credit to condos’ owner associations, which typically administer full-scale retrofits such as added sprinkler systems as well as maintain the required insurance for the building’s superstructure. But this bill, worthy of discussion, has languished in committee since passing first reading. Understanding the life-or-death importance of action and support for high-rise residents, the City Council must move forward with this, while also standing firm on deadlines for adding sprinklers or alternative safety systems

Condo associations that have done due diligence on safety provisions will often recognize that while the cost of installing sprinklers is higher than making other changes, installing sprinklers will also bring down insurance costs — in some cases by as much as half. When evaluating all costs and potential costs, including the immeasurable cost of a lost life, making required changes becomes a clear solution.