Proposal backed by fire officials falls short, with councilors citing cost and redundancy concerns
WORCESTER—The Worcester City Council voted Tuesday against adopting a state fire safety law that would have required sprinkler systems in larger residential buildings undergoing new construction or major renovations.
The measure, Massachusetts General Law Chapter 148, Section 26I, failed on a 6–4 vote. Councilors Khrystian King, Jenny Pacillo, Etel Haxhiaj and Luis Ojeda supported adoption, while Mayor Joseph Petty, Morris Bergman, George Russell, Donna Colorio, Candy Mero-Carlson and Kathleen Toomey opposed it.
The vote came after months of debate sparked by two devastating fires at Worcester’s Washington Heights apartment complex — one in June 2024 and another in January 2025 — that displaced more than 50 residents. Fire Chief Martin Dyer and several state fire officials had urged adoption, saying it would give local fire chiefs clear authority to require sprinklers in multifamily housing.
King, the council’s vice chair, voiced his support during the meeting. “Our fire department is distinguished and I stand by those professionals,” he said. “I have spoken to a number of property owners and general contractors and what they asked me was what is the council arguing about? A lot of this as mentioned even by the chair of the committee is potentially already covered so if there is an opportunity to have an additional threshold of safety applied if there is some sort of discrepancy it certainly makes sense to move forward.”
Russell, meanwhile, raised concerns about how the law would apply in practice. He said he asked fire officials and city staff to identify specific “gaps in the code” that 26I would close, but never received a clear answer. He also questioned the lack of a definition for “substantial renovations” and noted that the measure would extend beyond multifamily homes to cover dormitories, hotels and other types of properties.
“My understanding is if you have a two family today and you add a unit and make it a three family you have to put sprinklers in now, even for a three family,” Russell said. “This item is only dealing with four units and above so right now my perception of what we’re doing as a city as far as enforcing and mandating sprinklers is actually tougher than what this 26I is. Russell added that the discrepancies “cause confusion.”
Haxhiaj, who represents the Washington Heights area, criticized the outcome on the council floor. “The one time that this city council could have come together on such a simple measure — even if it’s symbolic — to confirm our commitment to Worcester residents and firefighters, we decided that we didn’t want to do it,” she said.
In a statement posted after the meeting, Haxhiaj called the vote “disheartening,” adding that adopting 26I “would have simply given the fire chief the authority to mandate fire sprinklers in significant rehabilitation and renovation of residential dwellings of four units and above.”
Supporters argued the change would have added an extra layer of protection for residents and firefighters, while opponents maintained that Worcester’s current building codes already provide sufficient safeguards and questioned the cost of compliance.
With the defeat of the measure, Worcester will not join other Massachusetts communities that have adopted 26I as part of their local fire safety standards.
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