By CARL ROTENBERG – Norristown Times Herald

The reconstruction of two apartment buildings in Conshohocken destroyed by the eight-alarm fire in August will include sprinkler systems in attic areas that are not currently required by state construction codes.

Brian O’Neill, the president of O’Neill Properties Group of Upper Merion, described the fire-fighting effort Tuesday night to the West Norriton Board of Commissioners because his company has built 675 apartments in similar buildings in West Norriton.

“We have built 180 buildings in our career. It was an accident,” O’Neill said. “The fire officials think the embers from a steelworker cutting steel got caught up in plywood. It started as a small flame the size of a cigarette pack. A gentleman in an adjacent building took a series of pictures.”

O’Neill said that intense heat radiating from the fire consuming the wood-framed building under construction and started a fire on the roof of the adjacent, occupied apartment buildings.

“There were sprinklers on all floors but not in the attic areas,” O’Neill said. “We plan to adjust that in the future.”

The apartment building under construction did not have sprinkler systems installed when the fire started. It did have drywall “fire-stops” in the attic areas up to the roofline, however.

O’Neill said the building design for the occupied apartment buildings, which included required cement-block emergency stairwells, allowed about 200 people to escape the fire without injuries.

Firefighters had adequate water pressure and volume but the intense heat (3,000 to 5,000 degrees) turned the water aimed at the fire into steam before it could reach the burning wood, he said.

“The fortunate thing about Conshohocken is that this is a lesson in revitalization,” he said. “Eight thousand people are working there and 650 people are living there. The buildings worked because they were designed to get people out.”

O’Neill said that when his company builds the 309 apartments in two new buildings in Conshohocken, sprinkler systems will be included in unoccupied, attic areas.

West Norriton Engineer Joe Estock said similar apartment buildings built by O’Neill at Riverview Landing in West Norriton had sprinklers in attic areas, outdoor balconies and storage areas, in addition to the required apartment installations.

Zoning Officer Tom Cinaglia said Tuesday night he was unsure if the six Riverview Landing apartment buildings, which contain about 300 apartments, have fire stops in the attic areas.

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