Episode Details

Why do new high-rises in Tel Aviv have sprinklers while 1970s buildings don't? This episode traces the history of fire suppression mandates from the 1872 Pratt patent through the MGM Grand and Dupont Plaza hotel fires to Israel's 2014 Ben Yehuda Street fire that produced Amendment 5. We explore the 29-meter ladder limit, the physics of stack effect in tall buildings, and the retrofit crisis facing thousands of older apartment buildings where collective ownership and cost barriers block safety upgrades.