Brentwood Plaza not only LA building without modern fire prevention system

Fire danger of grandfathered buildings

LOS ANGELES - After a fire broke out at Brentwood Plaza highrise apartment building on Wednesday, FOX 11 began digging deeper into the issue of these "grandfathered" buildings and how many there are in Los Angeles without sprinklers and without modern fire prevention.

Brentwood Plaza was built in the early 1960s before building codes required sprinkler systems -- that came in the 1970s.

There was a fire at this same building in 2013 but no sprinklers were ever installed. Turns out, there's no requirement to install sprinklers in a pre-1974 building. But Brentwood Plaza isn't alone.

The L.A. Fire Department says that at least 55 highrises in the city of Los Angeles currently don't meet modern fire standards. L.A. Fire Chief Ralph Terrazas says the issue of predating code has always been controversial largely because of the cost.

"If you never have a fire, it's not a problem. But the problem is, you'll never know. A fire can start for any reason...for multiple causes," said Terrazas.

Wednesday's fire injured 11 people, two critically, including a 3-month-old child who sustained minor injuries. Of the 11 people injured, six were taken to the hospital. Firefighters hoisted 15 people to safety from the roof.