5 years after tragic high-rise fire, Minneapolis adds sprinklers to all public housing buildings
MINNEAPOLIS — Federal and local leaders are celebrating in Minneapolis on Monday after all 42 public housing high-rises in the city now have fire sprinklers.
In November 2019, a fire killed five people on the 14th floor of the Cedar High Apartments. A sixth resident later died from smoke inhalation.
"I was there on that snowy November day. I remember vividly the scene in the aftermath of the fire," said Abdi Warsame, executive director and CEO of the Minneapolis Public Housing Authority.
At the time, only 16 of the housing authority's high-rises had fire suppression systems. A year later, the housing authority set a goal to outfit all buildings by the end of 2025, which was completed ahead of schedule.
Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey was joined by Minnesota's U.S. senators, Amy Klobuchar and Tina Smith, and Congresswoman Ilhan Omar at Monday's ceremony. Omar originally launched the effort and secured federal funding with the help of both senators.
"It was my personal mission to make sure no other lives would be impacted in the same way if we could get resources to retrofit every single public housing, not just in our state, not just in my district, but across the country," Omar said. "Our work is not done. We have a lot more work to do."
Klobuchar told the crowd that the deaths at Cedar High were entirely avoidable.
"If there had been sprinklers throughout the building, those six Minnesotans might still be here today," Klobuchar said. "We all know too well what the cost of inaction is. But we also know that we can fix things, and we never give up."
Mary McGovern, a high-rise resident and president of the Minneapolis Highrise Representative Council, described the kinship of her fellow residents across the city.
"When something tragic happens in one building, we are impacted by one way or the other likewise," McGovern said. "We share a collective sense of relief and peace of mind knowing that our apartments, our buildings, our neighbors, ourselves are safe from the threat of fire."
Minneapolis City Councilmember Robin Wonsley, who represents Ward 2, says the project was also an outlier amid the acrimonious tone this past year at City Hall.
"We often hear about the dysfunctionality of local government, but this project really demonstrates otherwise," Wonsley said.
The housing authority invested nearly $14 million to make the project happen, in addition to federal, city and Minnesota housing support.
