In January, a 5-alarm fire raged at the Avalon apartments in Edgewater, NJ. NRMCA and industry affiliates have joined local officials in supporting more robust codes and more resilient construction. While new legislation has been introduced which can limit the building of these mid-rise wood apartments, state lawmakers have so far not taken action. An editorial in a local publication details the frustration of the local community about the slow response as the developer plans to build in other cities in New Jersey. Meanwhile, more structural fires are occurring throughout the country, including Lancaster, PA and Cincinnati, threatening more lives. A simple solution is to make changes to the local building codes to limit "toothpick towers made of lightweight wood" as called for by many local fire chiefs (read more).