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SALT LAKE CITY -- Some of the apartment buildings that have burned in recent days have something in common: they were all build before modern fire codes were in place.
Apartment buildings built before the 1980s don't have fire breaks. They don't have sprinkler systems, and when you get a fire it spreads fast.
Ogden firefighters say in the case of the blaze that left 83 people homeless, there's not much that can be done.
"In codes now, there's all kinds of fire-stopping and other code requirements that assist in keeping the fire in check," said Ogden Fire Marshall Matt Schwenk.
Schwenk says tenants should make sure they have smoke alarms and fire extinguishers in their apartments just to be safe.
He says the cause of the Ogden fire is still under investigation.
E-mail: bwinslow@ksl.com
