Posted by Bob:
It surprises me that as recently as 1964 a 120 unit apartment building could be built in a major city...
I'm surprised, but not surprised, if you know what I mean. I don't think the life safety systems that we take for granted today were all that common even 30 years ago.
Consider this:
Dormitory building at a Connecticut state university, built 1970. It had no fire alarm or sprinkler system when new. (Not related to safety, but it's funny to see how it used to have only one phone per hallway, and of course had no cable TV or internet hook up in each room. )
In fact, hardly any buildings on the campus, had a fire alarm system or sprinklers when they were built. These have all been added in the last 10-15 years.
Does anyone know at what point in time these systems became common to install?
