April 16, 2018 - 1:33 PM
NEW YORK - Authorities say overloaded power strips sparked the deadly Trump Tower fire in New York City that sent flames and thick, black smoke pouring from windows of the president's namesake skyscraper.
The New York Fire Department on Monday said the April 7 fire in a 50th floor apartment on Manhattan's Fifth Avenue was accidental, caused by "sequenced power strips powering multiple components."
Sixty-seven-year-old Todd Brassner died after being pulled from the apartment, which did not have sprinklers or a smoke alarm. Brassner was an art collector who spent time with Andy Warhol.
The 58-story tower opened in 1983 at a time when building codes did not require the residential section to have sprinklers, a requirement Donald Trump once fought against as a real estate developer. He later changed his views.
News from © The Associated Press, 2018