Minneapolis Public Housing Authority to pay $1.5 million to victims of 2019 high-rise fire

The Minneapolis Public Housing Authority has agreed to pay more than $1.5 million to settle a lawsuit with the families of five people killed in an apartment fire in the city's Cedar-Riverside neighborhood.

The settlement is part of a wrongful death lawsuit that followed the November 2019 fire, which consumed the 14th floor of the Cedar High Apartments complex. Surviving injured victims and families of those who died said the tragedy could have been prevented if the building had a sprinkler system, louder alarms that weren't only in hallways and other fire-prevention measures.

"The families impacted by this entirely-preventable tragedy insisted on full accountability, and we think that is what they obtained," attorney Tariq Miller told the Star Tribune on Thursday. "That being said, nothing can really compensate anyone for the loss of a relative."

The plaintiffs included injured victims who survived the fire.

Several private companies also named as defendants agreed to financial settlements as well, but those amounts were not released publicly.

The plaintiffs wrote in the complaint that the lack of sprinklers was "just one of many negligent acts" that led to the deaths.

The housing authority's full settlement amount was $1,560,000, slightly over the $1.5 million cap on this type of lawsuit. Three other building parties were later sued as well, including NV5, Sebesta Inc. (which is now part of NV5) and Egan Co., which installed the fire alarm system.

Attorneys for the four defendants did not return calls seeking comment Thursday.

The private companies' settlement amounts are being kept confidential, Judge Patrick D. Robben wrote in the settlement approval. The housing authority's amount has been released because it is a public entity.

Plaintiff attorney Jim Carey said he thinks it was generous of the housing authority to pay an additional $60,000 over the capped amount, but noted he does not agree with that limitation on these settlements.

"We did the best we could, and I thought all of the lawyers, including the lawyers representing the defendants, were all ethical people trying to do the right thing," he said.

The 191-unit building was for low-income clients, primarily elderly people and people with disabilities.

The plaintiffs alleged the housing authority did not stay in compliance with state and local building codes. That includes not making sure doors would close on their own, that fire alarms could be heard, and that elevator shafts and stairwells were pressurized to prevent smoke spreading through the building, the complaint alleged.

The fire led to a variety of efforts, including state legislation, to prevent future tragedies. More than a year and a half after the fire, Minnesota lawmakers passed a law requiring sprinkler systems in public high-rise buildings.

"Every time I hear about a fire now, I look at how many stories it is and did it have sprinklers," Sen. Kari Dziedzic, DFL-Minneapolis, said after the legislation passed. "It will save lives, plain and simple."

The law requires all public buildings built before the 1970s and 1980s to be retrofitted with sprinklers by 2033.

The Cedar High building was built in 1969. It had partial sprinklers, on the main floor and in a mechanical equipment room, but not in residential units.

The International Conference of Building Officials decided in 1980 that new high-rises must have sprinklers, but the housing authority did not update the system. Following the fire, a city spokesperson said city code did not require buildings that old to have sprinklers.

While there is a new state law requiring sprinklers, Miller said he is concerned the law does not require buildings to immediately install them.

"High-rises that aren't being required to retrofit sprinklers because they have been grandfathered in still pose significant risk to some of the most vulnerable residents in the community," Miller said.

The city of Minneapolis has also worked to install high-rise sprinkler systems itself. The city's 2023 budget allocated money to install sprinklers in all 42 high-rises owned and operated by the Minneapolis Public Housing Authority.