After Cesar Diaz’s daughter Melanie died in a fire at the Arrive Silver Spring apartment complex in February 2023, he made a promise to her that he would do everything in his power to prevent any other lives from being taken in fires.
That’s why he made sure to be present Thursday as County Executive Marc Elrich signed legislation relating to fire safety protections for renters.
“Yesterday, it was my daughter. Today, it could be anybody,” he told the crowd through tears at a press conference for the signing at the County Executive Office Building in Rockville. “Hug your family, because you never know when it could be the last time you see them.”
The legislation, sponsored by County Council Vice President Kate Stewart (D-Dist. 4) and adopted by the council on July 16, will require residential leases to include information related to renter’s insurance, automatic sprinkler systems and emergency evacuation and safety plans.
Stewart was inspired to draft the legislation after speaking with Melanie Diaz’s parents and residents who survived the 2023 fire at the Arrive Silver Spring apartment complex at 8750 Georgia Avenue. The law will require multiunit apartment complex owners to notify residents and prospective renters about whether their buildings have sprinklers and to provide information about the risks of living in a building without sprinklers.
“Not a day has gone by that we worked on this bill that we did not hold Melanie in our hearts because we know that even though we’ve lost her, that we need to do better, and she is pushing us to do better,” Stewart said.
Melanie Diaz, 25, died following a three-alarm fire at the apartment complex on Feb. 18, 2023. She was a graduate of Georgetown University and worked in Washington, D.C., at the Aspen Institute, focusing on climate change research and policy.
At least 17 other residents and three firefighters were hospitalized in the fire, and nearly 400 residents were displaced after their units were condemned. The complex’s lack of sprinklers, which weren’t required under state law, came under scrutiny by public officials.
According to state law and county regulations, sprinklers are not required in every unit of buildings built prior to 1974. More than 70 apartment complexes countywide don’t have sprinklers in every unit, according to multiple news reports.
Local fire officials have said that sprinklers would have made a difference in the Arrive fire and potentially saved Diaz’s life.
Montgomery County Fire and Rescue Service Chief Corey Smedley praised the legislation at the bill signing, and said the new protocols are important in reaching the department’s goal of risk reduction.
“My goal with our team is to put ourselves out of business,” Smedley said. “We’re going to reduce vulnerabilities every day, everywhere.”
The legislation also requires complexes that sell their own insurance to explain the policies in greater detail. Stewart said many of her constituents who were displaced from the building as well as those affected by massive power outage at The Grand, a North Bethesda apartment complex, last summer, thought that renter’s insurance purchased through the property management company would insure their belongings, but it actually insured the management company.
Stewart said Thursday county officials were only alerted to the emergency at The Grand because a police officer who happened to be in the area thought something about the building looked off, but the building management had not reached out.
“We need someone who is available to answer questions when something doesn’t go right,” Stewart said. “I was contacted by residents, the families of residents … some of them had to be on medical devices and had absolutely no power, and the temperatures were rising in their apartments and they didn’t know what to do. No one in Montgomery County should ever experience something like that.”
Elrich said the county will be working on outreach efforts to make sure renters in the county understand their rights under the new law.
“It’s one thing to pass a law, but if nobody realizes they have the law, they don’t advocate for their rights,” Elrich said.
The passage of the legislation follows the Maryland General Assembly’s adoption during its 2024 session of a bill sponsored by Silver Spring-based Del. Lorig Charkoudian (D-Dist. 20). That bill requires apartment complexes to take stronger fire safety measures, including installing fire alarms and emergency lights in common areas and requiring fire safety education and evacuation information to be provided to tenants.
While Cesar Diaz lives in Florida, he said it’s not the end of his advocacy for tenants in Montgomery County and the greater Washington, D.C., area. He said that his high-profile position as Melanie’s father has led many renters across the region to reach out to him to advocate for tenant safety.
“What I hear from those people is … ‘please keep talking because we’re scared to talk and we don’t want to talk because we’re afraid our contracts will be terminated,’ ” Diaz said. “It’s given me more power to fight for people … one simple person is gonna change a life.”