ANNAPOLIS, MD– Gov. Wes Moore signed legislation Thursday designed to strengthen fire safety standards, named for a Marylander killed in a fire in February 2023.
The Melanie Nicholle Diaz Safety Act requires high-rise residential buildings to be equipped with smoke detectors and have signage warning residents if the building does not have an automatic sprinkler system.
Officials say 25-year-old Melanie Diaz died from smoke inhalation after a high-rise fire in Silver Spring was worsened by a lack of functioning smoke detectors or sprinklers.
“If somebody was able to do this before, my daughter would be here today," Melanie’s father, Cesar Diaz, said. “Because people cut corners … she’s not here today.”
Melanie’s father and brother, Cesar Diaz Jr., led the fight for increased requirements and say it is far from over.
“We’re going to be working to get fire extinguishers retrofitted and make that a law and a requirement," Cesar Diaz Jr. said.
