Opinion: L.A., like Honolulu, has multiple high-rises with no sprinkler system. It’s time to fix that.

To the editor: How many more lives need to be lost in residential high-rise buildings that lack fire sprinklers? (“Deadly Hawaii fire raises concerns about lack of sprinklers in older high-rises across the U.S.,” July 15)

Honolulu is making headlines now, but Los Angeles has several unsprinklered high-rise buildings, and it’s time to get them retrofitted. It was a priority of mine to begin the process when I was the fire marshal.

In past years, lobbyists pressured the City Council not to require older buildings to be retrofitted, claiming the process is costly and an inconvenience to residents. But technology has changed, so retrofitting buildings is much easier today than it was 30 years ago.

Its time to put safety of Los Angeles residents first. It’s time for the City Council to introduce a motion to get the retrofitting process started.

The Los Angeles Fire Department and the Department of Building and Safety have done the staff work already; it just needs to be implemented. Low-interest loans to owners and federal aid can be obtained.

We are currently requiring retrofitting for earthquakes; we need to retrofit residential high-rise buildings for fire safety.

John Vidovich, San Pedro

The writer was fire marshal of Los Angeles from 2014-16.

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