To the Editor:

The recent tragic fire at Avalon Edgewater gives me cause for concern as AvalonBay begins construction of its Princeton project. Unless AvalonBay has changed their design, I believe that they intend to construct the Princeton project with the same light-weight wood construction used on the Edgewater project. Statements by AvalonBay’s chief construction officer, Michael Feigen, reported in the New York Times article dated Jan. 22 [“As Construction Booms, Edgewater Fire Provides a Sobering Moment”], are even more alarming. Referring to the fact that the current building code allows light-weight wood frame construction in multi-family dwellings, Mr. Feigen is quoted as saying: “The purpose of those codes is not to prevent the building from burning down, but rather to ensure that there is sufficient time and opportunity for all occupants to exit safely in the event of a fire.”

This is all true. The building code does allow this type of construction for this type of building and our town officials can only enforce the codes as they are currently written. But I urge AvalonBay to rethink their use of light-weight wood framing construction for the Princeton Project. There have been several other major fires at AvalonBay developments and both Princeton Citizens for Sustainable Neighborhoods and the service workers union 32BJ raised the issue of fire safety in lightweight wooden construction with municipal staff, at the Planning Board hearings for AvalonBay Princeton in June 2013. A very suitable and much safer alternative would be to construct the project using lightweight metal construction. This also has the added advantage of eliminating the chemicals used to fire retard light-wood framing.

Thankfully no one was killed or seriously injured in the Edgewater fire. But I do not consider the risk of a catastrophic fire on Witherspoon Street in the thick of dense residential neighborhoods; adjacent to schools and other critical neighborhood buildings worth taking. More important, is it worth risking the lives of our firefighters; police and emergency response workers to save a few dollars on construction costs? AvalonBay should step up to being the “good neighbor” that it often claims to be and utilize a safer type of construction on the Princeton project.

Joseph H. Weiss

Leigh Ave