By Dan McCue

CHARLESTON -- With the current session of the state Legislature about to conclude, there’s literally no chance state lawmakers will move to tighten fire safety standards for businesses across the state.

“The tragedy that unfolded in Charleston Monday night has touched the lives of everyone in the state, but from a purely legal and procedural perspective, it’s impossible for the Legislature to take this matter up at this time,” said Greg Foster, spokesman for S.C. House speaker Bobby Harrell.

The Legislature is working out the final details of the 2008 state budget, the last hurdle being finding agreement on the state income tax. Once that’s achieved, the session will end, with legislators slated to head back to Columbia next week to address matters vetoed by Gov. Mark Sanford.

“Obviously the fire has been a major topic of discussion here, but nothing can be done on this issue until January,” Foster said. “Perhaps that’s how it should be, because before the Legislature moves forward with anything, I’m sure the members are going to want to have meaningful, detailed discussions with fire chiefs from throughout the state.”

The Sofa Super Store destroyed by the fire was 31,300 square feet—well above the state threshold mandating sprinklers for commercial buildings larger than 12,000 square feet.

But because it was an older building, the furniture store at 1807 Savannah Highway was exempt from stricter building codes dating to the early 1990s.

Charleston County Fire Chief R.B. “Rusty” Thomas Jr., who stayed through the night at the scene of the fire on Monday and personally lead the retrieval of all nine fallen firefighters from the building, confirmed that the building did not have sprinklers.

Asked how such a system could have altered the events of Monday night, Thomas said a sprinkler system “certainly would have slowed the spread of the fire.”

While he still will not discuss whether he believes sprinklers would have saved his men’s lives, Thomas has called on state lawmakers to make them mandatory for all businesses in buildings the size of the one occupied by the furniture retailer.

Charleston Mayor Joe P. Riley Jr. said during a news conference the building was “grandfathered in” because it predated stricter codes. However, he went on to say that it’s unclear whether the building underwent any significant modifications since the tougher code went into effect.

That would have required sprinklers to be installed, he said.