By Christine McConville – Boston Herald

In the wake of yet another massive blaze at an apartment complex, State Fire Marshal Stephen Coan is calling for changes to the state’s building code.

Coan said earlier this week that he is “increasingly uncomfortable” with a part of the state building code that allows modified sprinkler systems in residential buildings with four stories or fewer.

“We need to amend the building code,” he said, “and we need to stop allowing modified sprinkler systems in residential structures of 12,000 square feet or more.”

On May 30, an enormous fire broke out in Peabody at a 26-unit apartment building in the recently completed Highlands at Dearborn complex. No one was hurt, but the building was destroyed.

“Within 20 minutes, the entire building was engulfed in flames,” said tenant Andrew Barnes.

It was one of a series of fast-moving blazes in similarly built structures in Massachusetts in recent years.

Several years ago, the state adopted two types of fire-safety codes for residential buildings.

The standard “13” series applies to residential structures with five stories or more. It requires that those buildings have sprinkler heads in interstitial, or vacant, spaces and attics.

Under a modified version of that code, called “13R,” for smaller residential structures, sprinklers are not required in those spaces.

Coan said the modifications were made with single- and two-family homes in mind. But in the past decade, national real estate investment trusts have entered the Massachusetts housing market and built hundreds of all-wood, four-story residential structures, with modified sprinkler systems.

“They’re basically lumber yards on sticks,” Coan said. “And they are all over the place.”

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