The condo association has already bought insurance and the cost would be shared by the owners. Ask to see the policy if you are skeptical about it.

Fire safety in any residence can be divided into preventative measures, prevention of fire spread and speed of escape.

Preventative measures include inspection of wiring and avoidance of extension cords, space heaters, smoking and unattended cooking.

Prevention of fire spread should be provided by fire resistance rated unit dividing walls and floor-ceiling assemblies. Walls and soffits should have fire draft stops to prevent fire from traveling to adjacent spaces. It would hep if interior doors were self-closing but that is generally though to be a nuisance. A door to an egress stair or corridor would be fire resistance rated and self-closing.

Speed of escape is achieved by interconnected hard-wired smoke detectors, code compliant emergency escape openings from bedrooms, and a clear egress path with emergency lighting.

These principles apply equally to all types of construction.

Sprinklers are primarily for the protection of property; smoke detectors are primarily for the protection of people. The fire service does both.

It is a good idea to have one or two fire safes for your valuables so you won't have to think about them when you are exiting the building. Teach your family members how to leave a building if the bedroom door is hot and if it isn't and how to avoid breathing smoke; smoke is the big killer. Practice exiting the unit. Get your family out and let the fire service worry about the building.

Thanks, Reno -- Seems like where the Victorians probably fall very short is in prevention of fire spread. Interesting about sprinklers to protect property, not people -- I had heard that before, but forgotten it. Part of why I am considering this unit is because it is on the first floor, with two exits plus several windows that could serve as exits as well.

I can't think of why a Victorian house would allow fire to spread more easily than any other unprotected light wood framed residential structure.

Even in those days draft stopping was provided usually in the form of bricks at the top of walls and for the units to be separated for multiple tenant occupancy or separate ownership the same fire resistance requirements apply as do for new construction.

A lot of things are grandfathered by modern building codes but not fire separation, number of exits, emergency lighting and smoke detectors - they're pretty much the only things that are retroactive.

If I were buying a condominium unit, I would go to the local building department and look at the file for that address and see what fire protection was provided. I would also make sure the current occupancy permit is valid and accurate.

That's good to know about the draft stopping, and even better that fire separation would have been mandated when the building was divided into condo's in the 1990's. Both things are reassuring - thanks! I'll attempt to confirm that with the town, but so far, they've not been very helpful.

If the town keeps records of construction permits the folder for you address is public information and you can look at it just bey asking. Looking at the original drawings can be more difficult. They might not have them or thy might be on microfiche, etc. If they are in paper form it might take weeks for a request to be honored. But they can't refuse to let you see the information.

The worst case for me was when I was given the drawings and they held my credit card while I had the drawings digitized which is very expensive for large drawings.