Almost all hotels and high-rises 75 feet or taller or about seven stories on Maui have fire suppression sprinklers. Fire officials say the sprinklers could limit a fire to a room or unit.

The phones for the fire protection section of Dorvin D. Leis Co., Maui’s largest installer of fire suppression sprinklers, have been ringing frequently since the deadly July 14 Marco Polo condominium fire on Oahu.

Jason Blinkhorn, fire protection operations manager for the Maui business with a statewide reach, said Friday that the company had received six calls that day alone, including from officials with four high-rise structures on Oahu. The comment Blinkhorn has been hearing is “we need to be prepared for this” regardless of legislation that might require retrofitting coming in the wake of the fire that killed three people in the 36-story complex that lacked fire suppression sprinklers.

“There is a reason. It is very important for life and safety of residents,” Blinkhorn said, adding that the bottom line is “taking care of residents.”

The saving of life and property “is dramatic” when there are fire sprinklers. One, two or three sprinklers in the unit could have localized the fire to the room where it started or, at worst, to the whole unit, he said.

The 50-year-old Maui company with “a very large footprint” statewide provides servicing, inspections, installations, retrofitting and consulting in the fire protection world, said Blinkhorn. The company currently has 25 projects active in the middle of construction on all four major islands.

The company has put in fire sprinklers in both Lanai resorts and recently added sprinklers to the county Department of Transportation building in Kahului, he said. It also has done system upgrades of hotels during major renovations.

One of the major obstacles for retrofitting of older buildings with fire sprinklers is cost. When asked to identify what that cost might be for an older high-rise condo, Blinkhorn said “it is very difficult to pinpoint the pricing.

“It’s like asking, ‘How much does a car cost?'”

There are many factors to consider in each situation, such as the cost of hooking up a separate water supply (potable and fire suppression supply need to be on different lines), whether a pump is needed, the number of apartments and how long residents will be displaced, he said.

Retrofits could include ripping into the roof, but there are systems that involve exposed 1-inch PVC-like pipes that can be concealed, he added.

Blinkhorn said he understands how this can be a tough sell.

“It’s not something a resident is going to care about because it is not aesthetics,” he said. “It is an insurance thing. That is tough to sell.”

The Leis family is known in the community for its philanthropy, and this is a hot topic among the family members in the company, he said.

“This is a huge thing to them to help the community . . . to make it affordable to people,” said Blinkhorn. “We are definitely exploring all the options.”

* Lee Imada can be reached at leeimada@mauinews.com.