High-rise apartment buildings in Bethesda and across Montgomery County would be required to stock smoke escape hoods for fire emergencies under a bill introduced Tuesday, Sept. 15, at the county council.

Councilmember Kate Stewart, who represents District 4 including parts of Chevy Chase and North Bethesda, sponsored Bill 43-26. The legislation would apply to apartment buildings five stories or taller, according to MoCo Show. Buildings would need to keep smoke escape hoods equal to at least 5% of occupancy. The bill would allow that number to be increased up to 10%.

All seven other council members signed on as cosponsors, including Council President Natali Fani-González and Vice President Marilyn Balcombe.

The bill also would establish notice, inspection and maintenance requirements for the hoods. Smoke escape hoods are heat-resistant devices with filters that protect the eyes, face and lungs from toxic smoke and gases during an evacuation.

Prompted by a deadly fire

The legislation follows the 2023 fire at the Arrive apartment complex in Silver Spring that killed 25-year-old Melanie Diaz. Diaz lived on the 11th floor. The fire broke out on the seventh floor, and she was overcome by heavy smoke in the stairwell. Firefighters found her on the ninth floor. The building lacked sprinklers.

After her death, the Diaz family donated money to Montgomery County Fire and Rescue Service (MCFRS) to fund smoke escape hoods. MCFRS became the first large fire and rescue department in the country to widely deploy the devices, DC News Now reported in December 2025.

At a December 2025 news conference announcing the donation, MCFRS Chief Corey Smedley said the county has "over 75 high-rise residential buildings without automatic sprinkler systems."

Bill 43-26 builds on the Melanie Diaz Act, which the council passed unanimously as Bill 7-24. That earlier law requires landlords to notify tenants about fire safety, insurance and building maintenance issues. Gov. Wes Moore signed a companion state law in May 2024 requiring all high-rise apartments to have smoke detectors and to inform residents whether the building has working sprinklers.

What it means for Bethesda

Bethesda and Chevy Chase have numerous high-rise apartment buildings that would fall under the new requirements. Under state law and county regulations, sprinklers are not required in every unit of buildings constructed before 1974, according to Bethesda Magazine.

In August 2026, eight people were displaced after a fire at The Edge Apartments, a high-rise at 4885 Edgemoor Lane in Bethesda. Sprinklers extinguished the flames in an 11th-floor apartment before the fire spread, DC News Now reported.

A public hearing on Bill 43-26 is scheduled for Tuesday, Oct. 6.