Montgomery County's Public Safety Committee is reviewing a bill that would require rental high-rise buildings to keep smoke escape hoods on-site for use during fire emergencies.

Bill 43-26, sponsored by Councilmember Kate Stewart, would apply to rental apartment buildings five stories or taller. Owners would need to provide enough hoods for at least 5% of a building's occupants, according to a council staff report. The county's fire chief could raise that requirement to 10% based on a building's fire safety systems.

The committee took up the bill Monday, Nov. 9, at 1:30 p.m., according to a post by the Montgomery County Council on X.

The hoods use chemical filters to give the wearer up to 15 minutes of breathable air during a fire. Each unit costs between $265 and $450, with most averaging around $335, according to the council staff report. Units last five to 15 years with a filter change eight years after manufacturing.

Building owners could not pass the purchase or maintenance costs on to tenants. Owners would have 18 months after the bill's passage to comply. The Director of Permitting Services would handle enforcement.

Property owners push back

At a public hearing on the bill, multiple property managers argued the mandate would drive up operating costs and make housing less affordable.

Charlie Nulsen, owner of Bethesda-based Washington Property Company, called the bill "an excessive reaction to a rare event," according to Bethesda Magazine. Nulsen, who said his company is Montgomery County's largest apartment provider, warned that a single large community could face steep costs. As first reported by WUSA9, Nulsen said requiring "a 100,000 unit apartment community to purchase 10,000 masks at a cost of $3 million … is so poorly thought-out and not justifiable."

That figure represents a hypothetical for one large community at the higher threshold, not a countywide total.

Chris Bruch, president and CEO of the Donohoe Companies, also opposed the bill. He argued the hoods belong with firefighters, not in storage closets.

Gabrielle Duvall, president of Southern Management Companies, said the bill singles out rental housing while excluding high-rise offices, hotels and condominiums.

A family's plea

The bill traces back to a February 2023 fire at the Arrive Silver Spring apartment complex that killed 25-year-old Melanie Diaz. An investigation found the building lacked working smoke alarms and a sprinkler system, according to WUSA9.

Diaz's family has since donated smoke escape hoods to Montgomery County Fire and Rescue Service (MCFRS). Starting in January 2026, every frontline engine, ladder truck and heavy rescue squad in the county carried one, MCFRS Assistant Chief Dominic Colletti said at the public hearing.

Diaz's father, Cesar Augusto Diaz, turned to address the property managers directly during his testimony. He pulled out a bag of his daughter's belongings and said smoke killed her in two minutes. "All you've heard is money, money, money, money, money. This is not about money. This is about life," he said, according to WUSA9.

The bill builds on the 2024 Melanie Diaz Act, also sponsored by Stewart, which required residential leases to include information about sprinkler systems, renter's insurance and emergency evacuation plans. Bill 43-26 has five cosponsors: Council President Fani-González, Councilmembers Sidney Katz and Dawn Luedtke, Council Vice President Balcombe and Councilmember Evans.

If passed, Montgomery County would be the first U.S. jurisdiction to require smoke escape hoods in residential buildings, according to the council staff report.