At the site of a July 14 condo tower blaze that killed four, Honolulu Mayor Kirk Caldwell signed Bill 69 into law Thursday, giving incentives to condo associations if they install fire sprinklers.

Bill 69 originally mandated retrofitting older residential high-rises with sprinkler systems. It was amended to instead give incentives to condo associations if they install sprinklers, such as tax credits and fee waivers. All buildings 10 stories or more must go through a fire safety evaluation within three years, then owners must decide whether to install sprinklers or install alternative fire prevention measures, the law says.

Fire Chief Manuel Neves called it a momentous and happy day for Honolulu because buildings, their residents and visitors will be safer, although the Honolulu Fire Department had pushed to make it mandatory for all older condo buildings to be retrofitted with automatic fire sprinkler systems.

The Marco Polo condominium at 2333 Kapiolani Blvd. sustained more than $107 million in damage, and four residents died after being trapped in their apartments for hours.

The Association of Apartment of Owners of the Marco Polo voted recently in favor of using the association’s reserves to install a fire sprinkler system.

“We really don’t want to come back to this building under the same circumstances,” Neves said. “For them living through the July 14 event and having four people die in their building, I think that was an eye-opener. … Unless you had a fire in your house, you really don’t know how dangerous and how scary it is for everybody.”

The exterior of the 36-story Marco Polo has been cleaned of the black soot, and an external elevator was installed to allow equipment and materials to be brought up, said Andrew Fortin, spokesman for Associa, which manages the building.

Roughly a third of the building has gone through or is undergoing an abatement process in common areas and in units three to five floors at a time. The abatement includes asbestos removal work from drywall and ceilings and replacing carpeting, Fortin said.

“I haven’t lived in it (the Marco Polo) since the fire,” said condo owner Dorothy Umeda, 71. “I went to the mainland and stayed with family for six months, stayed three weeks at the Pagoda and found a second-floor unit (in the Marco Polo). At least I feel like I’m close to home.”

Umeda, whose unit is on the 19th floor, said her floor is undergoing abatement work, and once that’s done her contractor will go in to repair the water damage in her apartment, tearing down walls and replacing her kitchen and bathroom.

She said it’ll take one to two months to rebuild. “I’m hoping to be back in by August, so it’ll be a year plus.”