JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Wood-frame construction is permitted statewide in Florida and it’s a common choice for developers, even when it comes to high-rise apartment buildings like the downtown RISE Doro complex that caught fire on Sunday night. Jacksonville has a lot of new apartment buildings going up …made mostly of wood framing and what looks to be typical plywood. So why is this the popular choice for developers? It all comes down to time and money. The massive fire at the RISE Doro apartment complex has many asking questions about the structural integrity of the building. … “Developers use wood now for these multifamily projects, because they’re a lot faster and a lot cheaper to build. With that wood comes the inherent danger of fire. And obviously, we’ve seen that with this incident today,” said Chris Cobb, a Jacksonville construction attorney. …Building codes require all building systems to perform at the same level of safety.

Additional coverage in News4JAX by Vic Micolucci: JFRD says construction makes massive fire at luxury Downtown apartments difficult to fight

Jacksonville Daily Record, by Monty Zickuhr: Nearly completed Rise Doro apartments Downtown ‘looks like a total loss’