Honolulu City Council members said they are willing to discuss Mayor Kirk Caldwell’s call to consider forcing high-rise residential buildings without automatic fire sprinkler systems to install them.

They also want to look at ways of softening the financial blow such a mandatory fix might have on homeowners.

“The city needs to take concrete action to prevent the kind of tragic occurrence that happened at the Marco Polo condominium,” Council Chairman Ron Menor said in a statement.

Tax credits would be among the proposals that may be considered, although the fiscal implications each would have for the city would need to be weighed as well, Menor said.

Council members will work with the Caldwell administration, condo associations and other stakeholders on the issue, he said.

Menor’s comments echoed those of Councilwoman Ann Kobayashi, who said Sunday she favors installment payments or other means of financial help for condo owners and their associations.

Besides the three deaths, Friday’s fire required 12 people to receive medical treatment.

The Honolulu Fire Department determined that 30 to 40 of the Marco Polo’s 568 residential units are severely damaged.

On Monday, Caldwell sent the Council a proposed bill that would require high-rise residential buildings without automatic fire sprinklers to install them.

The Marco Polo was built in 1971, four years before the city passed a law requiring all new high-rises to install automated sprinklers.

“The unfortunate event last week at the Marco Polo condominium shows that, while fire sprinklers may cost the unit owners a few thousand dollars to install, they can save a life and prevent significant property damage in the event of a fire,” Caldwell said in a letter Monday to Menor and the other Council members. “This bill (will) help ensure that life and property are continually safeguarded from the hazards of fire.”

An existing high-rise residential building is defined in the bill as any building “that has floors used for human occupancy located more than 75 feet above the highest grade, contains dwelling units, and which was erected prior to the date of approval of this article, or one for which a legal building permit has been issued.”

Fire Chief Manuel Neves also signed the memo to the Council. Hours after the fire began, Neves said that if the building had had sprinklers, the deadly fire would likely have been contained to the unit where it started.

The bill must still be formally introduced, on behalf of Caldwell, by Menor, who said late Monday he will do so today.

Specifically, the measure changes the Honolulu Fire Code to add the words “existing high-rise residential buildings” to the types of structures that must adhere to “life safety requirements.” The other structures are existing hotel buildings and existing high-rise commercial buildings.

As is the case now with hotel and business towers, fire officials would inspect each high-rise and then issue a checklist of items that would need to be completed to come into compliance.

The Marco Polo board of directors was told in July 2013 it would cost about $4.5 million to install automatic sprinklers throughout the building and surrounding areas. The report, by S.S. Dannaway Associates, also looked at the cost of replacing an aging fire alarm system in the massive tower.

The report was issued several months after a 2013 fire caused more than $1 million in damage to two apartments and surrounding areas, but no injuries.

After the fire the board voted to pursue installation in common areas such as hallways and lobbies, a former board member told the Honolulu Star-Advertiser. But installation has not yet started, two residents said.

The Marco Polo is one of an estimated 275 to 300 residential condo towers without sprinklers.