Residents of the 90 Montgomery County residential high-rise complexes without firesuppression sprinkler systems are facing grave dangers, according to top county fire officials.

Two recent fires at luxury high-rises in Bethesda, Md., resulting in $1.2 million in damages, eight displaced families and critical injures to a 21-year-old woman, have thrust the problem to center stage for the department. Neither building had sprinklers.