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To: kattracks
Here's some interesting reading on the subject of high rise fires.  This PDF report addresses the May 4, 1988 First Interstate Bank Building fire in downtown Los Angeles.  This was a structural fire in a 62 floor office building.  Four floors were destroyed, a fifth seriously damaged.

While the fire grew, security personnel kept turning off fire alarms rather than accept that an incident was occurring.  One security officer burned to death when his elevator door opened into a burning inferno.

Structural considerations during this fire, should have sounded alarm bells for any high rise in this nation.  The fear of collapse alone should have alerted emergency preparedness personnel across our nation to the need to evacuate any structure that developed a hot fire inside their structure.  When girders become hot enough, they become unstable.  Tenants of a high-rise should NEVER be told to relax, everything is under control during a fire.  They should evacuate immediately.

This report was developed by or for FEMA.  It's conclusions should have been disbursed to every command center of a high-rise building in the nation.  That it wasn't, or that it's lessons learned were not adopted, was a major flaw in the works.

This report could have had major implications on the WTC, due to it's structural differences with the Interstate Bank building.  The WTC may have been more susceptible to collapse.  I do believe it's still open to debate, despite this reports conclusion.

4 posted on 10/22/2002 12:51:36 AM PDT by DoughtyOne
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To: DoughtyOne
No structural flaw, indeed. I fail to see exactly WHAT could have kept those buildings from collapsing after they got smacked by a widebody apiece...
32 posted on 10/22/2002 11:23:05 AM PDT by Poohbah
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