5/18/2021 9-11 Research: Other Fires

.com <^> 9 - 1 1 R e s e a r c h .wtc7.net Home Background Attack Aftermath Evidence Misinformation Analysis Memorial Analysis collapsing buildings Other Skyscraper Fires other high-rise fires other collapses WTC 1, 2 collapses Fires Have Never Caused to Collapse design parameters role of fires fire severity Excepting the three 9-11 collapses, no fire, however severe, has ever caused a steel-framed high-rise building effects on steel collapse features to collapse. Following are examples of high-rise fires that were far more severe than those in WTC 1 and 2, explosive events and Building 7. In these precedents, the fires consumed multiple floors, produced extensive window demolition squibs frame shattering breakage, exhibited large areas of emergent flames, and went on for several hours. The fires in the WTC concrete pulverization towers did none of these things. dust volume steel shredding LINK symmetry mushrooming The Fire speed of fall demolition proofs speed of fall One Meridian Plaza is a 38-floor skyscraper in that suffered a severe fire on February 23, 1991. volume of dust The fire started on the 22nd floor and raged for 18 hours, gutting eight floors and causing an estimated $100 breakup of top 1 2 3 collapse theories million in direct property loss. It was later described by Philadelphia officials as "the most The One Meridian Plaza fire column failure theory truss theory significant fire in this century". demolition theories basement bombs 4 nuclear devices The fire caused window breakage, cracking of granite, and failures of spandrel panel connections. Despite directed energy the severity and duration of the fire, as evidenced by the damage the building sustained, no part of the radiant projectiles distributed explosives building collapsed. thermobarics thermite LINK simulations The First Interstate Bank Fire Building 7 collapse rate of fall controlled demolition The First Interstate Bank Building is a 62-story skyscraper in that suffered the worst high-rise WTC 6, 5 holes fire in the city's history. From the late evening of May 4, 1988 through the early morning of the next day, 64 Pentagon fire companies battled the blaze, which lasted for 3 1/2 hours. The fire caused extensive window breakage, assault location which complicated efforts. Large flames jutted out of the building during the blaze. Firefighting Pentagon videos efforts resulted in massive water damage to floors below the fire, and the fire gutted offices from the 12th to witnesses forensics the 16th floor, and caused extensive smoke damage to floors above. The fire caused an estimated $200 impact damage 5 damage pattern million in direct property loss. aircraft debris shockwave A report by Iklim Ltd. describes the structural damage from the fire: jetliner approach theories Eastman In spite of the total burnout of four and a half floors, there was no damage to the main structural members Bart and only minor damage to one secondary beam and a small number of floor pans. 6 attack from the air LINK The First Interstate Bank fire NORAD stand-down The Fire flight mysteries phone calls theories 1 New York Plaza is a 50-story office tower less than a mile from the World Trade Center site. It suffered a suicide pilots severe fire and explosion on August 5, 1970. The fire started around 6 PM, and burned for more than 6 home run system 7 flight program hours. bumble planes Flight 93 shoot-down LINK Won-Young Kim Tower Fire follow-up attacks anthrax

911research.wtc7.net/wtc/analysis/compare/fires.html 1/3 5/18/2021 9-11 Research: Other Skyscraper Fires perpetrators The tallest skyscraper in Caracas, experienced a severe fire on October 17, 2004. The blaze began intent before midnight on the 34th floor, spread to more than 26 floors, and burned for more than 17 hours. Heat minimized fatalities maximized shock from the fires prevented firefighters from reaching the upper floors, and smoke injured 40 firefighters. conspiracy Attack Scenario 404 Lax enforcement of fire codes in Venezuela was blamed for the malfunctioning of water pumps and a lack of whistleblowers fire extinguishers inside of the building. Because the building was empty when the fire broke out, no official actions 8 evidence destruction civilians were killed or injured. investigation prevention LINK 9-11 anomalies The Windsor Building Fire top anomalies Close-up of the First Interstate Bank fire historical precedents Photo: New York Board of Underwriters A more recent case of a severe high-rise fire is the one that destroyed the Windsor Search Building in , on February 12, 2005. The Windsor fire was more Essays Reviews severe than any of the fires described above, and the incident has been widely Talks publicized, with comparisons to the fires in the three World Trade Center Interviews skyscrapers on 9/11/01. However, the Windsor Building, unlike all the buildings FAQs mentioned above, was framed in steel-reinforced concrete rather than steel. Hence Materials it is described on a separate page, which notes differences between the response of Papers 9 Resources these different types of structures to fires. Site Guide LINK About The Mandarin Oriental Hotel Fire Contact The Windsor Building fire Contribute The most recent example of a spectacular skyscraper fire was the burning of the Hotel Mandarin Oriental V 1.44 starting on February 9, 2009. The nearly completed 520-foot-tall skyscraper in Beijing caught fire around 8:00 pm, was engulfed within 20 minutes, and burned for at least 3 hours until midnight. Despite the fact that Copyright 2003-2019, 911Research.WTC7.net site last the fire extended across all of the floors for a period of time and burned out of control for hours, no large updated:05/16/2019 portion of the structure collapsed. fair use notice It is tempting to draw parallels between this spectacle and the destruction of WTC 1, 2, and 7 because of the stark opposites: on 9/11/01, three skyscrapers were transformed into piles of rubble primarily as a consequence, supposedly, of fires -- fires spanning small fractions of each building; and on 2/09/09, a skyscraper remained intact after burning like a torch for hours. However such parallels may be limited by major structural differences between the buildings in the two cases -- one being that the Hotel Mandarin Oriental, designed by the famous Dutch architect Rem Koolhaas, had a full-height interior atrium, and thus had the hollowness that the 9-11 Commission deceptively attempted to attribute to the Twin Towers. 10

Perhaps the relevance of the Mandarin fire to the events of 9/11/2001 is more symbolic than forensic. The Mandarin fire is examined more fully here.

References

1. ONE MERIDIAN PLAZA, Philadelphia Fire Films, 1991, [cached] 2. High-rise Office Building Fire One Meridian Plaza, [cached] 3. One Meridien Plaza, [cached] 4. High-rise Office Building Fire One Meridian Plaza Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, [cached] 5. First Interstate Bank Fire, lafire.com, [cached] 6. Interstate Bank Building Fire Los Angeles, California (May 4, 1988), [cached] 7. U.S. Report on Trade Center Echoes Lessons of Past Disasters, New York Times , 4/2/02 [cached] 8. Towering Inferno In Caracas, CBSNEWS.com, 10/18/04 [cached] The Hotel Mandarin Oriental blazes 9. U.S. Report on Trade Center ..., New York Times, 4/2/02 10. Fire claims building at CCTV Beijing headquarters, reuters.com ,

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