LAFD 1st Interstate Bank Fire part 2

"During the late evening of May 4, 1988, and the early morning of May 5, 1988, members of the Los Angeles City Fire Department successfully battled what has proven to be the worst, most devastating high-rise fire in the history of Los Angeles. Extinguishing this blaze at the 62-story First Interstate Bank Building, 707 West Wilshire Boulevard, required the combined efforts of 64 fire companies, 10 City rescue ambulances, 17 private ambulances, 4 helicopters, 53 Command Officers and support personnel, a complement of 383 Firefighters and Paramedics, and considerable assistance from other City departments.
It is humbling and terrifying to realize how close we came to losing control of this fire!

Had it not been for the extraordinary commitment to duty, staunch determination to extinguish the fire at all costs, and unabated heroism and courage of our brave Firefighters, I am convinced that the fire would not have been contained as it was in 3-1/2 hours. In most other cities, the building could have become a charred skeleton and, even worse, Firefighters would have lost their lives. In my view, our City is blessed with the most professional and dedicated Firefighters in the world, and this is why only one civilian life was lost and only four floors were gutted.

The Department has documented specific acts of heroism for future recognition, but I feel compelled to personally thank you for performing your assigned role at the First Interstate Bank Fire. As your Chief Engineer, I have received countless accolades on you behalf from throughout the world and know that from the Department's standpoint, this was perhaps our proudest moment for revealing what our people are capable of achieving.

You share a role in this achievement and are to be commended for your courage and dedication that prevented the First Interstate Bank Fire from becoming an even greater tragedy. For this, the citizens of Los Angeles owe a tremendous debt of gratitude."


Excerpt from Los Angeles Fire Department Historical Archive
http://www.lafire.com/famous_fires/880504_1stInterstateFire/050488_Interstate...

Category:

Film & Animation

Tags:

• LAFD
• 1st
• Bank
• Blvd
• Fire
• First
• High
• Highrise
• Hope
• Interstate
• Rise
• structure
• Wilshire

[toroarts]

@enid0mom It is quite idiotic to make arguments with an ignorant ass such as yourself. EXPLAIN BUILDING 7!!! MORON!!!

[enid0mom]

@toroarts They didn't have to knock ALL the fireproofing off. Steel will bend long before it reaches a melting temperature. Thus the reason for the fireproofing in the first place. Your an idiot.

[enid0mom]

@toroarts Let's see. Each tower was hit by a 116 ton (11,688 kg) aircraft at over 600 mph. This fire? No jets. It wasn't "just" the jet fuel, idiot. After you have a structural engineering degree and a degree in fire science, get back to us.

[enid0mom]

@toroarts Let's see. Each tower was hit by a 116 ton (11,688 kg) aircraft at over 600 mph. This fire? No jets. Each contains 11,489 gal (43.486 l.) of jet fuel that burns at 1800 d F (982 d C) when not in a confined space where temps can rise considerably. This starts out 200 d F higher than usual structure fires (not including hazardous materials like paint or, uh, jet fuel). This fire? Nada. Your an idiot! Or anyone who thinks the claim is only the fires took the buildings.

[toroarts]

@schuminweb Did I ever mention Israel in any arguments here? You lowlife scam artist! You sure do try to make some weird far reaching leap to paint me as some anti-semite! Get lost!

[schuminweb]

@toroarts By your logic, the application of fireproofing on the steel members of any structure is a waste of time, effort, and money. Considering your own posted videos and the links provided therein, however, it seems that you would be inclined to blame Israel if you wake up with a headache in the morning, so I don't see any point in continuing this argument.

[toroarts]

@schuminweb Surely you do not claim that impact blew the fireproffing off the all of the WTC columns. Also surely you can not claim that even without fireproofing steel will melt in jet fuel fire. If you can claim such a thing, then you should never be able to cook your hamburger in your back yard.

[schuminweb]

@toroarts Let's not forget that the First Interstate fire was a conventional fire - the kind that the designers intended to protect from. Additionally, due to above-average quality of the fireproofing on the steel, the steel was undamaged. Nothing struck the building, but rather just the contents of the building burned. In WTC's case, you had an impact that was believed to blow the fireproofing off the steel members - thus no protection. So it's kind of apples-to-oranges to compare.

[493Jester]

Mayor Bradly does not blink. I counted only one time during his portion of the video. Not sure how I feel about that.

[ITS420PAT]

Yea Steel won't weaken and fail due to a jet fuel fire... and the titanic was unsinkable.