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The First Interstate Tower fire was a high-rise fire that occurred on May 4, 1988, at the First Interstate Tower (now Aon Center) in Los Angeles, California, a 62-story, 860 foot (260 m) skyscraper, then the tallest building in the city. The fire destroyed five floors of the building, injured 40 people, and caused the death of a maintenance worker, when the elevator he was riding opened onto the burning 12th floor.[1][2]
 The First Interstate Tower, with several floors burning. | |
| Date | May 4, 1988 |
|---|---|
| Venue | First Interstate Tower |
| Location | Los Angeles, California, United States |
| Coordinates | 34°2′57.2″N 118°15′25.7″W / 34.049222°N 118.257139°W |
| Type | Fire |
| Cause | Overloaded electrical system |
| Deaths | 1 |
| Non-fatal injuries | 40 |
Background
editThe fire was so severe because the building was not equipped with fire sprinklers, which were not required for office towers at the time construction was completed in 1973. A sprinkler system was 90% installed at the time of the fire but was inoperative, awaiting the installation of water flow alarms.[1]
Fire
editThe fire's origin has been attributed[clarification needed] to overloading of electrical wiring by reactive distortion of lighting circuit currents.[3][additional citation(s) needed] The fire was first alerted around 10:22pm on May 4, 1988 when a smoke detector on the 12th floor of the building activated. However, due to ongoing work on the sprinkler system being installed that evening, security personal immediately silenced the alarm, believing the activation to be a false alarm.[4] Within six minutes, almost every smoke detector from floors 12 through 30 activated.[5] The fire was not reported to emergency services until people outside the building called 911.[4]
A maintenance worker, Alexander Handy, took a service elevator to the 12th floor in order to investigate the smoke detectors, however he ultimately died when the elevator opened onto the burning 12th floor.[6] Around 50 people were believed to be occupying the building at the time of the fire, with 37 individuals injured including 3 firefighters.[7] Five individuals were rescued from the rooftop via helicopter.[4]
A total of 270 firefighters from 55 different companies and 4 helicopters were all called in to fight the fire. One firefighter with the Los Angeles Fire Department told reporters; "I was not sure we could hold it" due to the intensely hot blaze fueled by the synthetic fabrics and furnishings in the building.[7] The fire, which resulted in $50 million in damages, was eventually contained at 2:19 AM.
Aftermath
editAccording to the FEMA fire incident report, unusually good application of fireproofing on support members was a significant mitigating factor. The fireproofing used to protect the steel was Monokote supplied by GCP Applied Technologies (formerly W. R. Grace).
Repair work took four months. Because of the fire, Los Angeles building codes were changed, requiring all high-rises to be equipped with fire sprinklers. This modified a 1974 ordinance that only required new buildings to contain fire sprinkler systems.
Cultural references
editThe fire was dramatized in the 1991 telefilm, Fire: Trapped on the 37th Floor, starring Lee Majors, Lisa Hartman Black and Peter Scolari.[8][9]
See also
edit
- One Meridian Plaza - a 38-story building destroyed by fire 3 years later while a sprinkler system was being installed
- Andraus Fire - a 1972 fire which burned through a 32-story building in Sao Paulo, Brazil.
- Joelma Fire - a 1974 fire which burned through a 25-story building in Sao Paulo, Brazil.
- 2010 Shanghai fire – destroyed a 28-story high-rise
- Lakanal House fire – a 2009 fire in a tower block in Camberwell, South London
- 2017 Plasco Building fire and collapse – in Tehran, Iran
- Grenfell Tower fire - a 14 June 2017 destruction of a London 24-story high-rise which had no sprinkler system
- PEPCON Disaster - a unrelated series of explosions, the largest being 1KT TNT equivalent, that happened in Henderson, Nevada the same day.
References
edit- ^ a b "Technical Report, Interstate Bank Building Fire". United States Fire Administration. Archived from the original on 2010-10-04. Retrieved 2009-11-21.
- ^ Becklund, Laurie (1988-08-27). "Open Fire Door Blamed in First Interstate Death". The L.A. Times. Retrieved 2017-10-19.
- ^ Glasband, Eric (November 1994). ""Lifting" the Grounding Enigma". MIX Magazine. Archived from the original on 2013-06-22. Retrieved 2012-12-13.
- ^ a b c Thompson, Kristy (2011-06-08). "Interstate Bank Building Fire Los Angeles 1988". NIST. Retrieved 2021-09-08.
- ^ Corning, Owens. "A $50 Million Lesson in Fire Containment; Passive fire compartmentation offers hope when all else fails". Architect Magazine. Retrieved 2021-09-08.
- ^ "First Interstate Bank Fire–25 Years Later". FirefighterNation. May 4, 2013. Retrieved 2021-09-08.
- ^ a b Reinhold, Robert; Times, Special To the New York (1988-05-06). "Los Angeles High-Rise Fire Kills 1; Officials Cite Lack of Sprinklers". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2021-09-08.
- ^ Jones, Charisse (1990-10-25). "Adding Film to the Fire : Re-Enacted for TV, First Interstate Blaze Is Relived by Survivors". The L.A. Times. Retrieved 2017-10-19.
- ^ Tucker, Ken (1991-02-15). "Review: Fire! Trapped on the 37th Floor". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved 2017-10-19.
Further reading
edit- Gregerson, John (1989-02-01). "How L.A.'s worst high-rise fire spread. (First Interstate Tower)". Building Design & Construction. Archived from the original on 2012-11-04. Retrieved 13 July 2010.
- Emerson, Cole H. (1989-06-01). "Putting out the fire. (disaster contingency plan for high-rise fire at First Interstate Bank of California, Los Angeles)". Security Management. Retrieved 13 July 2010.
- Stremfel, Michael (1990-10-29). "Exorbitant cost of sprinklers puts almost 200 in violation of fire law. (Los Angeles; high rise office buildings; fire safety laws)". Los Angeles Business Journal. Retrieved 13 July 2010.[dead link]