Re: [californiadisasters] 27 Years Ago Tonight: Most Devastating High-Rise Fire in LA History

The First Interstate Bank fire brought disaster preparedness and business continuity to the forefront for businesses as people learned that FIB had a disaster plan and a backup facility across the Harbor Freeway to maintain business operations in case the main facility was not accessible due to [place your calamity here]. The building was out of service for many months and some data was lost on desktop PCs but FIB was mostly in operation the morning after the fire.
73,
kevin
kc6pob
--------------------------------------------
On Mon, 5/4/15, Kim Noyes kimnoyes@gmail.com [californiadisasters] <californiadisasters@yahoogroups.com> wrote:

Subject: [californiadisasters] 27 Years Ago Tonight: Most Devastating High-Rise Fire in LA History
To: "CaliforniaDisasters" <californiadisasters@yahoogroups.com>, "AllThingsHistory" <allthingshistory@yahoogroups.com>
Date: Monday, May 4, 2015, 10:30 PM


 









27 Years
Ago Tonight: The most devastating High-Rise Fire in Los
Angeles History




LAFIRE.COM

Los Angeles Fire
Department

Historical Archive




    May 4, 1988

    First Interstate Bank Fire















First Interstate Bank Fire 


May 4, 1988








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.







DONALD O. MANNING

CHIEF ENGINEER AND
GENERAL MANAGER

LOS ANGELES CITY
FIRE DEPARTMENT
















Photo:
New York Board of
Underwriters





EXECUTIVE
SUMMARY

FIRST INTERSTATE BANK BUILDING FIRE



LAFD
REPORT





United
States Fire Administration

Technical Report
AIR
OPERATIONS

at the

WORST HIGH-RISE FIRE IN LOS ANGELES HISTORY



By Michael Roy,
Pilot III

LAFD Air Operations

THE FIREMEN'S GRAPEVINE, JULY,
1988
Towering
Inferno II -- Still No Movie Version

By John J. Fitzgerald

Box 4 Fire Buff Club, Dallas, Texas

THE FIREMEN'S GRAPEVINE, JULY, 1988



Interstate
Fire
Video












 















Damien's
Skyscraper Page


First Interstate Tower
Height to roof:
262 metres

Date built: 1974

Use: Office

Location: Los Angeles, United States

Architect: The Luckman Partnership
When completed
in 1974, the First
Interstate Tower was the tallest building in the
United States west of
Chicago. The building is square, tapering 2 metres
as it rises. The
four faces are clad in dark glass and mullions. In
1988, a fire
destroyed five floors. Since then all high rise
building in Los
Angeles have been fitted with sprinkler
systems.











LAFIRE.COM

Copyright 1999 All Rights Reserved. Source:
http://www.lafire.com/famous_fires/1988-0504_1stInterstateFire/050488_InterstateFire.htm













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------------------------------------
Posted by: kevin asato <kc6pob@yahoo.com>
------------------------------------

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