Inferno in L.A. Skyscraper Leaves 1 Dead, 40 Injured : 40% of City Fire Force Called Out

A fire that raged through five floors of Los Angeles’ tallest skyscraper was finally brought under control this morning but not before at least one person was killed and at least 40 others were injured.

Nearly 300 firefighters--about 40% of the city’s force--battled for 3 1/2 hours through walls of flame and showers of shattering glass to extinguish the blaze in the 62-story First Interstate Bank Building. The cause of the fire was not immediately determined.

Smoke billowed hundreds of feet above the 859-foot building, obscuring the view from helicopters that braved fire-generated winds to pluck eight persons to safety from the roof and drop firefighters and equipment there to combat the fire from above.

Described as City’s Worst

Fire officials described the downtown blaze, which generated temperatures estimated at more than 2,000 degrees, as the worst high-rise fire in the city’s history in terms of damage and severity.

“Everything that was burnable burned down,” said Los Angeles Fire Department Capt. Steve Varney. “It was just metal, and that was red hot. . . . It looked like Dante’s inferno.”

“Inside that building . . . it was like the inside of a boiler,” Fire Chief Donald Manning said. “The water would turn to steam. I wasn’t sure we could stop it at all.”

One of the main problems in battling the blaze was the lack of a built-in sprinkler system. The building at 6th Street and Wilshire Boulevard was constructed before a 1974 state law requiring sprinklers.

Ironically, a 40-member crew was in the process of installing sprinklers when the fire broke out Wednesday night. Although the system was 90% completed, none of the sprinklers was working yet.

“If there had been a sprinkler system in that building, we wouldn’t be here,” Manning said.

The blaze, which was visible for miles, attracted large crowds of spectators during the night. Police cordoned off streets surrounding the building to ease the movement of fire equipment, but the blocked streets caused enormous traffic jams during this morning’s rush hour.

Pleaded for Help

The man who died in the fire pleaded for help over a hand-held radio before succumbing to the flames and smoke in a freight elevator stalled on the 12th floor.

“I could hear him calling,” said Zora Imamovic, 38, a janitor in the building who carries one of the portable radio sets. “He was saying, ‘Car 33’s in flames! We are dying! . . . Please help!’ ”

The dead man--whose body was found when firefighters pried open the elevator doors at 4 a.m., about two hours after the blaze was extinguished--was not immediately identified.

A Fire Department helicopter spotted another man waving frantically from a 50th-floor window and sent firefighters to rescue him. Firefighter Mike Meadows said that by the time they reached the man, he was overcome by smoke.

“He was behind a curtain, and all we could see was his legs,” Meadows said. “A few more minutes and he would have been gone.”

Meadows said he gave the man oxygen and helped carry him to the roof where he was picked up by a helicopter. “By then, he was feeling a lot better,” Meadows said.

Two of the injured were found disoriented on the 37th floor of the skyscraper before firefighters brought them to safety shortly after dawn.

2 in Intensive Care

One of the two, financial analyst Melinda Skarr, was placed in the intensive care unit at the Hospital of the Good Samaritan for treatment of smoke inhalation. The other, Stephen Oksa, was admitted to the intensive care unit at Queen of Angeles hospital where he was reported in stable condition, suffering from smoke inhalation. In all, at least 17 were hospitalized.

Most of the injured were maintenance and janitorial workers. Three were firefighters.

Many of them--and an undetermined number of others who escaped injury--made their way down to the ground using enclosed stairways mandated by the city for fire safety. Despite signs warning not to do so, others used elevators to get to the ground floor.

One of those who used an elevator--and escaped injury--was maintenance worker Teresa Pugo, who said she realized something was wrong when she smelled smoke.

“I thought a coffee machine or a microwave oven was on fire,” she said. “But then I went near the stairs and I heard people screaming, ‘Fire!’ ”

Fire Department spokesman Ed Reed said the high-rise blaze was “the worst kind to fight” because it was beyond the reach of ladders and the truck-mounted monitors used to spray water from the ground.

Fire officials said the blaze started at 10:37 p.m. in the southeast corner of the 12th floor. The flames spread rapidly, fueled primarily by wood, plastic, fabric and other combustibles used to furnish and decorate the offices.

Within minutes, the flames licking upward through shattered windows had spread to the four floors above.

Glass Falls on Streets

Charred debris and shards of glass rained down on the streets below, severing a number of hose lines and posing an added threat to the firefighters on the ground. At least one car parked at curbside was set ablaze by falling embers.

The Fire Department dispatched so many engines to the fire that they formed a phalanx on Hope Street, two blocks long and four lanes wide. A dozen ambulances lined up on Grand Avenue to transport the injured to local hospitals.

The department launched a two-pronged attack on the blaze, using firefighters equipped with air bottles. While some of the firefighters made the arduous climb from below, others dropped by helicopter descended from the roof.

The fight to suppress the blaze swung back and forth, with firefighters advancing repeatedly on the flames, only to be driven back again and again by the intense heat.

“For a while it looked as though we had really lost it,” Firefighter Allen Skier said later. “Suddenly, there was smoke all over, on all sides of us, and my air was gone. For 10 minutes there, it looked pretty rough.”

But Skier and the others got more air and regrouped. And finally, the command radio crackled a welcome report:

“Knockdown at zero two one nine (a.m.).”

By that time, an estimated 1,500 people had gathered to watch the fire, and dozens of police were deployed to keep back the crowd.

One officer, who would not give his name, said that after hundreds of spectators streamed into the streets from downtown restaurants and hotels, a huge second wave of people “who drove in from all points of the city to see this thing” appeared.

“These people are hearing it on the radio and coming in from everywhere--Central, the Valley. You name it,” he said.

Festive Atmosphere

A festive atmosphere reigned as boys on bicycles and people in wheelchairs rolled up to watch the drama.

Frank Carranza, 38, said he drove up from South Los Angeles “because they said on the news it was going to be history. I jumped into my car and came right down. It’s not exactly for fun, but I’ll be able to tell my kids I saw it.”

Jonathan Adler said he was on his way to a downtown-area post office when he heard it on the radio and stopped to watch.

“This is something not to be missed,” he said. “There is a very strong attraction . . . something very primal about because it’s such a huge high-rise. It’s civilization against nature, and that’s a real drama.”

Bertone Terronez said he and some friends were heading for a downtown nightclub when they saw the fire.

“My friend said, ‘Look, it’s the ‘Towering Inferno,’ ” Terronez said, referring to the 1974 movie about a skyscraper fire in San Francisco.

“That’s my bank,” he said. “My money is burning right now.”

First Interstate told the 5,500 who usually work in the building to stay home today. A company official said the work usually handled at the building will be performed at other offices.

A bank representative said the offices destroyed in the fire house the firm’s advertising and public relations departments. He said the damage would total millions of dollars, but no precise estimate was immediately available.

Times staff writers Laurie Becklund, Stephanie Chavez, Nieson Himmell, Frederick M. Muir, Myrna Oliver, Jill Stewart, Robert W. Welkos and Boris Yaro contributed to this story.