Shades of 9/11...! Madrid skyscraper may collapse

[Thomas Veil]

This bears an uncomfortable resemblance to what happened to the World Trade Center. It was the fire, after all, that ultimately brought those two buildings down.

MADRID, Spain (AP) - Spanish authorities have ordered a section of Madrid's business district closed Monday following an intense fire that heavily damaged one of the city's tallest skyscapers, leaving it still standing but unstable.

The fire, which left seven people slightly injured, broke out in the 32-story Windsor building on Saturday at about 11:20 p.m. Thick smoke and searing temperatures prevented firefighters from entering the building and getting the fire under control until late Sunday.

The office tower was heavily damaged but did not collapse, as had been feared. However, officials said it was unstable and closed the area around the building.

"What worries us now is its structural state because of the high temperatures it was subjected to,'' Merardo Tudelo, director of the Madrid Municipal Firefighters, told reporters.

...Hours earlier, several top floors collapsed onto lower ones. Firefighter official Fernando Munilla expressed concern that the entire building - which at about 350 feet high is among the 10 tallest in Madrid - could collapse.

"If the partial collapses keep happening, it would be lying to say it's impossible that the whole building couldn't fall down,'' he said.

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[wordmunger]

Looks to me like they'll need to tear the thing down in any case. At least no one was killed.

 

[Lord Blackadder]

That's going to be a dangerous demolition operation - they can't implode the building because it's unsafe to enter, but one badly placed wrecking ball will bring the whole thing down. It's like a 350 foot steel and concrete game of Jenga.

I just hope it holds long enough for them to get it down.

 

[wdlove]

Happy that no lost their life. Pray that those injured will recover fully.

It would seem that they will end up tearing down the building. Wonder if there is any similarity in construction to the WTC. Since some of its floors also collapsed. Some short cuts in construction, the damage from the plane's impact, and burning fuel led to the demise of both WTC buildings.

Maybe they can still use some well place dynamite to bring it down safely. The problem would be the previous damage.

The site of the burning building and the and the aftermath of steam was certainly a scary site.

 

[MacNut]

From what I have read this building was built around the same time as WTC and was under remodeling when it caught fire so its probably from construction that caused it.

 

[G4scott]

I think they said the cause of the fire might've been a short circuit.

In relation to the WTC, this building didn't have a bunch of jet fuel to superheat the fire in one concentrated place. Also, the construction of the actual floors might've been different in this building, because that was a major reason the WTC towers fell.

It's still amazing that nobody was killed and that the majority of the structure is still standing.

They'll have to wait until Wednesday, I think, for the structure to cool before they can enter it to determine how to demolish it. Either way, I'm sure we'll see some new creative technique to bring it down.

 

[wrldwzrd89]

I think they said the cause of the fire might've been a short circuit.

In relation to the WTC, this building didn't have a bunch of jet fuel to superheat the fire in one concentrated place. Also, the construction of the actual floors might've been different in this building, because that was a major reason the WTC towers fell.

It's still amazing that nobody was killed and that the majority of the structure is still standing.

They'll have to wait until Wednesday, I think, for the structure to cool before they can enter it to determine how to demolish it. Either way, I'm sure we'll see some new creative technique to bring it down.

Demolishing it will be a challenge...there's no doubt about that. For one thing, they'll have to make sure that, if the building does become critically unstable and collapses during the destruction process, it doesn't fall on the wrecking machinery and crew!

 

[mac-er]

This bears an uncomfortable resemblance to what happened to the World Trade Center.

I don't think this bears any resemblance to 9/11. Terrorists didn't purposefully kill 3000 people in this Madrid fire. Don't make light of what happened on 9/11.

 

[Chaszmyr]

That's going to be a dangerous demolition operation - they can't implode the building because it's unsafe to enter, but one badly placed wrecking ball will bring the whole thing down. It's like a 350 foot steel and concrete game of Jenga.

lol nice way of putting it.
I'm sure they'll be able to take it down without incident... Wow that building was charred.

 

[Thomas Veil]

I don't think this bears any resemblance to 9/11. Terrorists didn't purposefully kill 3000 people in this Madrid fire. Don't make light of what happened on 9/11.

What the...?

Don't put words in my mouth. All I said was that it was the fire that ultimately caused the buildings to collapse. The terrorists caused the fire (and initial structural damage), and I never said otherwise. I certainly didn't "make light" of it.

Get a grip.

 

[G4scott]

Well, even though the scale of these 2 disasters was quite different, it must have been creepy to wake up Sunday in Madrid and see a building with a plume of smoke rising from it. I don't know who would have seen this fire and not thought about 9/11, but I don't think anybody here was trying to downplay the events of that day.

 

[virividox]

yikes its a good thing no one got hurt

something like this happened recently back at home over the xmas holidays

good thing no one was hurt their either

 

[wdlove]

I don't think that anyone is trying to make light of this disaster. The similarities are in the building being a high rise. Also the intense fire, which the heat also caused a partial collapse of some floors.