Steven, not sure if this will answer your question, but here goes. many years ago i had to deal with an arson fire at a "International Furniture." (chain store)
Our community had been dealing with several arson fires. When our crews would be out late at night on ambulance runs we tended to pay much more attention to what was going on around us. We had dropped off a patient in route back to our station house. At that time the furniture store was directly across the street from a Wal-Mart. (at that time was not a 24 hour store) We looked over at it and the nights lights were on inside and all looked well.A police officer was parked in the Wal-Mart parking lot. He flashed his blues, we flashed our reds and and be both proceeded back to the station. (police station adjoined ours.)
From the point where we passed the store to our station takes approximately 45 seconds. We pulled up and were backing into the bay when the tones rang out for a fire at the furniture store. "Flames through the roof."
Switching into our trucks we pulled out and went to make the attack. We got inside for about 15 minutes and then the huge steel beams that supported the roof began to melt like slow candle wax.
Long story shorter. State boys came down to help with the investigation. it was determined as it had been at several fires that the arsonist(s) were using garden pump sprayers filled with high octane jet fuels. they used the sprayers in hopes that the liquid would atomize so small that little or no evidence would remain. We were told then that the jet fuel would burn so hot that it literally would soften the beams.
The day the towers fell I was off work. I was with some other people at a car lot. We began watching and of course the normal questions were being thrown to me. "Well. Chief, what's your call on handling this?" My first thoughts went back to that summer night with the big beams in the furniture store and how we almost had the roof collapse on us before we could get out. My comment to those of watching was, that command was too close to the building and there wasn't much time before it would go down. Everybody laughed at that comment. If I hadn't experienced what I had years before, I would have laughed at that statement also.
Each floor of the towers were designed to hold it on weight plus some extra. NOT, the weight of the floor above.
As for the Pentagon, I have talked with folks who were there. Jet plane parts WERE in the rubble.
And then there are those who don't think we went to the moon either.
Kelly
