Masonry Magazine September 1970 Page. 10
FIRE REPORT NO.1
A fire, discovered after normal working hours, on the 33rd floor of a new 50-story glass and metal skyscraper at No. 1 New York Plaza, New York City, did extensive damage, claimed the lives of two men and injured many others.
Anthony J. Zotollo, President of the Metropolitan Brick Masonry Council, a group representing both labor and management in the brick, masonry and allied fields urged a close, hard look at the New York City building code. Citing the death of two building employees as tragic, Mr. Zotollo said, "We need to ask hard questions and look deeply for practical answers as to why this tragedy occured in a new and structurally fireproof building." He continued, "Perhaps our new building code needs to be re-examined from the point of view of the safety of the people who work in these buildings."
New York City Fire Chief, John T. O'Hagen and others in the fire department were openly stating what the Metropolitan Brick Masonry Council has been contending all during the hearings prior to the approval of the new building code. The Council repeatedly urged that Fire Protection Engineers be given adequate voice in the preparation of the building code, fifty per cent of which is concerned with fire protection.
The glass and metal curtain wall buildings are "cheaply built," Chief O'Hagen said. "These new buildings may be fireproof but they are not safe. They keep building them because they look nice and are inexpensive," he added.
With windows sealed for air conditioning, these buildings do not allow for easy ventilation to dissipate the heat of a fire. As a result, temperatures of up to 1800 degrees have been reported by firemen. Office equipment such as typewriters and telephones mounted or applied to masonry walls melted in the intense heat on the floors although the masonry (terra cotta and gypsum block) remained intact. The 33rd and 34th floors of the building were subjected to intense heat which is reported to have warped steel and caused elevators to stall midcourse. The two men who died in an elevator.