First Interstate Bank Tower Fire 1988

Burnt Glass from the First Interstate Bank Tower Fire  (2.0 cm x 2.5 cm x 0.6 cm)

When the 62-story First Interstate Bank building, at 707 Wilshire Boulevard, Los Angeles, opened in 1973, it was the tallest building west of the Mississippi River.  At 10:30 p.m. on May 4, 1988, a fire broke out on the 12th floor and, over the next three hours and 45 minutes, spread upward to the 13th through 16th floors.  The building had no sprinkler system.  Floors 12 through 15 were destroyed as was half of the 16th floor.  A maintenance worker was killed when elevator doors opened onto one of the burning floors; 40 firefighters were injured fighting the blaze.  I found this small (3/4" x 1" x 1/4") piece of burnt glass on the sidewalk on 6th Street (along the northeastern side of the building) two days after the fire.