LaSalle Bank Fire Update

The initial reports are coming in on the investigation of the LaSalle Bank Building fire. Here’s the report in the Chicago Tribune (I‘d link to the Sun-Times story but look at that warning - “This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.” - What about linking?).

As was the case in the Cook County Administration Building fire, this one started above the dropped ceiling panels. That means it was out of the reach of sprinklers, even if they had been installed. A blast from a good sized carbon dioxide fire extinguisher would have blown the ceiling panel out of the way, cooled and suppressed the fire (carbon dioxide is safe for electrical fires). Have a co-worker call 911 to have the CFD confirm the fire is out! A lot better than a 5-11 alarm with specials!

And the Sun-Times story describes “paper-backed insulated ceiling tiles and paper-wrapped insulated pipes”. That doesn’t seem to be very fire resistant.