Message #159588

[Danielle Marshall]

At the time of the fire, the Joelma Building was, and still is, a reinforced fire-resistant concrete hull. However, the inside was filled with flammable items, such as the partitions, desks, chairs (all were made out of wood), the ceilings were Cellulose fiber tiles set in wood strappings, and the curtains and carpets were also flammable. At the time, no emergency lights,posted in cfire alarms, fire sprinkler systems, or emergency exits were fitted to the building. There was only one stairwell, which ran the full height of the building. An air conditioner unit on the twelfth floor, which started the fire, needed a special type of circuit breaker, which was unavailable at the time it was installed. In order to use this unit, it was installed bypassing the twelfth floor electrical control panel.