Madrid office tower inferno: lessons for 9-11

Madrid’s landmark Windsor office tower was gutted by fire the night of Feb. 12, and much of downtown Madrid remains closed off by authorities. The fire (apparently caused by a short-circuit) resulted in only seven injuries, none serious–but several of the building’s top floors have collapsed, and it is feared the entire 30-story tower could implode unless it is quickly demolished. (EITB24, Spain, Feb. 14)

There is nothing to indicate that the Windsor tower suffered from anything apporaching the notoriously fragile, unorthodox construction practices at New York’s late World Trade Center. Yet this development will presumably do nothing to slow the relentless carping of the conspiranoiacs that fires never cause steel buildings to collapse, and that the implosion of the Twin Towers is evidence of explosives secretly planted in the buildings.

I await your hate mail, conspiranoiacs.

  1. More instant-expert jive on skyscraper integrity

    More confirmation-bias bunk from the 9-11 conspiranoia set. Now they are relentlessly posting on Facebook a photo of the skyscraper in Chechnya's Grozny City complex on fire back in April, with a caption reading: "Tallest building in Chechnya catches fire and burns for 29 hours straight. It didn't collapse…" Um, guys? Look at the actual reportage instead of just the unsourced Facebook meme. AFP reported April 4 that the fire was put out in seven hours (not 29), and CNN tells us that the fire was almost entirely on the outside and left the interior structure untouched. So what does this tell us about the WTC? Absolutely nothing. Not that the conspiranoia set ever let the facts get in the way of a good Facebook meme…