On Wednesday, May 4, and continuing into May 5, 1988, the Los Angeles City Fire Department responded to and extinguished the most challenging and difficult highrise fire in the city’s history.  The fire destroyed four floors and damaged a fifth floor of the modern 62 story First Interstate Bank building in downtown Los Angeles.  The fire claimed one life, injured approximately 35 occupants and 14 fire personnel, and resulted in a property loss of over 50 million dollars.

This was one of the most destructive highrise fires in recent United States history.  The fire presented the greatest potential for the “Towering Inferno” scenario of any U. S. fire experience and was controlled only through the massive and dedicated manual fire suppression efforts of a large metropolitan fire department.  It demonstrated the absolute need for automatic sprinklers to provide protection for tall buildings.

A total of 383 Los Angeles City Fire Department members from 64 companies, nearly one-half of the on-duty force of the entire city, were involved in fighting the fire, mounting an offensive attack via four stairways.  This operation involved many unusual challenges, but is most notable for the sheer magnitude of the fire and the fact that the fire was successfully controlled by interior suppression efforts.  To cover areas of the city protected by units called to the fire, 20 companies from Los Angeles County and four companies from surrounding jurisdictions were brought in under mutual aid agreements.