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Detection of the Fire
Between 11:45 p.m and 12:00 a.m., building employees
became
aware of an odor of smoke in the lobby. As indicated
above, neither
smoke detectors nor sprinklers were installed in the
area of fire origin and
therefore, occupants had difficulty identifying the
source of the smoke
odor. None of the smoke detector systems gave the
critical alarm.
Occupant Response
Employees began to investigate the smoke odor, but
their attempts
to locate the fire were unsuccessful, and while they
investigated conditions
grew worse. Eventually, it became apparent that the
smoke was coming
from the air handling registers. After nearly fifteen
minutes of searching,
at 12:06 a.m., the desk clerk notified the fire department
via 911.
Meanwhile, the security guard notified the security
detail sequestering the
Tyson jury that the building might be on fire. Bailiffs
guarding the jury
hastily woke the twelve principal and three alternate
jurors and escorted
them from the building, carefully maintaining security
during the
evacuation. After the fire department arrived, it
was discovered that one
juror had not made it out with the rest. Firefighters
successfully located
and rescued this individual before the flash fire
occurred.
Other occupants became aware of the fire by various
means. Some
reported having heard the fire alarm sounding. Others
reportedly became
aware of the incident upon hearing the commotion associated
with the fire
department’s arrival. Although some of these
occupants reportedly fled the
building, firefighters were forced to rescue several
from upper floors using
aerial ladders.
Several occupants who successfully evacuated were
videotaped by
news crews after their escape and reported taking
inappropriate actions
prior to their escape. One occupant said he took the
elevator from his
floor to the lobby, but upon arriving there realized
he had forgotten
something of value and took the elevator back upstairs
to return to his room.6 In his subsequent attempt
to leave, recalling the advice that stairs not elevators
should be used during a fire, he returned safely to
the lobby via a stairway. Most occupants appeared
to have dressed and collected some valuables before
evacuating. Several occupants were rescued by firefighters
using aerial ladders. To reach some seventh and eighth
floor occupants, firefighters were forced to extend
the reach of their aerial ladders with ground ladders.
It should be noted that all reported occupant responses
were consistent with those observed and reported at
other similar incidents.7 Fire Department Response
The Indianapolis Fire Communications Center received
a 9-l-l call reporting the odor of smoke at 350 North
Meridian Street at 12:06 a.m. and dispatched a first
alarm assignment consisting of four engine companies,
two truck companies, a district chief, and the division
chief. At 12:10 a.m., Truck 7 arrived on the scene
and took up a position on the Vermont Street (north)
side of the building, reporting, “on the scene,
nothing showing, will investigate."8 Initial
Operations Arriving with the first companies, Division
Chief Charles Williams entered the building with the
firefighters from Engine and Truck 7 to investigate.
Upon entering the lobby, firefighters confirmed the
presence of a heavy smoke haze. The building fire
alarm was reportedly sounding and the fire alarm control
unit indicated a smoke detector activation in the
basement laundry room. It is believed that smoke from
the fire on the third floor activated a smoke detector
in the basement, near the airhandling equipment. Engine
7 and Truck 7 firefighters proceeded downstairs to
the second basement level to investigate. (No permanent
6 It was not determined during the investigation whether
or not elevator recall activated. The fire department
did not use Phase II Firefighters' & Service (elevator
control) dring their operations.
record of the device activation was maintained and
the location of the
activated initiating device(s) could not be determined
during the
investigation. Due to the absence of controls to shutdown
the air-handling
system, recirculation of smoke could have activated
a basement smoke
detector.)
See Table 1 on the following page for the first alarm
company
assignments.
The smoke condition suggested that there must be a
significant fire
somewhere in the occupied high-rise building. District
Chief Clyde
Pfisterer (DC3) established a command post on the
Vermont Street side of
the building and assumed the role of Incident Commander.
Division Chief
Williams (Car 2) went inside to supervise interior
operations. Rescue 13
established a medical sector on the Vermont Street
side. And Captain
Michael Spalding from Truck 7 — working inside
with his crew, attempting
to locate the seat of the fire — was designated
the Ventilation Sector
Officer.
Firefighters spent several minutes unsuccessfully
searching for a fire
in the basement, sub-basement, and first floor areas.
Additional crews
from Engine 13 and
attempting to locate the source of the smoke. Engine
13 was reportedly
equipped with a high-rise pack consisting of rolled
1 3/4-inch hose, “hotel
adaptor,” spanner wrench, and nozzle. The crews
from Station 13 went to
the second floor to investigate while the Station
7 companies continued to
search the lower floors.
In a room in the north central portion of the second
floor, directly
beneath the third floor bar, Truck 13 firefighters
found water dripping from
the ceiling. They thought the water might be coming
from an operating
sprinkler on the floor above them and proceeded to
the third floor to
investigate.9 As they entered the third floor from
the monumental stair, a
smoke haze hung in the elevator lobby and public corridor.
Initial Attack
At approximately 12:17 a.m. -more than 30 minutes
after building
occupants first smelled smoke, the fire was located
on the third floor.
Truck 13 reported, “we have a working fire in
the dumbwaiter on the third
floor.” Firefighters from Engine 7, Truck 7,
Engine 13, Truck 13, and
9 They were aware that the building was not fully
sprinklered, but surmised that
sprinklers could be present in limited areas.
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