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That building is in the 14-story range, which puts the building at a max of 175 feet. Based on the perspective lines shown in the second photo, the flames aren’t much higher than the building... certainly not more than 25% higher than the building. That puts the flames at a max of about 200 feet high.

You see the number 10,000 frequently in the Bible. I heard it explained once that when you see that number it doesn’t really mean ten thousand, but rather the biggest number you can imagine. They had a much more limited grasp of large numbers in those days and the 10,000 was meant to mean too numerous to count. I think the ‘flames 1,000 feet high” is used the same way. They don’t know exactly how high the flames are but they are certainly the highest they’ve ever seen so they must be a ‘thousand feet’.

I am not being critical of them, they really have no way of knowing the height, but I find it neat that that’s so often the number they use.

A thousand feet is a lot more than most people realize, especially when it’s a thousand feet up! Very few cities have buildings that tall, most TV towers aren’t much more than that.