Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

Skip to comments.

Fire Breaks Out In John Hancock Building
CBS Chicago ^ | November 21, 2015

Posted on 11/21/2015 1:12:36 PM PST by rdl6989

(CBS) — The Chicago Fire Department is on the scene of the John Hancock Building battling a fire Saturday afternoon.

(Excerpt) Read more at chicago.cbslocal.com ...


TOPICS: Extended News; US: Illinois
KEYWORDS: chicago; fire; illinois; johnhancock
Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-2021-4041-6061-62 next last
To: bigdaddy45

Why do you think it would it be empty? I have friends who live in that building.


21 posted on 11/21/2015 1:30:19 PM PST by .45 Long Colt
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 13 | View Replies]

To: kcvl

It looks the Three Stooges built that thing.


22 posted on 11/21/2015 1:33:04 PM PST by Karl Spooner
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 8 | View Replies]

To: Cruz_West_Paul2016

Meth lab.


23 posted on 11/21/2015 1:41:13 PM PST by Carriage Hill ( The cheddar cheese slid off my cracker on 11/6/12.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 20 | View Replies]

To: Karl Spooner

The project, which would at that time become the world’s second tallest building, was originally conceived of and owned by Jerry Wolman in late 1964, the project being financed by John Hancock Mutual Life Insurance Co. Construction of the tower was interrupted in 1967 due to a flaw in an innovative engineering method used to pour concrete in stages that was discovered when the building was 20 stories high.[16] The engineers were getting the same soil settlements for the 20 stories that had been built as what they had expected for the entire 99 stories. This forced the owner to stop development until the engineering problem could be resolved, and resulted in a credit crunch. This situation is similar to the one faced during the construction of 111 West Wacker, then known as the Waterview Tower. The owner went bankrupt, which resulted in John Hancock taking over the project, which retained the original design, architect, engineer, and main contractor.

The building’s first resident was Ray Heckla, the original building engineer, responsible for the residential floors from 44 to 92. Heckla moved his family in April 1969, before the building was completed.

On November 11, 1981, Veterans Day, high-rise firefighting and rescue advocate Dan Goodwin, for the purpose of calling attention to the inability to rescue people trapped in the upper floors of skyscrapers, successfully climbed the building’s exterior wall. Wearing a wetsuit and using a climbing device that enabled him to ascend the I-beams on the building’s side, Goodwin battled repeated attempts by the Chicago Fire Department to knock him off. Fire Commissioner William Blair ordered Chicago firemen to stop Goodwin by directing a fully engaged fire hose at him and by blasting fire axes through nearby glass from the inside. Fearing for Goodwin’s life, Mayor Jane Byrne intervened and allowed him to continue to the top.[17][18]

The John Hancock Center was featured in the 1988 movie Poltergeist III.

On December 18, 1997, comedian Chris Farley was found dead in his apartment on the 60th floor of the John Hancock Center.[19][20]

On March 9, 2002, part of a scaffold fell 43 stories after being torn loose by wind gusts around 60 mph (100 km/h) crushing several cars, killing three people in two of them. The remaining part of the stage swung back-and-forth in the gusts repeatedly slamming against the building, damaging cladding panels, breaking windows, and sending pieces onto the street below.

On March 9, 2002, part of a scaffold fell 43 stories after being torn loose by wind gusts around 60 mph (100 km/h) crushing several cars, killing three people in two of them. The remaining part of the stage swung back-and-forth in the gusts repeatedly slamming against the building, damaging cladding panels, breaking windows, and sending pieces onto the street below.


24 posted on 11/21/2015 1:43:44 PM PST by kcvl
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 22 | View Replies]

To: rdl6989

interesting that the fire suppression system couldn’t extinguish it.


25 posted on 11/21/2015 1:57:57 PM PST by miliantnutcase
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: carriage_hill

maybe al sharpton was there, farted, then lit a cigarette?


26 posted on 11/21/2015 2:03:29 PM PST by Cruz_West_Paul2016
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 23 | View Replies]

To: Zeneta
IIRC, this is not the first time there was a fire in that building.

Nope, not the first time, likely won't be the last. That's a residential floor, IIRC that's the same floor Chris Farley used to live on.

Oddly, all the commercial spaces in the Hancock Building were required to upgrade to include sprinklers while the residential floors were not.

I imagine they're going to change that one of these days.

27 posted on 11/21/2015 2:05:40 PM PST by usconservative (When The Ballot Box No Longer Counts, The Ammunition Box Does. (What's In Your Ammo Box?))
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 6 | View Replies]

To: miliantnutcase
interesting that the fire suppression system couldn’t extinguish it.

No sprinklers on the residential floors in the Hancock building.

28 posted on 11/21/2015 2:06:15 PM PST by usconservative (When The Ballot Box No Longer Counts, The Ammunition Box Does. (What's In Your Ammo Box?))
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 25 | View Replies]

To: RegulatorCountry
The view of Lake Michigan in summer from the viewing deck atop the Hancock tower is beautiful, it’s such a surprisingly intense aqua blue.

Have dinner on the 95th as the sun's going down over the horizon one summer evening. Spectacular.

29 posted on 11/21/2015 2:08:38 PM PST by usconservative (When The Ballot Box No Longer Counts, The Ammunition Box Does. (What's In Your Ammo Box?))
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 7 | View Replies]

To: Mears

Dadburnit! Beat me to it!


30 posted on 11/21/2015 2:15:33 PM PST by Ruy Dias de Bivar
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 11 | View Replies]

To: usconservative

I get the impression that you are from Chicago.

Please help me understand why so many support Democrats.

I’m not talking about the folks in the gutter, but those that work or worked as traders at the CBOE/CME etc..

I’ve had any number of conversations with dozens of traders and they all seem to favor Democrats.

I don’t get it.


31 posted on 11/21/2015 2:17:48 PM PST by Zeneta (Thoughts in time and out of season.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 29 | View Replies]

To: rdl6989

I was 10 years old the year The Towering Inferno was in the theaters. The same week my family saw the movie we went out to dinner at the restaurant on the 95th floor of the John Hancock Building. On the ride up the elevator there was a man in an Otis uniform and another man in a suit talking. I couldn’t completely understand what they were saying, but it was obvious there was a problem with the elevators. Between the very windy winter evening, the elevator issues, and my father’s choice of a flaming dessert, it was a memorable evening.


32 posted on 11/21/2015 2:18:49 PM PST by FourPeas ("Conservatism's worked every time it's been tried." -Rush)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Cruz_West_Paul2016

LOL; hadn’t thought of that one.
Isn’t Chiraq Jesse HiJackson’s territory?


33 posted on 11/21/2015 2:24:04 PM PST by Carriage Hill ( The cheddar cheese slid off my cracker on 11/6/12.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 26 | View Replies]

To: FourPeas

LOL! I like yer dad!


34 posted on 11/21/2015 2:37:50 PM PST by null and void (We are AmeriCANs. We CAN learn, and learn from history, if we choose.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 32 | View Replies]

To: kcvl

I knew Wolman casually and some of his DC associates a bit better. Actually, they were extremely nice and down to earth people. Hardly 3 clowns, but they did take a financial beating on the Hancock Center.


35 posted on 11/21/2015 2:38:31 PM PST by EDINVA
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 24 | View Replies]

To: FourPeas

Yes, that would be memorable.


36 posted on 11/21/2015 2:41:50 PM PST by rdl6989
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 32 | View Replies]

To: Karl Spooner

It is a weird looking thing.


37 posted on 11/21/2015 2:43:35 PM PST by rdl6989
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 22 | View Replies]

To: rdl6989

it was a meth lab explosion most likely

it is Chicago after all where there is not much law and order


38 posted on 11/21/2015 2:50:11 PM PST by Thibodeaux (this time really is different)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: rdl6989

That’s my fav high rise in Chicago. Got to finally have drinks on the 95th floor last December.


39 posted on 11/21/2015 2:59:51 PM PST by hsmomx3 (GO STEELERS!!!!!!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: FourPeas

That ride up there is so smooth and fast!


40 posted on 11/21/2015 3:03:04 PM PST by hsmomx3 (GO STEELERS!!!!!!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 32 | View Replies]


Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-2021-4041-6061-62 next last

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.

Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson