Best Cinematic Tribute to America’s Firefighters? Try The Towering Inferno
I first saw The Towering Inferno, Irwin Allen’s 1974 contribution to the burgeoning 1970s movie genre of disaster epics, in the theater upon its original release. Having seen it at a young age, I remembered little about it.
I watched it for a second time recently, this time on Netflix, streaming onto my Android phone. Even on my phone’s tiny screen, the colossal scale of this homage to San Francisco’s firefighters, the sturdy professionalism of the film’s all-star cast, and its still-convincing, still-thrilling special effects and stunts jumped out at me.
This is one 1970s blockbuster which really holds up. In 43-year retrospect, it also stuns with its eerie foreshadowings of the deadliest, most awfully spectacular real-life skyscraper fire, the immolations of the Twin Towers in lower Manhattan following their being made the targets of two jumbo jet guided missiles.
Tale of the Tape:
The Towering Inferno’s Glass Tower — 137 stories tall; tallest structure in the world when built; completed in 1974 in San Francisco; included a ballroom on its top floor
The Twin Towers — each 110 stories tall; tallest structures in the world when built; completed in 1973 in New York City; the North Tower included a restaurant, Windows on the World, on its top floor
Cause and Location of Fires:
The Glass Tower — electrical fire in a utility room on the 81st floor, caused by use of substandard construction materials and electrical components overstressed by the tremendous load placed on the system the first time all of the skyscraper’s exterior lights are turned on; as the fire spreads, it ignites gas lines, causing explosions that blow out interior and exterior wall spaces and dislodge the building’s exterior-mounted glass elevator
The North Tower — struck between the 93rd and 99th floors by the hijacked American Airlines Flight 11, igniting thousands of gallons of aviation fuel
The South Tower — struck between the 77th and 85th floor by the hijacked United Airlines Flight 175
Trapped Tenants:
The Glass Tower — several hundred people trapped in the top-floor ballroom, present thanks to a grand-opening gala celebration for the newly completed building; dozens more requiring rescue from the relatively few occupied apartments above the 81st floor; one stairwell blocked by hardened cement left over from construction, the other heavily damaged by gas explosions
The North Tower — 1344 persons trapped above the impact zone by the destruction of all stairwells
The South Tower — 700 caught above the impact zone, unable to escape down the single remaining undamaged stairwell prior to the building’s collapse
Attempts to Use Helicopters in Rescue Effort:
The Towering Inferno — Midway through the film, the San Francisco Fire Department calls upon the assistance of the Navy’s helicopter force. The helicopters hover around the burning skyscraper but are severely hampered by high winds. Finally, the wind abates enough to permit a rooftop landing, but the rescue attempt results in fiery disaster when a panicked crowd rushes the descending helicopter, causing it to sheer off, crash into a rooftop structure, and explode. However, not all of the Navy’s efforts are unrewarded; another helicopter is able to rescue a dozen party-goers descending from the top-floor ballroom in the exterior glass elevator after a gas explosion nearly dislodges the elevator, thanks to the heroism of the Fire Chief, who rappels from the helo to the elevator to attach a grappling line.
The World Trade Center Terror Attacks — In the aftermath of the prior terror attack in 1993, several small groups of tenants had been evacuated by helicopter from the South Tower’s roof, which led to the belief among many of those trapped on 9/11 that they, too, could be rescued by helicopter. However, the Port Authority did not keep this South Tower helipad up to code, and after 1993, helicopter evacuations were no longer considered part of the World Trade Center’s fire emergency plan. Also, the North Tower’s roof was cluttered with obstructions and radiation hazards. Despite this, New York Police Department helicopter pilots planned possible rooftop rescues, but called them off due to fire and smoke conditions.
Ways the Cinematic Disaster Differed from the Real-Life Disaster:
The 9/11 Commission Report revealed the extent of the breakdown in communications between the various responding fire departments and police departments, due to radio systems which were not interoperable and frequencies being overwhelmed by the volume of calls being made. Radio communications were also severely hampered by the interior walls of the Twin Towers. The screenwriters of The Towering Inferno failed to take this technical element into account; throughout the film, firefighters’ and police officers’ communications are unhindered, and officers in the ground floor command post are never out of touch with the front-line troops eighty floors above.
The South Tower collapsed after burning for 56 minutes, and the North Tower managed to stand for 102 minutes before it, too collapsed. Steel structural elements in both towers, having first been weakened or severed by the air liner crashes, melted due to the intense heat, and the weight of the floors above the impact zones caused a progressive pancaking effect. No such structural collapse occurs in The Towering Inferno. Despite intense fires on multiple floors caused by exploding gas lines, the building remains standing even after firefighters set explosive charges to rupture rooftop tanks containing hundreds of thousands of gallons of water, which cascade through the building.
Ways The Towering Inferno Got It Right:
The film did not shy away from perhaps the most horrifying aspect of a high-rise fire — the fact that, to avoid being burned alive, victims seeing no other alternative will choose suicide by jumping from tremendous heights. One of the most sympathetic characters in the movie is shown doing just this, a chilling premonition of the dozens of 9/11 victims who would jump from the doomed Twin Towers.
The San Francisco and Los Angeles Fire Departments served as technical advisers for The Towering Inferno, and it shows. Viewers are made to feel the tremendous physical burdens of a firefighter’s work — the weight and cumbersomeness of the bulky protective gear and uniforms; the awkwardness of handling hoses, axes, and rescue harnesses with heavy gloves; the sheer exhaustion resulting from having to manually cart that gear and equipment up dozens of floors through narrow, winding, often smoke-filled stairwells.
Firefighters are not portrayed as invincible superheroes. They are shown as brave, dedicated, and determined, but prone to human weaknesses, including exhaustion, anxiety over not living up to their teammates’ expectations and needs, and even paralyzing panic. Unlike superheroes, who always seem to miraculously survive any perils the screenwriters throw at them, not all of the film’s firefighters make it through alive to the movie’s end. Some suffer horrible injuries. The experience of fighting a major fire over many hours is shown to be akin to fighting a battle in a brutal war; the survivors can be left shell-shocked and numb.
Steve McQueen, portraying Fire Chief O’Hallorhan, visually sums up the physical, mental, and emotional toll that a firefighter’s job can impose. Near the film’s end, the camera captures him slumped against a wall in the temporary command post, covered in soot, with barely enough strength remaining to keep his head upright, every muscle in his face and body sagging with depletion. Yet, the fire now extinguished, he makes himself stand, tends to his wounded firefighters, and heads home… ready to do it all over again the following day. Not a superhero; just a very admirable, inwardly strong man.
And that, my friends, is why The Towering Inferno may be the best cinematic valentine to America’s firefighters yet projected on the big screen.
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