JohnRBaker
Mechanical
- Jun 1, 2006
- 35,441
At around 1:30am this morning, fire broke-out in one the old blimp hangers in Tustin, CA. There were two blimp hangers on the site that was once a Navy and later a Marine Corp Air Station. The hangers, which were originally used to house Navy blimps used during WWII for anti-submarine patrol off the coast of Southern California, were built in 1942. And because steel and aluminum were critical war materials, they built the building using wood. They ultimately were recognized as the largest wood structures in the world, measuring over a 1,000 feet long, 300 feet wide and nearly 200 feet high.
Here's what the building looked like before today's fire:
The Marines closed the base in 1999, and the property was turned over to the City of Tustin. Now the city wanted to tear the buildings down and fully develop the area but since these are the LARGEST wood structures in the world, they're on the National Registry and must be preserved. The problem is that neither the Pentagon nor Congress had allocated any funds to maintain the buildings, that fell to the City of Tustin.
About 10 years ago the roof of one of the buildings started to deteriorate to the point where they had to install a system of externally supported cables to keep it in place. That was when the city started to lobby to at least tear down one of the buildings, but they got nowhere.
Now as for what happened today, while no one is saying that it was anything other than accidental, it was the building that the city had been trying its hardest to get rid of that suddenly caught fire at 1:30 am this morning ;-)
BTW, the reason I know so much about these buildings is that they're located about six miles from our house.
Anyway, here's a news item about the fire:
Massive fire destroying landmark World War II-era blimp hangar in Tustin
Note that while in the article there are pictures showing the fire department attempting to put out the fire, they've since pulled-back and are just letting it burn. No one is in danger and there's little chance that any property, private or otherwise, is at risk.
When I heard about the fire, I grabbed my camera and went to get some of my own pictures. By the time I got there, around 9:00am, the police had already blocked most of the streets which run close to the building but I managed to get close enough that eventually the police did notice and I was asked to move, but not before I got some pictures.
This the first picture I got from the parking lot of a strip-mall:
November 2023 (Sony a6500, 135mm)
This was shot from the spot that the police had to chase me out of:
November 2023 (Sony a6500, 135mm)
I finally found another place with a good view that the police were not restricting people from standing:
November 2023 (Sony a6500, 135mm)
November 2023 (Sony a6500, 135mm)
Note that these last two shots were the last ones that I took. I'm going to go back later today and get some shots of what I assume will be a totally collapsed and burnt-out structure.
John R. Baker, P.E. (ret)
Irvine, CA
Siemens PLM:
The secret of life is not finding someone to live with
It's finding someone you can't live without
Here's what the building looked like before today's fire:
The Marines closed the base in 1999, and the property was turned over to the City of Tustin. Now the city wanted to tear the buildings down and fully develop the area but since these are the LARGEST wood structures in the world, they're on the National Registry and must be preserved. The problem is that neither the Pentagon nor Congress had allocated any funds to maintain the buildings, that fell to the City of Tustin.
About 10 years ago the roof of one of the buildings started to deteriorate to the point where they had to install a system of externally supported cables to keep it in place. That was when the city started to lobby to at least tear down one of the buildings, but they got nowhere.
Now as for what happened today, while no one is saying that it was anything other than accidental, it was the building that the city had been trying its hardest to get rid of that suddenly caught fire at 1:30 am this morning ;-)
BTW, the reason I know so much about these buildings is that they're located about six miles from our house.
Anyway, here's a news item about the fire:
Massive fire destroying landmark World War II-era blimp hangar in Tustin
Note that while in the article there are pictures showing the fire department attempting to put out the fire, they've since pulled-back and are just letting it burn. No one is in danger and there's little chance that any property, private or otherwise, is at risk.
When I heard about the fire, I grabbed my camera and went to get some of my own pictures. By the time I got there, around 9:00am, the police had already blocked most of the streets which run close to the building but I managed to get close enough that eventually the police did notice and I was asked to move, but not before I got some pictures.
This the first picture I got from the parking lot of a strip-mall:
November 2023 (Sony a6500, 135mm)
This was shot from the spot that the police had to chase me out of:
November 2023 (Sony a6500, 135mm)
I finally found another place with a good view that the police were not restricting people from standing:
November 2023 (Sony a6500, 135mm)
November 2023 (Sony a6500, 135mm)
Note that these last two shots were the last ones that I took. I'm going to go back later today and get some shots of what I assume will be a totally collapsed and burnt-out structure.
John R. Baker, P.E. (ret)
Irvine, CA
Siemens PLM:
The secret of life is not finding someone to live with
It's finding someone you can't live without
![[pipe]](/data/assets/smilies/pipe.gif "[pipe] [pipe]")
