Enlightening old DU thread on massive explosions in WTC 1 basements

[Dancing_Dave]

This thread was brought up by Plague Puppy and concerned some of the first massive explosions in WTC 1 on 9/11, long before the collapse:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/duforum/DCForumID43/5750.html#68

It's based on the experience of engineer working far underground in the WTC that morning:

<<The two decided to ascend the stairs to the C level, to a small machine shop where Vito Deleo and David Williams were supposed to be working. When the two arrived at the C level, they found the machine shop gone.

“There was nothing there but rubble, “Mike said. “We’re talking about a 50 ton hydraulic press – gone!” The two began yelling for their co-workers, but there was no answer. They saw a perfect line of smoke streaming through the air. “You could stand here,” he said, “and two inches over you couldn’t breathe. We couldn’t see through the smoke so we started screaming.” But there was still no answer.

The two made their way to the parking garage, but found that it, too, was gone. “There were no walls, there was rubble on the floor, and you can’t see anything” he said.>>

[Old and In the Way]

1. I think the discussion part on the seismic data is particularly

interesting....if there is any smoking gun with regards to the WTC, I think this is it.

[plaguepuppy]

2. Underground explosions

That account really got to me, the idea of something powerful enough to cause a whole machine shop to be "gone" just like that. It sure wasn't vibration from the plane hitting, not with the bottom end of the tower being attached to the bedrock. And something very similar happened in the basements of the south tower when the plane hit.
Here's a page I put together recently to discuss the underground explosions: http://www.plaguepuppy.net/public_html/underground/underground_explosions.htm

The last link on the page, the "special survivors" article included an interview with a guy who got tossed around in the WTC-1 basement, then made it to the south tower and was underground there when the plane hit, also accompanied by underground explosions.

Oops: it looks like that link expired. I have a copy of the Morelli interview that I'll upload later.

[NecessaryOnslaught]

3. Explosions not only in the basement?

Many survivor accounts of those who escaped from the building tell tales of destruction on various floors.

"On the 20th floor of Tower One, Leder and a friend, Bill Forney, 28, of Manhattan, saw a woman who seemed exhausted. She was telling others to pass her by on the stairs. It was Juliette Bergman.
Leder and Forney stopped to help. Earlier, they had faced their own ordeal. Heading downstairs, the two had hit a dead end at 72. The stairs just didn't go any farther, they said. Leder and Forney found a door to another stairwell, but it was locked.

The situation was bad. "There were fires all over" the 72nd floor, Leder said. "No walls, wires everywhere."

http://www.newsday.com/news/local/newyork/ny-nytic242381668sep24.story?coll=ny-top-headlines
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Perhaps certain sections (lesser members?) of the core were blown at 10 story or so intervals simultaneous with the plane impacts.

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"Many stayed. Baumbach did not.

At 10-story intervals, he had to walk through burning corridors. Bizarrely, no sprinklers or alarms had been activated."

http://www.newsday.com/news/printedition/newyork/ny-nyesc132363611sep13.story


"I am working for Lehman Brother's equities e-commerce website, we are located on the 40th Floor in One World Trade Center,

Lots of people joined us from other floors. Then we see heavy smokes coming in from the 33-34th floors, the line paused, we hesitated for a while, wandering if we should keep going down in the smoke, then we slowly moved on, I covered my mouth and nose with a piece of facial tissue, we keep talking to each other, I guess there must be a fire going on at certain floors, we kept walking down the stairs, the smoke became more and more dense"

http://66.218.71.225/search/cache?p=trade+center+elevator+fire&ei=UTF-8&url=3Hrt-dcZjdkC:www.miraclebridge.com/wtcescape.html"


"As Shearin exited the elevator on his visit to a tenant on the 38th floor of 1 WTC, he was hurled in the air from a sudden, loud explosion. Corridors quickly filled with panicked occupants; his immediate response was “continue down the stairs and out of the building” as he walked up three floors to the mechanical equipment room to inspect what he thought might have been the source of the problem................
"The 41st-floor mechanical room had sustained considerable damage – equipment formerly located in the ceiling was down on the floor and water was gushing from crushed pipes. After ascertaining the room was vacant, Shearin proceeded to Level B-2, the location of the engineering office, and then to the lobby where destruction – to people and to the building – was devastatingly evident. Shearin offered assistance to the injured;"

http://www.buildings.com/Articles/detail.asp?ArticleID=925


"When I reached the 44th floor sky lobby, I noticed many people
milling around and wondering. The wall-mounted flat screen television above the entrance to the cafeteria was displaying a business news station. I could see the electronic ticker tape moving from right to left on the bottom of the TV monitor. A rumor in the lobby was circulating that a single engine plane or a helicopter had hit the North tower. Events were downplayed frequently that day.An announcement came across the public address system. "An airplane had hit OneWorld Trade but the integrity of Two World Trade was okay". This message was repeated once more. I heard two young men say they were going return to work as they headed towards their elevator. As I took a few steps towards someone I recognized, some great force struck my building. It felt like the floor was being violently pushed under my feet. While falling to the floor, the steady repeating rhythm of time suddenly stopped. I instantly developed tunnel vision
and my depth perception did not extend beyond twenty feet. My eyes focused on a nearby out-of-service elevator. The impact had created a shock wave through the entire building that forced dust at a high velocity from all four sides of the elevator doors to the inside of the lobby. I was now prone on the floor. Pandemonium erupted and filled the sky lobby."

"http://www.laurasmidiheaven.com/world-trade-center/"

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Most accounts describe explosions origniating from the elevators, hence the jet fuel fire ball theory.But the same pattern of destruction was seen in both buildings even though the plane hits were considerably different. And many elevators were "closed for construction" , including the large room size express elevator in both buildings, which went from the lobby to the top floors (windows of the world in tower 1 and the observation deck in tower 2). Both of these elevators were closed for a month prior to 9/11. Remember all of the elevator shafts were within the core.

[QuietStorm]

4. also viable information - here is an interesting article

I know someone who knows some of those engineers present at the WTC that made it out that day. here is an article. I won't bother snipping anything. Just a handful seem curious about the countless flaws in the official line on things. For those who are still plagued questions. this article doesn't answer any of them, but does highlight a couple of interesting happenings that morning that do make you go hmmmm.

http://www.chiefengineer.org/article.cfm?seqnum1=1029

[QuietStorm]

5. whoops never mind - I just placed the same article

I thought it interesting as well. LOL. I hadn't access the link on the original post till after I placed what is in fact the very same link. Well well well I guess there are those that still go hmmmmm.