Bank Tower Framework Undamaged by May Fire

Extensive tests of the First Interstate Bank tower have shown virtually no damage to the steel framework of the 62-story building, making it likely that tenants will begin reoccupying some floors of the fire-ravaged structure by middle or late August, officials announced Friday.

The tests, carried out by teams of private metallurgists and city building inspectors, were completed on the two floors hardest hit by the May 4 fire, tower managers reported.

If similar tests produce the same result on other floors, as many as 10 to 14 of the upper floors may be reopened to tenants when cleanup work is concluded next month, said Jerry Poppink, a spokesman for the Equitable Life Assurance Society of America and First Interstate Bank Corp., which co-own the building.

Tower managers now expect most floors of Los Angeles’ tallest office building to reopen within the next two or three months, he said. Fire-damaged floors probably will not be reopened until sometime next year.

“We feel very confident we’re not going to find anything else in terms of problems,” Poppink said.

Officials described the test results released Friday as crucial to the fate of the 1973 building. The highly technical work of taking metal samples and subjecting them to ultrasound, torque and hardness and strength tests began the day after the fire, officials said.

“A lot of people were concerned that the steel frames, the main girders, had heated up too much,” said Robert Harder, assistant building chief in the Building and Safety Department. “We’ve probably required . . . more tests out there than you’d find on a new building. They’re testing every connection, all the welds, all the bolts on the burned-out floors.”

On both the 12th floor, where the fire began, and the 13th floor, where the fire reached temperatures estimated at 2,000 degrees, inspectors have given passing grades to all main girders and support beams, officials said.

Tests on the 14th, 15th and 16th floors, which also were gutted in the city’s worst high-rise fire, are currently being concluded.

“The duration of the fire was much less on (those) floors,” Poppink said. “That’s why floors 12 and 13 were so crucial.”

As the testing work continues, a small army of contractors is completing other work necessary to reopen the building, Poppink said.

A $3.5-million sprinkler system, which was still being installed when the fire occurred, is in place and ready for operation, except on the burned-out floors and in the lobby.

In addition, the building’s 31 passenger elevators are now restored and ready for testing. The Fire Department has already inspected and certified all of the building’s fire alarms and smoke detectors, Poppink said.

One of the final tasks is a massive overhaul of the ceilings, necessary to replace the soot-damaged acoustical tile, Poppink said. As part of that work, the owners decided to improve lights and ventilation ducts throughout the building, he said.

“The basic cleaning work will be finished in about a week,” Poppink said.