NIST to Release Report on WTC 7 via Public Webcast - Thurs, Aug 21st

by Erik Larson | August 18, 2008 at 11:04 pm | 299 views | 5 comments | 2 recommendations

NIST to Release Report on B7 via Public Webcast - Thurs, Aug 21st

After nearly 7 years, NIST is finally releasing it's report on World Trade Center 7, the 47-story steel frame and concrete building that totally collapsed at 5:20 pm on September 11, 2001. According to preliminary statements recently made by NIST, their "working hypothesis" indicates structural failure, not controlled demolition. If you don't know about this building yet, check out a compilation of video clips of its collapse and interviews with witnesses, and see if you believe NIST:

WTC7 - The Smoking Gun of 9/11 by Arie - Part 1 of 2

Also, an hour before WTC 7 collapsed Aaron Brown of CNN said "We are getting information now that one of the other buildings, building 7, in the World Trade Center complex is on fire and has either collapsed or is collapsing" (that's building 7 smoking behind him)

Twenty minutes before it collapsed, Jane Standley of the BBC said it HAD collapsed, while WTC 7 can be clearly seen still standing in the background behind her- then the feed was lost some minutes before it actually went down.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Aug. 18, 2008 CONTACT:
Ben Stein
(301) 975-3097
NIST to Release Report and Recommendations from Investigation of World
Trade Center Building 7
http://www.nist.gov/...irs/calmed/wtc_081808.html

*** Agency Will Hold Public Webcast on August 21 ***

Gaithersburg, Md. -- The Commerce Department's National Institute of
Standards and Technology (NIST) will hold a media briefing and live
public webcast on Aug. 21, 2008, in Gaithersburg, Md., on the findings
and recommendations from its building and fire safety investigation of
the collapse of World Trade Center Building 7 (WTC 7). WTC 7 was a
47-story building that fell nearly seven hours after the World Trade
Center (WTC) towers collapsed following the terrorist attacks of Sept.
11, 2001.

The NIST WTC 7 report will present the probable collapse sequence for
the building and will provide recommendations for improving building
and fire safety in other buildings similar to WTC 7. The draft WTC 7
investigation report released at the briefing will be open for public
comment through noon Eastern Daylight Time on Sept. 15, 2008.

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Arthur Scheuerman (not verified)

at 08:03 on August 19th, 2008

BBC reporting error on Building 7 collapse.

In addition to the damage done to Building 7 by the heavy steel column trees that pealed off of the collapsing twin towers some of these steel columns penetrated the roads and broke the nearby water mains. There was no water supply immediately available and the Fire Department Chief in Command could not fight the numerous fires in Building 7 and ordered every one out of the building and out of the collapse zone (which was a large area including buildings and streets around building 7. Two huge buildings had already collapsed and when you can’t fight a fire because there is no water pressure it grows out of control all bets are off as to exactly what will happen and in one of these newer lightweight, open area high rise office buildings. NIST is comming out on August 21 with an explanation of why the building collapsed and recommended actions to prevent occurences in other long span, large open area office buildings.

When anticipating possible collapse it is the procedure to discontinue interior operations and clear the building and establish a collapse zone around the building. The anticipation of collapse was a brilliant call and no lives were lost when the 47 story building collapsed a few hours after the evacuation order was given.*

You ask “How did the BBC know that the Towers were going to collapse?” The BBC didn't know. Did you ever hear a mistake made by a reporter? Or do you believe everything you are told by a TV reporter in the heat of an emergency? The BBC reporter on the air received an erroneous report that the tower had collapsed before it actually did and reported it well before the actual occurrence. It was a simple mistake.

I can imagine how it happened. Possibly a reporter on being told to evacuate the area by a rescue worker balked and to get him to move faster the worker told him the building is coming down. The reporter called his boss and told him the building 7 is coming down. The person receiving the call believed the building was already collapsing. It went out over the air as the building had already collapsed before the actual occurrence.

Of course if you believe that all the top fire protection engineers from the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) and government scientists from National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) investigating the collapse are in on a conspiracy and also want to accuse the BBC, the NYC Fire Department, the NYC Police Department, the Red Cross and all the Government agencies controlling access Building 7 of being in on a secret controlled demolition even though there was no hard evidence than I would say you are grossly mistaken.

* This is a message from Chief of Department (ret.) Daniel Nigro, addressing the conspiracy theories surrounding the collapse of WTC7. Thank you very much for this statement, Mr. Nigro. The work you and your colleagues did will never be forgotten.

Release date: <?xml:namespace prefix = st1 />September 23, 2007

Regarding WTC 7: The long-awaited US Government NIST (National Institute of Standards and Technology) report on the collapse of WTC 7 is due to be published at the end of this year (although it has been delayed already a few times [ adding fuel to the conspiracy theorists fires!]). That report should explain the cause and mechanics of the collapse in great detail. Early on the afternoon of September 11th 2001, following the collapse of WTC 1 & 2, I feared a collapse of WTC 7 (as did many on my staff).

The reasons are as follows:

1 - Although prior to that day high-rise structures had never collapsed, The collapse of WTC 1 & 2 showed that certain high-rise structures subjected to damage from impact and from fire will collapse.

2. The collapse of WTC 1 damaged portions of the lower floors of WTC 7.

3. WTC 7, we knew, was built on a small number of large columns providing an open Atrium on the lower levels.

4. Numerous fires on many floors of WTC 7 burned without sufficient water supply to attack them.

For these reasons I made the decision (without consulting the owner, the mayor or anyone else - as ranking fire officer, that decision was my responsibility) to clear a collapse zone surrounding the building and to stop all activity within that zone. Approximately three hours after that order was given, WTC 7 collapsed.

Conspiracy theories abound and I believe firmly that all of them are without merit.

Regards, Dan Nigro

Chief of Department FDNY (retired)

Erik Larson

at 09:21 on August 19th, 2008

Besides Jane Standley, Aaron Brown announced WTC 7 "has collapsed or is collapsing", an hour before it did. The first youtube video i linked has reports from other eyewitnesses, including first responders and Ptech whistleblower and volunteer 9/11 EMT Indira Singh, that the building was going to collapse, even that it was going to be "brought down".

"Of course if you believe that all the top fire protection engineers from the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) and government scientists from National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) investigating the collapse are in on a conspiracy and also want to accuse the BBC, the NYC Fire Department, the NYC Police Department, the Red Cross and all the Government agencies controlling access Building 7 of being in on a secret controlled demolition even though there was no hard evidence than I would say you are grossly mistaken."

I doubt everyone at these agencies was involved, but when you have politcal appointees and policy and decision makers committed to a certain point of view being accepted by the general public, and they have the power to promote and financially reward people for saying what they want said, and to fire people and blacklist them if they say things they don't want said, when just 5 mega corporations own almost all media that Americans use, including text books used in schools, they have the ability to chill dissent and to suppress alternative views. I don't know everything about what happened on 9/11 and leading up to it, there needs to be full criminal and Congressional investigations, perhaps a Truth and Reconcilation Commission, but it seems pretty obvious explosives brought down WTC 1, 2 and 7. You are correct when you admit that no steel frame skyscraper had collapsed before, due to fire- or since. There have been partial collapses, in cases where fires burned extremely for a long time.

See this compilation of first responder witness reports to explosions in WTC 1 and 2 from 911Proof.com. Some first responders have publicly questioned the official denials of controlled demolition, in addition to those who made reports from the scene that contradict what we've been told.

See these articles for analysis of some of the holes in the NIST report on WTC 1 and 2

Fourteen Points of Agreement with Official Government Reports on the World Trade Center Destruction

Environmental anomalies at the World Trade Center: evidence for energetic materials [thermite-thermate; controlled demolition]

Jeremiah Vandermeer

flagged this story as Good Stuff

at 10:19 on August 19th, 2008

Thanks for this Erik. This is important stuff that never makes it to the mainstream news (or even the so-called "alternative", foundation-funded organs like The Nation, The Progressive, Alternet, etc).

As for the BBC making 'a simple mistake', what a complete joke! The official story regarding Building 7 is a complete farce. I'm sorry, but fire cannot collapse a building perfectly into its own footprint...

Erik Larson

at 14:21 on August 19th, 2008

yeah, i just don't get where the "plausible deniability" is; anyone who's seen a controlled demolition of a building and then sees videos of WTC 7 knows that's a controlled demolition, too. Otherwise, these demolition companies are gonna be out of business; who knew you could bring a steel-framed skyscraper down into it's footprint by lighting some fires inside it?

I'm looking forward to the NIST report's release; I probably won't read the entire thing, but the researchers at stj911.org will be digging thru the gobbledy gook and exposing the holes and contradictions. Then all the activists in the 9/11 Truth Movement will publicizing the holes and contradictions all over the web and the streets, to our friends, family, neighbors and coworkers.

geezerpower (not verified)

at 12:01 on October 7th, 2008

Spot-on dudes

I agree that the NIST is re-enforcing the official story, such as it is and that we need an open and independent investigation. On the mention of the FDNY being in on it, or part of the conspiracy, I would have to say that their only implication with the whole thing is that they were put in a position that can only be called intimidating.

Chief Daniel Nigro replaced Chief Peter Ganci who was killed during the building collapse of WTC2. He is the only fire chief,(actually an ex fire chief), on the panel of the new Task Force for terrorism Preparedness, and I imagine that he felt a bit challenged by PNAC member Woolsey, who is also a former CIA director. But maybe a little more challenged by Shabtai Shavit. Mr. Shavit served as Director of the Mossad, the Israeli Intelligence Agency responsible for intelligence collection, covert action, and counter-terrorism. Chief Nigro retired shortly but remained as an advisor.

Is it just me, or is it a bit over the top to have the ex heads of intelligence from different countries, a nuclear physicist from the Los Alamos National Laboratory, and two Doctors on a panel of this nature...G: