Iconic building spire goes up in flames

• Source: Global Times
• [09:48 April 14 2010]
• Comments

The tip of an antenna atop the Oriental Pearl TV Tower in Shanghai caught on fire early Tuesday morning. Photos: CFP

By Ni Dandan

Shanghai authorities believe a bolt of lightning that struck the tip of an antenna atop the city's symbolic Oriental Pearl TV Tower caused it to catch fire early Tuesday morning.

Over a dozen fire trucks arrived on scene in the pouring rain around 1 am shortly after the fire was reported by nearby construction workers.

With no casualties or injuries claimed, the building resumed normal operations after the blaze that lit up the night sky from a height of several hundred meters was put out by firefighters at 3 am following nearly two hours of hard work.

"The fire took place as far as 460 meters above the ground and the wind was quite strong then", said a firefighter, adding that these factors made it difficult to accomplish their mission.

The only damage suffered to the fourth-largest TV tower in the world was to the outer cover-ing of its antenna, where the fire caught.

While every high-rise in the city is designed with a special emergency elevator or stairwell leading to all floors to make it possible to respond to situations like fire, the Oriental Pearl TV Tower, which was built in 1994, is an exception, according to an engineer surnamed Jin with Jianyi Construction Design Company who declined to disclose his full name.

"The antenna reaches up 118 meters beyond the main structure," he said. "No special path for firefighters is built there; the original designers probably never accounted for the possibility that an antenna would ever catch on fire."

Meanwhile, a senior engineer who refused to be identified that was involved in the planning of the tower over two decades ago, said improper maintenance may have played a part in the cause of the fire.

"We cannot rule out the possibility that the fire may have resulted from the aging of the antenna's outer cover," the man told Chinese news website xinmin.cn Tuesday.