Reply #177: I miss the point.

[Contrite]

Again, Dr. Jones:

Are there any examples of buildings toppled by fires or any reason other than deliberate demolition that show large pools of molten metal in the rubble? I have posed this question to numerous engineers and scientists, but so far no examples have emerged.

Strange then that three buildings in Manhattan, supposedly brought down finally by fires, all show these large pools of molten metal in their basements post-collapse on 9-11-2001. It would be interesting if underground fires could somehow produce molten steel, for example, but then there should be historical examples of this effect since there have been many large fires in numerous buildings. It is not enough to argue hypothetically that fires could possibly cause all three pools of orange-hot molten metal.

Furthermore, we have seen published reports that "molten steel flowed in the pile of ruins still settling beneath her feet" -- how could building fires have caused that effect? Has it ever been seen before? We know of no such instances.

My comment: How is it relevant that the fires were extreme during the first few days? I would imagine, even without having seen the thermal maps, that they would be. First responders reported the ground was so hot that their rubber boots melted. What is surprising is that they existed and that they burned for three months, during which time red-hot molten metal continued to be recovered. Without a history of such type event--piles of rubble burning to this extent after a collapse, without proven-sufficient heat to melt the structure to collapse it to begin with--what are we to conclude? That is why it is important that NIST address it; i.e., prove that the molten pools have nothing to do with the collapse--so we may lay the matter to rest.