1975 New York Telephone exchange fire

The building you see at the corner of Second Avenue and 13th Street was the site of one of the most catastrophic industrial fires in New York City history. Just after midnight on February 27, 1975, a short circuit sparked in the basement cable vault, igniting tons of PVC-insulated wiring. The flames raced upward through the building's vertical cable shafts, turning the structure into a chimney of toxic smoke. Because the facility was windowless, the heat intensified rapidly, creating an oxygen-starved environment that was nearly impossible for firefighters to navigate.