The following post is not an effort on my part to re-hash the "
pull it" debate but is rather an observation of it. Fact is, no one but Larry Silverstein knows exactly what he meant by the words he chose and he has claimed that his meaning was that he instructed the fire commander to evacuate his firefighters from the building - which I would suppose is not Silverstein's decision to begin with, but rather would be at the commander's discretion. But anyway...
I remember getting a call from the fire department commander, telling me that they were not sure they were gonna be able to contain the fire, and I said, 'We've had such terrible loss of life, maybe the smartest thing to do is pull it.' And they made that decision to pull and then we watched the building collapse. --- Larry Silverstein.
I was wandering around Google's news archives doing some research and decide while I was there to search the term "
pull it" for any use prior to 9/11. Not to much avail. So, I got to thinking. What is "it" in this case. "It" is the building, WTC 7, and it is WTC 7 (the building) whether we're talking about controlled demolition or firefighter evacuation. So, instead of searching the term "
pull it", I searched the term "
pull the building". And that did bring up some interesting stuff.
http://74.125.47.132/search?q=cache:vcB4lR4tyMIJ:www.firefightersforums.com/ubb/ultimatebb.php%3Fubb%3Dget_topic%3Bf%3D8%3Bt%3D001134+firefighting+glossary+of+terms+pull&cd=2&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us">According to one firefighter, "
pull it" is an old firefighting, pre-radio handsets, derived from an evacuation order being given in which fellow firefighters would
pull on the hose hard so that the firefighters holding it at the nozzle end would know to retreat from the building. But, the same poster (OudeVanDagen) declares that "
pull it" is not a CD term, "In no manner shape or form on NineEleven - or at any other time - does "
pull It" have anything to do with controlled demolition." And, he's not the only one making this claim:
http://books.google.com/books?id=3C7JSfnMsbIC&pg=PA57&lpg=PA57&dq=Loizeaux+pull+it&source=bl&ots=udTps2gsXU&sig=g3TwEB3mXutHmYmLDsHoslsUGlI&hl=en&ei=gTNiSsq3KMultgeSof3yDw&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=2">Google Books - Debunking 9/11 myths By Brad Reagan
However, Stacey Loizeaux may beg to differ on the use of the term "
pull" (and by extension "
pull the building"):
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/kaboom/loizeaux.html">NOVA (PBS) Interview with Stacey Loizeaux:
Stacey Loizeaux, twenty-six years old, has worked for Controlled Demolition, an international explosives engineering firm, since the age of fifteen. She learned the fine art of demolition from her father, Mark Loizeaux, and her uncle, Doug Loizeaux—president and vice-president of the company. NOVA spoke with Ms. Loizeaux a few days before Christmas, 1996.
NOVA: A common misconception is that you blow buildings up. That's not really the case, is it?
Stacy Loizeaux: No. The term "implosion" was coined by my grandmother back in, I guess, the '60s. It's a more descriptive way to explain what we do than "explosion." There are a series of small explosions, but the building itself isn't erupting outward. It's actually being pulled in on top of itself. What we're really doing is removing specific support columns within the structure and then cajoling the building in one direction or another, or straight down.
...snip...
Stacy Loizeaux: Well, if I kick both your legs out from under you, you're going to fall right on your butt. If I kick one leg out from under you, you'll fall left or right. So the way we control the failure of the building is by using the delays. And, again, that varies structure to structure and depending on where we want the building to go. A lot of people, when they see a building implosion, expect it to go into its own basement, which is not always what the contractor wants. Sometimes the contractor wants to lay the building out like a tree. And, sometime, we need to bring down buildings that are actually touching other buildings.
NOVA: How do you do that?
SL: Well, you just pull it away, you peel it off. If you have room in the opposite direction, you just let the building sort of melt down in that direction and it will pull itself completely away from the building. It can be done.
...snip...
NOVA: Do you get a thrill watching a building fall?
SL: Oh sure. I mean you really don't ever lose it. Your perspective changes. When I first started traveling with my Dad at fifteen, sixteen years old, I used to be awestruck. But you sort of go from that awestruck feeling to where you understand how the structure is coming down and you're watching for certain things—counting the delays or waiting for a part of the building to kick out or waiting for it to pull forward. So it does change, but it's always a rush. Gee, that's curious. Doesn't the book excerpt above describe Mark Loizeaux's response to this question is
that the only way he can imagine the term being used is in reference to a process by where the legs of a structure are precut and attached to cables, and big machines are used to literally pull the building down to the ground? He goes on to say that that particular technique would not have been possible with WTC 7. When one looks at Stacey Loizeaux's interview, however, it would seem that her mentor had taught her a
figurative expression which was a common part of Controlled Demolition, Inc.'s industry lingo. She is describing controlled explosive demolition as "
pull the building".
So, is the term "
pull" a controlled (and explosive) demolition term, or not? Here are some examples from Google News archives past and contemporary. Some refer to literally "
pulling the building" down as with cables and others refer to "
pulling the building" figuratively as with explosives:
http://nl.newsbank.com/nl-search/we/Archives?p_product=KC&p_theme=kc&p_action=search&p_maxdocs=200&p_topdoc=1&p_text_direct-0=0EAF42D34A76ADE1&p_field_direct-0=document_id "> A delicate job of destruction Hotel tower comes down on Sunday (Explosive demolition example using the industry lingo. Have to pay for the rest of article, which I didn't do.)
$2.95 - Kansas City Star - NewsBank - Feb 15, 1996
The amount and placement of the explosives should
pull the building onto itself toward its center point. To help, workers have removed support from the ...
http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P2-783672.html">Dunblane Gym to Be Razed (I'm assuming this is not an example of explosive demolition. Have to pay for the rest of article, which I didn't do.)
Subscription - Washington Post - HighBeam Research - Apr 5, 1996
The decision to
pull the building down was reached with advice from professional staff including teachers at the school, and with consideration of the ...
http://nl.newsbank.com/nl-search/we/Archives?p_product=SJ&s_site=mercurynews&p_multi=SJ&p_theme=realcities&p_action=search&p_maxdocs=200&p_topdoc=1&p_text_direct-0=0EB71941B52583AA&p_field_direct-0=document_id "> HOLDING ITS GROUND CREWS FAIL TO TOPPLE TEETERING S.F. APARTMENT HOUSE (Explosive demolition example using the industry lingo. Have to pay for the rest of article, which I didn't do.)
But, try as they might, demolition crews still can't
pull the building down. For most of the past week, a building on Telegraph Hill that was supposed to ...
http://www.arabianbusiness.com/491411?tmpl=print&page=">Dubai’s Trade Centre Hotel is demolished with a bang (I'm assuming this is not an example of explosive demolition.)
Apr 9, 2005
This meant that the blast had to
pull the building down away from the World Trade Centre, and the detonator delays used, reflected this. ...
Excerpt:
by Colin Foreman on Saturday, 09 April 2005
...snip...
A major concern when planning the blow down was the proximity of the World Trade Centre, which is only 10 m away across the main access ramp. The initial plans meant that the site would have been even more compounded by the old car park that connected onto the west of the hotel, but that was demolished before the blow down took place. This meant that the blast had to pull the building down away from the World Trade Centre, and the detonator delays used, reflected this.
A series of explosions were used instead of one big blast for two main reasons. Firstly, by having a number of smaller charges, the vibrations generated by the blast were far less than those created by one single blast using 200 kg of explosives — an important consideration given the number of buildings nearby. Secondly, by using five delays the blasts could be used to pull the building down away from the World Trade Centre. This was done over a period of 1.5 seconds moving back towards the World Trade Centre.
...snip...
http://www.thnews.com/archive/ar2001/may/top5-23.html">Demolition damages neighborsForrest City Times-Herald - May 23, 2001 (This is an example of non-explosive demolition but illustrates the industry lingo.)
Workers spent over two hours yesterday trying to
pull the building down as onlookers ... After several attempts to
pull the building were made to no avail, ...
Excerpt:
...snip...
Damage to the roof of the Abstract Company could be seen from outside the building just after workers for C.C.R. Inc. pulled on a portion of the east wall of the building located at 525 Front Street.
Workers spent over two hours yesterday trying to pull the building down as onlookers stood watching. After several attempts to pull the building were made to no avail, workers tied steel cables around the center east wall of the building and then pulled the wall down using a dump truck and bulldozer.
...snip...
http://weekly.ahram.org.eg/1999/429/eg12.htm">Defining the public interestAl-Ahram Weekly - May 13, 1999 (non-explosive demo example must reflective of the industry lingo)
They will have to
pull the building down with us in it," said Nader. Attempts to postpone the eviction date until August, to allow children to complete the ...
Excerpt:
...snip...
After spending several years abroad, Nader (not that Nader), a university lecturer, came back to Egypt eager to settle down. He put his life savings into an apartment in building No 9, Abul-Mahassen Square. Shortly afterwards, he fell in love and the wedding was scheduled for 28 July. But the flat, as Nader concedes, may long be gone before that date. The entire building is scheduled to be pulled down on 15 May and the 30 families living in it evicted.
Ahmed Sherif, an engineer, said he bought an apartment on the fourth floor following his marriage in 1980 for $23,000. The papers forwarded by the owner, Mohamed Rabei Gedeir, were all in perfect order, all carrying the state stamp. Seventeen years later, the residents were informed that the man who sold them the apartments was a fraud. The true owners, Zaki Fahmi Abdel-Malek and Wagnat Barsoum Doss, had filed a lawsuit and won LE5.5 million in compensation from Gedeir. The man never paid the money and a court later ruled that the true owners have the right to evict the residents and pull the building down.
...snip...
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2007/06/23/HOGB0QJACN1.DTL&hw=craze&sn=197&sc=238">Imploding a high-rise -- it's much more than a big blast (Explosive demolition example using the industry lingo)
San Francisco Chronicle - Jun 23, 2007
... middle portion will
pull the building walls inward after it. For a reinforced concrete building, the blasters may choose a grade of explosive that will ...
Excerpt:
...snip...
Often, the presence of nearby structures requires a building to be brought down in a certain direction, or even within the space of its own footprint. To accomplish this, blasters use a carefully choreographed sequence of explosions, each of them relatively small, to induce a predictable and orderly collapse. For example, in a typical high-rise implosion, the bottom center support columns will be blasted first, followed a few seconds later by the columns farther out, so that the sinking middle portion will pull the building walls inward after it. For a reinforced concrete building, the blasters may choose a grade of explosive that will pulverize the concrete but leave the reinforcing bars intact, so that the steel strands will help guide the building down in the right direction.
...snip...
http://nl.newsbank.com/nl-search/we/Archives?p_product=DN&s_site=philly&p_multi=PIDN&p_theme=realcities&p_action=search&p_maxdocs=200&p_topdoc=1&p_text_direct-0=0EB2A46C9349F6D8&p_field_direct-0=document_id "> REFINED TECHNIQUE LEVELS SUGAR FACTORY (Explosive demolition example using the industry lingo. Have to pay for the rest of article, which I didn't do.)
$2.95 - Philadelphia Daily News - NewsBank - Nov 3, 1997
... lasted more than 13 hours as explosive charges placed by the Carney Demolition Co., ... Several subsequent attempts to
pull the building down with heavy ...
http://nl.newsbank.com/nl-search/we/Archives?p_product=BN&p_theme=bn&p_action=search&p_maxdocs=200&p_topdoc=1&p_text_direct-0=0EAF9C4B0F3AA1F5&p_field_direct-0=document_id "> EVE OF DESTRUCTION (Explosive demolition example using the industry lingo. Have to pay for the rest of article, which I didn't do.)
$2.95 - Buffalo News - NewsBank - Oct 30, 1999
Once the explosion begins, they will help
pull the building onto itself. Kelly said two types of explosives will be detonated. ...
http://nl.newsbank.com/nl-search/we/Archives?p_product=PI&s_site=philly&p_multi=PI&p_theme=realcities&p_action=search&p_maxdocs=200&p_topdoc=1&p_text_direct-0=0EB5CEBE26AC6526&p_field_direct-0=document_id "> EXPLOSIVES FAIL TO LEVEL PLANT OOPS! A BIG BLAST FALLS A LITTLE SHORT$2.95 - Philadelphia Inquirer - NewsBank - Sep 23, 1999
... in about 4:30 pm after nitroglycerin explosives and a hydraulic hammer and ... The last step, Loizeaux said, will be to
pull the building over with an ...
Excerpt:
...snip...
The planned demolition of the distinctive white tower at the old Owens Corning production plant did not go quite as planned yesterday. The 150-foot-tall building is, at least temporarily, the "leaning tower of Barrington," as the demolition supervisor called it. The demolition crew, from Controlled Demolition Inc. of Phoenix, Md., and construction workers packed it in about 4:30 p.m. after nitroglycerin explosives and a hydraulic hammer and excavator failed to...
...snip...
http://www.accessmylibrary.com/coms2/summary_0286-5691086_ITM">Phoenix, Md., Firm Demolishes Buildings in Dayton, Ohio.(Explosive and cable demolition example using the industry lingo. Have to register for the rest of article.)
Free with registration - Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News - AccessMyLibrary.com - Sep 29, 1999
... placing steel cables on certain points to
pull the building in as it starts to fall, and wrapping explosives around key steel structural support columns ...
There are many more examples but that's enough to make the point that the term "
pull", "
pull the building", and "
pull it" are correct when relevant to controlled demolitions and that the term is way more common than what is claimed by OudeVanDagen, Brad Reagan, and Mark Loizeaux. Whether Silverstein was referring to "
pulling" the firefighters or it was a Freudian slip hinting at demolishing the building, we may never know. However, it seems highly coincidental to me that the term "
pull" could come up as the possible reference of two different disciplines, that of firefighting and that of controlled demolitions, concerning the events of a single day and concerning the fate of the same building, all within a very small timeframe.
I suppose the side of the "
pull it" issue you fall on depends on whether or not you choose to believe a man who stood to gain billions of dollars on a newly negotiated insurance policy, a policy that included a pay-off should the WTC property be the victim of a terrorist attack (as it should have after '93). If you believe him, fine. If you don't, then you have to, by extension, assume that he had foreknowledge of what was coming. The burden of proof, however, is on those who don't believe him. Personally, and without a new investigation (since the 9/11 Commission didn't bother to investigate WTC 7), I don't know what to believe about "
pull it".
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