The Towering Inferno - Fire Breaks Out

After finding smoke in the 81st floor, the fire department is called over. But the fire has spread out too far and too fast.

[@lynnecrisp]

Ppl prob know this but while they were filming this Steve went to the Fire dept teams & studied the truth of fires & handling them so he could be convincing & it shows in his performance. Gotta luv Steve

[@gretchennelson7056]

Oh I do

[@mexicanfries5336]

I burnt my leg with gasoline when I was 11 years old and the pain of that experience is something never forgotten. I was in hospital for six months.

[@kevphillips02]

Fried leg and fries

[@gretchennelson9965]

Burns hurt like hell! No pun intended!🙃

[@lukasmiller486]

Can you still walk?

[@billybassman21]

I remember a kid around 11 in the ER back in the 80s in the same situation, kid was in so much pain and his mom kept putting an ice pack on his foot. That was in Houston.

[@tiffanybatcheller-harris522]

You were lucky to survive. My brother and I played around with gasoline in our teens. We didn’t get burned, but it wasn’t a smart idea. People don’t realize how dangerous and flammable gasoline is. 🤔

[@duncancurtis1758]

From the moment Doug figures out the electricity is massively overloaded there's gonna be trouble ahead...

[@barrybuchert1345]

When I was learning about electrical wiring we were told by our teacher that this was caused by aluminum wiring and I believe brass or copper connectors arcing because of a chemical reaction.

[@lw3646]

Plus we hear earlier about some of the other safety shortcuts they've taken to finish it and all the missed warnings.

[@Eric-sn4qz]

Great turn out scenes. One of the few movies that didn’t water down the FD roll. Kept it realistic.

[@markmerzweiler909]

Paul Newman, you were the best.

[@Psyiconics]

Still is the best

[@UKBornin1971]

Were?!

[@rc9660]

Yes, but not here, he's a pussy listening to Holden when the fire broke out.

[@3618499]

@@rc9660 😲 “ It’s the Script NOT the actor. “

[@tchoutastar]

no it's Steve Mac queen the best actor number one at hit parade sorry for you I'm his cousin

[@ModernDayRenaissanceMan]

This was a great movie when I was a kid. Good memories

[@waukee321]

What an all star cast too. Many famous movie star legends.

[@tuttt99]

RIP Norman Burton (Planet of the Apes, Diamonds are Forever, The Terminal Man, etc.) stalwart character actor.

[@lucycotterell1238]

The towering inferno is one of my favourite videos ever

[@juanmonge8]

Do it now- you don’t want OJ angry!

[@montygreen6228]

Especially if he has a knife in his hand.

[@thomascollins4325]

You wouldn't like him when he's angry.

[@xr6lad]

Extra: ‘Hey OJ, looks like we have an incident on level 81. Looks like your wife is with another man. OJ: hang 5, I’ll go up and check, pass that knife and the keys to the SUV can you.

[@artlover1477]

Yeah, he was treating Newman like he was his bitch😂

[@ololiver92]

Hope his protective gloves fitted

[@Solitude47152]

50th Anniversary in 2024. Timeless movie

[@waukee321]

I remember seeing it in the movie theater on a huge screen when it first came out. Two years after the Poseidon adventure.

[@Solitude47152]

@@waukee321 Me too

[@NOway264]

This scene also shows why you should never open a door when there is visible smoking coming out of the door frame. The sudden suply of oxygen resulted in a backdraft and massive spread of the fire.

[@EatAllDaHumans]

Backdraft taught me that

[@mikeowen6664]

I love to see this at the cinema Those fire engines roaring through San Francisco and the sirens blazing 😍😍😍😍

[@jimliftin1552]

I did see it at the cinema. The experience was incredible. They stopped the movie with an intermission just before the fireman blows up the side door exit, and resumes as the blast blows the door off its hinges. Then Duncan asks the fireman if they can get out that way, and the fireman said no.

[@roquefortfiles]

For guys who want to become firemen this is fire engine porn.

[@TheHulk2008]

Best disaster movie ever

[@markmerzweiler909]

I agree.

[@markmerzweiler909]

agreed

[@organboi]

Hardly

[@kdohertygizbur]

Poseidon Adventure kicks Towering's Ass

[@garbageday587]

Earthquake 1974 was better

[@frankspadafora3419]

When I watch this movie the phrase “if it doesn’t fit, you must acquit” comes to mind.!!

[@mikeowen7526]

I love this film The cast The plot and 70s fire engines screaming through the scenes of San Fran ♥️♥️♥️

[@jeromewade4110]

That's Station 38 of the San Francisco Fire Department,still in service,also featured in "Emergency!"

[@Keithbarber]

Y​@jeromewade4110 the stuff of exciting action for kids in that era I was 5 when it came out and would have been glued to the screen with those fire engines

[@kc9715]

RIP OJ. This is the only way and part I'll remember him by as he seemed like a better person back then.

[@2345allthebest]

OJ was the only one who had his sh*t together on that floor... hats off to the Juice for that role

[@coyotefever105]

Naked Gun

[@scotttild]

He will not find it in hell.

[@EatAllDaHumans]

​@scotttild hopefully all your ancestors meet him there

[@turbogato1]

The 70's was a bad time to be caught in a towering inferno. Everyone wore polyester which is like wearing plastic that melts when on fire.

[@Jhihmoac]

I like that, the start of an out-of-control fire raging on 81, and Jim Duncan in the Promenade Room up on 135 says, "That's 50 floors below, Roberts... Get in your dinner jacket and get up here!" Typical corporate thinking...

[@STP43FAN1]

In an unused scene earlier, after Roberts and Will Giddings leave Duncan’s office Duncan considers to Dan Bigelow that perhaps the dedication should be postponed but Bigelow dissuades him from it.

[@likestallwomen]

So true

[@nigelmurphy6761]

a lot of hubris for sure.

[@samalvey8168]

Ignorant way of thinking. In a high-rise, fire's got nowhere to go but up.

[@Jhihmoac]

@@samalvey8168- Strictly Irwin Allen 70s disaster movie zen... Besides in reality, I'm pretty sure earthquake restrictions in San Francisco place skyscrapers at an 80 storey limit and even then, the building has to have a seismic protection system built into the superstructure... You won't ever be seeing behemoths like the 136 storey Duncan Glass Tower - Not in SF, anyway!

[@rosehernandez475]

Oj when he was a good person

[@Jaxon23294]

OJ gave a killer performance!

[@mattep74]

I have seen the movie a few times and your post is the first that made me realize oj was in it

[@small_ed]

"killer" 😂

[@426Hemiroadrunner]

😂😂😂😂

[@moretoknowshow1887]

Look OUT!

[@jdewitt77]

Yeah, too bad he's in it.

[@leafyutube]

"Get in your dinner jacket and come up and join the party". One of my favorite movie lines ever!

[@MargauxHemingway]

leafyutube get in your dinner jacket and come up the party is on fire!

[@SciTrekMan]

Yes! We’re having a roast!!

[@ModernDayRenaissanceMan]

It'll be a blast!!

[@rickhuck64]

You fool if this fire gets worst, there's going to be plenty of barbecue to serve.

[@majerstud]

O.J.- "Fire on 81? Let me take a stab at it!"

[@montygreen6228]

Funny punch line !🤣🤣🤣

[@jessicagamesyt]

HAHAHAHA BRO TOOK THAT LINE A BIT TOO SERIOUSLY

[@Dava1000]

The fire command station looks like they used some parts from Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea...its still very impressive

[@scotpens]

Every prop and set piece on the Fox lot got recycled. Batman, Fantastic Voyage, the Flint movies, and all of Irwin Allen's productions used the same sci-fi hardware.

[@barrybuchert1345]

To save money, @@scotpens

[@STP43FAN1]

Continuity glitch - Duncan says he won't worry about a fire in a storage room on 81 - this even though Roberts never told him where exactly the fire is.

[@benhutchinson9054]

unless ... Duncan knew the fire would happen and it was a suicide act

[@brianforbes8325]

Good point, Michael Daly. I saw this movie when it was first released in the theaters in 1974-75 and many times since then, and I didn't think about that glitch.

[@tylorevans]

Yeah is kinda odd unless security already informed Duncan that they have called the Fire Department

[@duncancurtis1758]

The action down on floor 65 gradually levels off to focus on the promenade room.

[@tuttt99]

@@duncancurtis1758 How did the fire get down to 65, where Bigelow and Lorrie were trapped? Must have been a separate fire. Roberts warned Duncan of that possibility.

[@13e11even11]

I loved this film. This came out a few years before I started Architectural School in 77. A classmate of mine freshman year left school to become a fireman.

[@mangatamoon7886]

I love this movie.

[@GreenerHill]

This is where it gets very ghostly. "There's something on 81."

[@lewissparrow7417]

One of my favourite films ever. Paul Newman and Steve McQueen supposedly didn't get on but they worked brilliantly together in this film. Huge respect to firefighters though I couldn't do their job. As much as I love this film as a child (I'm 45 now) I found it quite scary at times.

[@jasoncarpp7742]

I've seen this movie on DVD. Awesome movie!

[@raphaelweb9677]

Did OJ find the real arsonist?

[@thefutureisnow7300]

There was no arsonist. Corners were cut to save money. The electrical system couldn’t handle the power load.

[@tmrezzek5728]

Damn good stunt at 1:37 - the flames had to be huge enough for shock value and the stuntman had to position himself exactly so his face wouldn't get scorched. Today it would be all CGI and wouldn't be convincing.

[@organboi]

They still do fire stunts today.

[@TheHulk2008]

Word is they burned 20 stuntmen in Game Of Thrones a record that still stands.

[@harebraind]

NOOOOOO! Don't send OJ to 81!

[@anilkoditkar9344]

The Great Stars. Great Direction. Great Movie.

[@user-wj7mc2nj6n]

I was a Fire Fighter for 25 years, I really miss being on the job. It was exciting and challenging , you also had a sense of service to people who, in their time of need, could rely on Fire Fighters. Also my station had 2 Brass Poles, lots of fun and excitement at times especially in the we hours of the morning...

[@Zickcermacity]

1:30 - Even my cats know you never EVER open up a door that feels hot or is passing smoke! But it's a movie and common sense is suspended.

[@johnsergei]

My cats know that a closed door means they stay out of the kitchen. A fire that size would make the door far too hot to touch.

[@organboi]

No, it's not a movie. It's a BAD movie.

[@katsuramatsumoto5320]

Not only was it suspended, but it also burned to death when he opened the door.

[@taraelizabethdensley9475]

I used to yell " Don't open the door" when i was growing up

[@SudrianTales]

Sadly in a lot of fire disasters that has happened. In the 60s a ship called Lakonia had its hair salon on fire. A pair of stewards opened to investigate causing the fire to speead

[@gretchennelson7056]

“Put on your dinner jacket and come up and join the party, now come on!”😂😂

[@freddieknowstofack8017]

I hope Netflix will get the rights to added this movie.

[@KarlSturmgewher]

3:58-4:03 Fluky wiring. That word will haunt me for the rest of my life.

[@alanroberson9749]

Very good job fellows throughout the 2nd emergency thrilling week of said surfside June!!! Bravo 998%. "Get in your dinner jacket and come up and join the party". One of my favorite movie lines ever!

[@HollywoodFan21]

A lesson of ethics construction.

[@davidpar2]

That artwork at 1:28 is deliberately unsettling

[@GreenerHill]

Well-spotted. A bit like the Crying Boy painting.

[@wns808]

I think the fire at some point probably scorched the painting and put it out of its misery

[@DatHyperGamer]

Best movie ever.

[@organboi]

Dumbest movie ever.

[@reving19]

Ah, O.J. You were once a hero....

[@Solitude47152]

Still is.

[@budgewilliams9019]

When ever I'm in a tall building I think of the Towering Inferno and OJ coming to my rescue.

[@NLaertes]

Back in the day before Nordberg joined Police Squad

[@memyself717]

"Oh look there's smoke coming out of this door, let's just open it and have a look."

[@shannonreynolds624]

OJ Simpson was very good in this movie. I saw it in the theaters when I was seven. He went into the apartment and got the cat and I liked him after that, because I was a little girl and he saved the kitty. Little girls always like the kitties. There were a lot of disaster movies and I liked a lot of them including this one.

[@organboi]

And then he viciously murdered Nicole and lied about it.

[@TheRivrPrncess]

Shannon Reynolds Yes, he did very good. I did not expect the cat to be saved or even him the first time I watched the movie. To anyone reading this comment who makes an unkind reply, you will be reported on and I will block you. This video is about the movie and comments about are acceptable, not hateful comments about private or public lives of the performers.

[@vernonjohnsonjr1241]

@@organboi and he was proven not guilty just like your white cops get off Scott Free killing unharmed citizens.

[@mickwallace9949]

The mans a murderer , stupid child

[@mickwallace9949]

vincent jones wanker

[@ModernDayRenaissanceMan]

continuity glitch is that they are calling an ambulance when the fire department is already on their way. they would have already dispatched the police the fire and an ambulance at the same time.

[@MrCraigblaze]

Thanks for the upload !! Awesome disaster movie !!

[@topogigio2879]

Has anyone else noticed how long it takes for the damn storage room on the 81st floor to get consumed with fire? A fuse box blows, a bunch of random rags on a table a few feet away are ignited, and then the movie cuts to Paul Newman arriving (still in daylight) at the home of Susan Blakely and Richard Chamberlain for that short scene where Paul chews out Richard for his cost-cutting measures on the building's wiring. Then it's nighttime (presumably at least an hour later) with the front of the building all lit up for the gala opening party, with William Holden, Faye Dunaway, the mayor, his wife, the senator and all those extras. And then. Paul gets called upstairs, somebody FINALLY sees the smoke coming out from under the storage room door on a monitor, and we get to this scene, which is what, at least two hours since the fuse box blew? This movie's "realism" is Ca Ca.

[@ralphbaran]

Duncan also has a line of popular yo-yos. Stats indicate that we currently have a big problem in the U.S. with electrical fires. Combine that with the ineffectiveness of ionization smoke alarms to quickly detect slow, smoldering fires & loss of life as a result - that's what we face today. Photoelectric type detectors, fire sprinklers & aggressive fire prevention tactics - that's what's needed to win this war.

[@2345allthebest]

SFFD - a collection of American LaFrance 900 series open and closed cab engines... very realistic and accurate as to what they were using at the time... great job!! edit: Seagrave tiller aerial also spot on!!!!

[@rosav1000]

Excelent film..l love richard chamberlain💝💝💝💝💝💝💝💝💝💝💝💝💝💝💝💝💝💝💝💝💝💝💝

[@Solitude47152]

OJ giving the orders

[@DX-ny8ob]

I liked when he turned the key it sounded like a phone off the hook lol😂

[@wns808]

1:33 Giddings put his own life to save the security guard

[@apple5134]

The juice is on the loose!

[@tedmerr]

He rescues a kitty later in the movie

[@jane1975]

@tedmerr: I know, such a shame he turned out to be a murderer-he was nice looking too and very funny in the Naked Gun movies.

[@mt22201]

He also rescues Bobby Brady.

[@triumphant2080]

he was killing people back then too

[@emt5330]

There were many actual members of the SFFD in the movie.

[@lw3646]

Never open a door when there's a fire on the otherside.

[@triton115]

It wasn't that the fire had spread too far or too fast. It was that the building's wiring was faulty, prone to electrical shorts, and on the whole, was an electrical fire waiting to happen. Plus the same wiring that was faulty in the first place was heavily overloaded when they turned all the lights on and likely overheated to it's ignition temperatures.

[@GreenerHill]

As Doug (Newman) predicted, "fires breaking out everywhere". It's arguable that the fire on 81 alerted them early.

[@zackcross7190]

That’s why the fire was able to reach floors like 65, 81, 87, and 135.

[@billybassman21]

Those lights even in the 70s didn’t draw that much power, not enough to start a fire. The fire spread to other floors because someone didn’t install the fire stops

[@wns808]

@@billybassman21 when Roberts did reach the Promenade Room, he lambasted Duncan for cutting corners as well as pointing out the duct holes not being fire stopped

[@mrbronson5333]

Every floor above 81 got affected. Even the stairwells were destroyed.

[@pinochirico3531]

OJ TALKED ABOUT THIS SCENE IN HIS FIRST PODCAST PAUL NEWMAN SAID IT WAS OK TO YELL AT HIM

[@skeena59]

A security guard pulling rank on the architect?

[@alaskanactressp30]

He saved that man’s life . Pushed him out of the way. He was selfless and God sees this, he will go to Heaven 😇🙏

[@GreenerHill]

Agreed. He was a likeable character anyway.

[@robertschaefer9480]

Where’s this heaven you speak of?

[@alaskanactressp30]

@@GreenerHill yes 🙌 he is . Many blessings 😇🌹

[@alaskanactressp30]

@@robertschaefer9480 yes 🙌 there is a heaven , and transfer to another life. I don’t mean come back as a dog, bird or animal, we are set individual souls. Animals have their own realm. It’s the part of our Universe ✨

[@jamsid33]

it figures OJ is involved in this disaster also

[@fyremanjef]

Got to luv guys who sleep in their uniform shirts. After all the times I’ve seen this. I’m just now picking up on this.

[@janiehoney7494]

Geez, watching this movie after 9/11 is a different experience than having watched it before.

[@ohwell94]

here's a creepy story...my husband and I were completely stoked that TTI was on TV...back then we only had basic cable no movie channels ( no PVR or recording DVD either) and it was NEVER EVER on TV so we stayed up late to watch it..right at the part where the building exploded the power went out!!I looked at the clock and it was 2:45...we knew it was not gonna be restored before the movie was over so we went to bed and 6hrs later exactly it was the 1st attack on the Towers I've never been able to watch the movie in quite the same light!

[@emergency0314]

What's even creepier is this movie finished filming on September 11th 1974 and when it was released it was criticized for being unrealistic that a building that size with the modern safety equipment (for the time) could ever catch fire. Only 3 months after it's release, a fire broke out on the worlds tallest building at the time. The World Trade Center in New York. A little side note a small fire also broke out on the world's tallest free standing structure at the time, The CN Tower in Toronto.

[@dchang11]

Janie Honey the stories above the impact zone was scary. Temperatures was hotter than a nuclear reactor. The conditions were unbearable.

[@wns808]

@@emergency0314 the twin towers of the original World Trade Center were doomed since they were built. From its fire in the North tower in February 1975, to the 1993 bombing, all the way to destruction on 9/11. The glass tower’s Achilles heel, aside from the fluky electrical system was its corner cutting. We see Roberts grill Duncan for it later on when he asks Duncan why he cut corners and tells him the multiple corners cut.

[@shanet5604]

3:47 WHAT FOR !?!? WE GOT A FIRE HERE !!! Movie quote…

[@chuckmanofgod]

I don't think they had the "STOP, DROP AND ROLL" teaching. I guess it was just "stay calm until someone puts you out".

[@zackcross7190]

Yes, because it’s easy for people to think clearly while they’re on fire

[@juanmonge8]

OJ Simpson: I am going to 81- with a knife!

[@montygreen6228]

Funny comment dude ! 🤣🤣🤣

[@jamesyoungblood6231]

It's hard to believe the fire got out of control as it did. They were on the fire the moment it broke out as it was isolated to single storage room to which they already had water on it the moment the fire had real chance to the breath and grow.

[@frankpalancio8471]

OJ's acting was cutting edge

[@admiralcraddock464]

Never mind the fire in that room get that hose on the burning man and cool those burns

[@brianlevy9530]

BECAUSE OF THIS MOVIE THE FIRE CODES WERE CHANCED ROSS MCKENZIE!!!!>:-)

[@kapciewojtekf.794]

I saw this scene on TV once and I looked for it for years because it looked so comical, especially the pasted blood stain xD

[@ss_whole]

That little fire would have went out quick when that fire hose hit it.

[@Truckguy1970]

@114866594212628341070 The fire's too hot with all the flammable chemicals, there wasn't enough water to put it out with. The water was just turning to steam before it could cool the fire down.

[@xomthood]

solid stream is not very good at putting a wide spread fire out.

[@jmowreader9555]

Look close at the way they're spraying water on the fire. They're spraying at the top of the flames, not the bottom.

[@mrbronson5333]

Even the sprinklers weren’t working on 81 for some unknown reason.

[@KENACT1]

Nowadays in San Francisco, they could put the fire out by throwing poop on it.

[@jasontachin]

RW:don't go over there it's a BACKDRAFT!😨😮

[@hughmcaloon6506]

Gee, I expected *Nordberg* to catch fire...

[@robertmcghintheorca49]

How did Duncan know the fire was on floor 81 if Roberts hadn't said where it was?

[@Jhihmoac]

Possibly, when the alarms to security initially went off, someone from there notified Jim Duncan about it first - but through the "magic" of movie script writers, maybe he had ESP...

[@Videos888]

I just take this as indicating that the film cut out a bit of the less important parts of this phone conversation.

[@6611haggis]

2.46. A 1974 prototype mobile phone ?

[@mikefromuniontown3809]

Human Nature. It's always been that way.

[@Batman-jc5uc]

Fred Astaires poor girlfriend dies in this film,but OJ survives

[@montygreen6228]

The woman lived in the book " The Glass Inferno "!. She was my personal favorite in the book.A real superwoman who broke the door down to get the family members out of the burning apartment.

[@PlutoTheSecond]

2:45 Does that phone even have a cord?

[@tedmerr]

those computers....

[@susanpillsbury6674]

To this day I can not do hi rise buildings

[@ericpogorzelski904]

what floor? WE GOT A FIRE HERE!!!!

[@Martin9476]

Happy 50th birthday to this film

[@TileGuyJesse]

How did he know it was in a storage room on 81? Newman never mentioned it.

[@kevphillips02]

Will giddings was an amazing actor.

[@xr6lad]

Extra: ‘Hey OJ, looks like we have an incident on level 81. Looks like your wife is with another man. OJ: hang 5, I’ll go up and check, pass that knife and the keys to the SUV can you.

[@lancemckellar]

Was the foreman who made the cameo appearance Randolph Mantooth?

[@user-gp3hi1kl8z]

Great movie

[@jackhollandcsxnsandawvrfan3800]

0:50 the beasts are loose!

[@ap70621]

Smoke pouring from under a door, better open it up.

[@amazinmets8439]

Gee Whiz maybe they could have sprayed some water ON THE BURNING GUY before the room? Nah, that'd make too much sense LOL.

[@organboi]

Insulting mistake number 1001.

[@josephmullin5845]

Notice how every burns casualty suffers severe burns and dies in this film

[@zackcross7190]

Do you have any idea how bad that would hurt? Fire houses have enough pressure to tear skin off.

[@leafyutube]

I wanna be a fireman.

[@Rammstein0963]

The terms are interchangeable.

[@mikegallant811]

On a hook and ladder truck....

[@user-io9po6rf8e]

タワーリングインフェルノの映画は凄い映画です。

[@32ModB]

Hell is🔥

[@johnringoo756]

Ok getting it done

[@sharkbaitproductions6380]

I'm pretty sure that's an electrical fire and you NEVER put water on an electrical fire it will just make it worse if they had just let the fire department handle it I don't think it would have gotten that bad XD but hey its a movie how can I complain I love this movie.

[@organboi]

You love BAD movies?

[@nrkgalt]

I believe electrical sparks caused some oily rags to catch on fire. So it’s also a grease fire.

[@billybassman21]

The hospital I work at has the water valves for firefighters, but no hoses. I noticed older buildings have the hoses already there, but newer don't. I think they did away with them for that reason and so the hoses wouldn't be damaged and slow the firefighters down. I don't think they made it worst other than by opening the door. The problem was the fire was so hot from all those chemicals, it was just evaporating the water. They needed at least two lines on that fire. I don't really understand how it spread so quickly.

[@CoolCademMAnimates-fz1ui]

I just saw a part of this movie while looking at a news broadcast from 1975 talking about an electrical fire breaking out in the World Trade Center. It started on the 11th floor and spread to the 19th. They were talking about how this movie is fiction but the fire in the trade center was fact and that the World Trade Center had no chance of becoming a towering inferno.