Miscellaneous - This Day That Age

dated July 4, 1959: Fire in the Pentagon

Stifling smoke from blazing top-secret documents and recording tapes swirled down the maze-like corridors of the Pentagon in Washington on July 2, as firemen fought to quench a disastrous fire in the vast Defence Department building. The huge, five-sided Defence Department building, supposedly fire-proof, was filled with acrid smoke as hundreds of firemen from three States fought to locate and control the fire estimated to have caused at least 30 million dollars (£15,700,000) worth of damage. It also destroyed 7,000 rolls of taped Air Force records. The fire was finally brought under control after four hours.

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