The original stand pipe system was a dry system. Hardware that automatically unlocked the stairwell doors, in the event of a fire, was installed in 1981, but only the doors on every third floor were equipped with this. A public address system was installed that could address every floor, all the stairways, the elevator machine rooms, and the elevators. The original dry standpipe system was upgraded in 1988 to a wet system. The system was to handle the fire department's 2 ½" hoses and two electric fire pumps were installed to make sure enough water pressure was available. A pump was installed in the basement and one on the 12th floor. There were two hose stations on each floor for occupant use. These hose stations had 100' of 1 ½" hose with nozzles. Throughout the years, floors were retrofitted with sprinkler systems as tenants remodeled or asked for them. At the time of this fire there were automatic sprinklers on the 30th, 31st, 34th and 35th floors. Parts of the 11th and 15th floors also had automatic fire sprinklers. The owners of the building had plans to install automatic sprinklers on other floors as they were renovated.
At approximately 2023 hours, a smoke detector was activated on the 22nd floor. Only two security guards and one engineer were in the building at the time of the alarm. The central monitoring company called the building to confirm the fire alarm, but was told that the alarm was currently being investigated, and the fire department was not yet notified. The building engineer took an elevator to the 22nd floor, using it in manual mode, and found heavy smoke and heat when the elevator opened. The engineer used his radio to notify a security guard who then recalled the elevator to the lobby floor. The second security guard was on break on the 30th floor, heard the radio and made his way to the lobby via a stairwell. All three people made it out of the building safely.