Tustin Airship Hangar Destroyed by Fire

[ORAC]

https://www.thedrive.com/the-war-zone/giant-wwii-airship-hangar-decimated-by-raging-fire

Giant WWII Airship Hangar Decimated By Raging Fire

The fire, which engulfed historic Hangar 1 at former Marine Corps Air Station Tustin, has rendered the structure irreparable.


A historic World War II-era airship hangar in California caught fire in the early hours of Tuesday morning. Despite attempts to extinguish the flames, firefighters have been forced to abandon their efforts — allowing the fire to run its course. The exact cause of the fire has yet to be identified by law enforcement, and no injuries have been reported.

Hangar 1 (https://www.tustinca.org/765/Tustin-Hangars), also known as the North Hangar or 'Building 28,' is part of the former Marine Corps Air Station (MCAS) Tustin in Orange County. A three-fire alarm was issued just before 12:55 A.M. local time, Orange County Fire Authority (OCFA) Capt. Thanh Nguyen told reporters earlier today (https://www.ocregister.com/2023/11/07/former-tustin-air-base-hangars-on-fire/).

Over 70 Orange County firefighters on 11 engines have been involved (https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2023-11-07/massive-fire-burns-landmark-17-story-blimp-hangar-in-tustin)in attempts to save the hangar, one of the largest free-standing wooden structures ever built. Building 28 will eventually be demolished, per the OCFA (https://www.ocregister.com/2023/11/07/former-tustin-air-base-hangars-on-fire/), although nearby Hangar 2 (https://www.tustinca.org/765/Tustin-Hangars), also known as the South Hangar or 'Building 29' appears to have been unaffected by the fire…..

https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/pprune.org-vbulletin/1920x1080/tustin_hangar_b87a1dceec77f2f07df139cad361e3b2ebd1d24e.jpg

[meleagertoo]

Bizarrely inappropriate, not to mention self-evidently utterly incorrect use of "decimated".
I can only imagine the "journalist" responsible thought it meant the same as devastated because it sounds vaguely similar.
Only in America, I suppose.

[India Four Two]

meleagertoo,

Nearly all modern usage of "decimated" is incorrect, given that originally 90% of the group survived:

In the military of ancient Rome, decimation was a form of military discipline in which every tenth man in a group was executed by members of his cohort. ​​​​​​​

[ShyTorque]

Well, it looks like there’s only 10% still standing….

[treadigraph]

Assume Cardington hangars are metal construction. Kind of ironic that one was used for fire research by BRE for many years.

[radar101]

Bizarrely inappropriate, not to mention self-evidently utterly incorrect use of "decimated".
I can only imagine the "journalist" responsible thought it meant the same as devastated because it sounds vaguely similar.
Only in America, I suppose.

Not only in America - the number of articles in UK papers / online who misuse words "because it sounds vaguely similar" makes me despair.

[MAC 40612]

Getting back to the fire. Things like this always make me a bit suspicious, in that the hangars [there are two of them at the former MCAS Tustin] are on a prime real-estate development site and in fact other parts of the former base are already being redeveloped. Originally both were going to be demolished and the whole site cleared for real-estate but there was an outcry regarding the historical hangars and they were to be a centre piece of a new open park land area. Fast forward to the present day and although they have not been being used, suddenly one goes up in flames :hmm:

[Herod]

If you are interested in the Cardington hangars, one came from RNAS Pulham. A bit of history here. https://pennoyers.org.uk/heritage/the-airship-museum/

[POBJOY]

The local press over there is reporting schools and such like closed for fear of Asbestos in the air !!!
The 'ends'. seem ok so could be fixed with a giant poly tunnel kit, or a 'historic' solar farm.
When our beloved 'Belfast' went up at Kenley in 78 (only survivor of the 18th Aug raid it left it's brick ends and walls, plus about a zillion nails on the concrete floor and about the same number of fond memories (as seen in Reach for the sky).

[treadigraph]

If you are interested in the Cardington hangars, one came from RNAS Pulham. A bit of history here. https://pennoyers.org.uk/heritage/the-airship-museum/

Ah I didn't know that. Heck of a move. I presume the Howden shed was scrapped at some stage after the R100 moved to Cardington.

[POBJOY]

On a bit of a thread creep (but still historic) when Pobjoy was about 12 he wandered up to RAF Kenley (Surrey) having recently moved from South London.
SE27 was rather devoid of airfields, so having called in at the guard room I enquired as to the whereabouts of the local ATC unit and was pointed in said direction.
This voyage of history took me past camo painted brick building (1933) and past several 'parade grounds' (there seemed to be quite a lot) to arrive at the HQ of 450 Sdn ATC on the edge of the airfield. They quickly told me I was to young and suggested I came back when I was older. I think I went back so often in the next couple of months they gave up and let me stay (but no uniform). Once 'nearly in the system' so to speak it was time to explore and of course the 'Parade Grounds' were the bases of the original Belfasts of which Kenley had had no less than 14 (yes fourteen) plus a still existing 'mini Belfast' that also had been used for parachute drying.
Of the original 14, 6 were demolished to make way for runways just before WW2 and a further 6 were victims of the AUG 18th raid. The survivor eventually passed to 615 Gliding School having been in use as an MT section. Alas an accidental fire in 78 rather did for it after the Luftwaffe failed, and took our Fretwork Fighters and all the ground equipment. We eventually had a canvas Bessonneaou (WW1) replacement for a while until a heavy snow fall did for that and its 'Plastic' contents.

[BlankBox]

meleagertoo,

Nearly all modern usage of "decimated" is incorrect, given that originally 90% of the group survived:

What were they called then... a Nineth?

[EXDAC]

Not only in America - the number of articles in UK papers/online who misuse words.

I am upset by the increasing common misuse of the relative pronouns who, which, and that. "Who" pertains to a person. An article is not a person.

[Asturias56]

"I am upset by the increasing common misuse of the relative pronouns "

the language changes constantly - that's it's great strength