At 23:00 on April 12, 2010, the Shanghai Meteorological Observatory issued a yellow thunder warning.

 

On April 13, thunder and lightning flashed along the Huangpu River in the early morning. At around 2:20, a witness saw the top of the Oriental Pearl Tower burning like a match.

 

After 1 hour and 20 minutes, the rescue work was basically over. The relevant person in charge of the Oriental Pearl Tower claimed that the fire on the top of the tower was caused by strong lightning hitting the transmitting antenna on the top of the tower, causing the antenna cover to burn.

 

As one of Shanghai's landmark buildings, this is not the first time that the 467.9-meter-high Oriental Pearl Tower has been struck by lightning. Raiden's "preference" for high-rise buildings does not hinder people from searching for the truth: Is this lightning incident a natural disaster or a man-made disaster?

 

Classic quotes:

 

"This time the thunder struck the glass fiber reinforced plastic cover outside the antenna. After the breakdown, it ignited the non-flame retardant asbestos in the insulation layer."

 

"It is normal for the Oriental Pearl Tower to be flanked. The higher the building, the more likely it is to be flanked."

 

"The Oriental Pearl Tower uses a semiconductor small and long-needle lightning arrester. This product caused a big debate in the academic world in the 1990s."

 

It is not uncommon for a TV tower to be struck by lightning, but it is the first time I have heard of it. "The 65-year-old Guan Xiangshi has been engaged in lightning protection research for nearly 20 years. After the lightning incident on the Oriental Pearl Tower, he collected all media reports as usual.

 

When the top of the tower caught fire, Shanghai was indeed thundering, as evidenced by the radar echo chart of the day. If the lightning strikes the concrete outer wall of the Oriental Pearl Tower, the lightning current will follow the steel bars in the cement. "If it is better, the cement skin will be fine, and a piece of cement or brick may be knocked down in a near case." However, according to Guan Xiangshi's analysis, this time the lightning side hit the FRP cover outside the antenna and ignited the asbestos in the insulation layer after the breakdown.

 

News from Shanghai Fire Network confirmed this. It was the cable on the inner wall of the signal launcher and the asbestos wire on the outer cover that caught fire. Guan Xiangshi also said that the CCTV fire on February 9 last year was also caused by asbestos in the insulation layer being ignited by fireworks.

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Sept. 21, 2020