The Central Library Fire 40 Years Later

As we spend the year commemorating the centennial of Central Library, it's also necessary to acknowledge a less celebratory, but still important milestone—the 40th anniversary of the 1986 Central Library Fire. The blaze, which ignited shortly before 11 a.m. on April 29, took over seven hours to extinguish and claimed roughly 400,000 books due to fire, smoke, or water damage. The tragic event is often seen as the catalyst for renovating and expanding Central's footprint, but the truth is that the Library had already contracted with Hardy Holzman Pfeiffer Associates for the remodel. In fact, when the fire broke out, lead architect Noman Pfeiffer was at Central Library meeting with Betty Gay Teoman, Director of Central Library Services, about the project. Even though the design plans were well underway in 1986, when the "new" Central Library opened on October 3, 1993, it did seem like a Phoenix rising from the ashes of that dark April day.

For Central 100, we've been taking a deep dive into the Los Angeles Public Library photo collection for undigitized Central Library photos. One set we recently uploaded to Tessa is the collection of images taken by photographers for the Los Angeles Herald Examiner on that tragic day. Michael Haering, Leo Jarzomb, and Javier Mendoza were dispatched to cover the unfolding events on the ground while Chris Gulker captured a bird's-eye view from a helicopter. In the days and months that followed, Herald Examiner photographers continued to cover the cleanup and recovery, along with two additional fires. The images may document an unfathomably traumatic event, but also help remind us of the resiliency of Central Library and its staff, and how lucky we are to be celebrating a Century of the Light of Learning.