Shelf 813
Cases unlock in order, like levels. This is case 153 of 200.
Los Angeles, Tuesday, April 29, 1986, 8 pm. Across Fifth Street, the Central Library is still smoking from its tall windows. The fire started at 10:52 am and was not brought under control until 6:30 pm.
About 400,000 books turned to ash in the closed stacks, a maze of windowless iron shelving. The alarm went off on level 3, at shelf 813, American fiction.
The fire investigator found the level 3 fire door held open with tape. Nobody forgets a door like that. Next Monday, the inventory of every shelf would have begun, ahead of the renovation move.
Three people were in the building when the alarm sounded. One of them knows why the fire started right there.
Fire command post in a Los Angeles hotel, 1986, facing the smoking library across the street.
Suspects
Ellsworth BrightmanHead of the rare books section at the Central Library, 58
Dusty CalhounUnemployed actor and waiter, reading room regular, 31
Rosalba QuiñonesGuard at the staff entrance and the basement vault, 44
The real case
The Los Angeles Central Library fire
Los Angeles, United States, 1986
Read the real case