The NIST released a report on the cause of the collapse of the WTC7. Drum roll please. It collapsed into a heap of molten steel because fire burned on a number of the floors. Thank the lord we have an answer. Until now, I have been frightened to go into skyscrapers. My daughter lives in one, too. Now I can rest assured that she and all other occupants of high rise buildings are safe, as long as any fires aren't allowed to burn for over a few hours.
According to the AP, "Scientists with the National Instute of Standards and Technology say their three year investigation of the collapse determined that the demise of WTC7 was actually the first time in the world a fire caused the total failure of a modern skyscaper".
And they do mean TOTAL FAILURE. An internal column, one of over 80 such columns, failed, and this lead to a chain reaction that lead to every column to fail and likewise for every cross beam and all connections between them to likewise fail. Lets see, at least 80 columns multiplied by at least 40 floors. That is over 3,200 connections between columns and cross beams that failed in perfect "chain reaction". Talk about a perfect storm of failure.
But don't worry, this isn't just the first time such a total failure occurred due to fire, it's also the last. Why? Who the fuck knows, it is not my job to question the Universe. I am just thankful to both God and the scientists at NIST for allowing me to sleep soundly once again.