lding to assess the damage. On the first floor, the 240-foot main distribution frame was reduced to a melted puddle of iron. Water had ruined the power equipment in the basement. Four panel-switching offices on the lower floors were completely destroyed. Cable distribution ducts between floors were deformed and useless. Carrier equipment on the second floor was destroyed. Switching hardware on the fourth, fifth, and sixth floors were smoke and water damaged and would require mas- sive restoration and cleaning before they could be used. And 170,000 tele- phones were out of service. Within an hour of discovering the fire, the Bell System mobilized its forces in a massive effort to restore service to the affected area. New York Telephone, AT&T Long Lines, Western Electric (now Lucent), and Bell Laboratories converged on the building and commandeered a vacant storefront across the street to serve as their base of operations. Lee Oberst, New York City Area Vice-President, coordinated the nascent effort that would last just under a month and cost more than $90 million. The Bell System-and it really was a system-immediately commis- sioned a host of parallel efforts to restore the central office. Calling upon the organization's widespread resources, Chairman of the Board John deButts put out an urgent demand for personnel, and within hours 4,000 employees from across the globe descended upon New York City and began to work 12-hour shifts, with 2,000 employees in the building on each shift. Meanwhile, other efforts were underway. Central office engi- neers reviewed the original drawings of the building's complex network to determine what they would need in the way of new equipment to restore service. All other Bell Operating Companies (BOCs) were placed on indefinite equipment holds pending the restoration of the New York office. Nassau Recycle Corporation, a Western Electric subsidiary, moved in to begin the removal and recycling process of the 6,000 tons of debris that came out of the building, much of it toxic. Mobile 