It was a Saturday night in late June 1967. Robert Sang was on his balcony on the 59th floor, using a small barbecue grill, when a spark from the grill landed on a one-gallon can of starter fluid.

The can exploded, setting on fire several pieces of patio furniture. This attracted about 50 fire fighters to Marina City, but many of them had to climb 19 flights of stairs because frightened residents were using the elevators.

Fire fighters had trouble finding the fire because it had been erroneously reported on as many as four floors in addition to the 59th.