Thousands of people who worked at the fire-ravaged First Interstate Bank tower have moved to temporary quarters in a generally trouble-free transition. Some of the new space even was provided by competing financial institutions. ``Our fiercest competitors have been very nice in this crisis,'' said Bob Campbell, a spokesman for First Interstate. The three-hour, 43-minute blaze a week ago gutted 4{ floors in the 62-story tower, the tallest building in California, and caused one death and 40 injuries. An 12th-floor electrical problem was the suspected cause. It will take six to 10 weeks to reopen floors of the vacated 1 million square-foot building that were damaged by smoke and water, officials said. Mal Lumby, a spokesman for First Interstate, said there are no firm estimates yet on how long it will take to repair the burned floors. ``It could be as long as a year. It's all speculation at this point. The analysis of the metal (structural beams) has not yet been done,'' Lumby said. Most of First Interstate's 2,000 bank and holding company employees have been working in their new locations since Friday. About 900 report daily to the bank's emergency operations center several blocks from the burned building. The center, described by Campbell as ``the operations hub of the bank'' is where employees handle check clearings, statements and securities operations. ``Customer service didn't miss a beat,'' said another bank spokesman, John Popovich. Several hundred other people moved to vacant space in nearby buildings; about 800 are on call at home enjoying a paid vacation. ``No one is being laid off,'' Campbell said, adding that First Interstate hoped to have space next week for all employees. Bank of America and Security Pacific National Bank helped out the competition in the emergency. Bank of America provided sub-leased office space at downtown for three of the 10 banks operating out of the First Interstate tower. Corporate officers of First Interstate and their clerical staffs moved into a 23,700 square-foot area of the 10th floor of the Bank of America headquarters, said Bank of America spokesman Tom Chapman. Hanil Bank of Korea moved its employes into 4,800 square feet of space, he said, and Commerzbank of Germany workers moved into a 3,800-square-foot area on the 47th floor of the Bank of America headquarters. Popovich credited the bank's emergency plan and satellite headquarters, a $1.5 million contingency facility, for keeping the bank in operation. ``Of course, we expected an earthquake, but it was nice to have it (the plan) handy,'' he said. First Interstate owns the bank tower in partnership with Equitable Life Assurance Society. Equitable's real estate subsidiary, Equitable Real Estate in New York, manages the building. There also were 30 other tenants, mostly legal firms employing about 1,400 people, with operations in the now-closed tower. Many attorneys have taken refuge in nearby legal offices. ``There has been great community generosity here and reaching out,'' Equitable's Jonathan Miller said Wednesday from New York. Suitcase- and box-toting employees, accompanied by security officers, have been making a daily pilgrimage to the fire-scarred tower to pick up crucial files, computer disks and other items such as telephone lists.
