iReporters at Beijing's "towering inferno"

Almost exactly one year ago I was in Beijing on vacation. It is one of the most electric and exciting places I have ever been. I've never been anywhere else in the world where science fiction and ancient history come together like they do in China. That juxtaposition is exactly what led to some of the most spectacular video in "News To Me" this weekend.

During my visit the Chinese were celebrating the beginning of the year of the Rat, and from our high rise hotel room my partner and I could see fireworks going off all over the city. Not "official" displays, just happy Beijingers setting off high powered pyrotechnics on their own, in the streets, in front of their apartment buildings. Explosion after explosion echoed off the concrete and glass walls of the buildings all around us. Beijing's notoriously hazy air seemed to amplify the light so that each explosion lit up the entire city. Underneath it all, the constant crackle of firecrackers. This went on all night. It was joyous and we loved it, but I couldn't help but wonder, "Is this safe?"

"The Chinese INVENTED fireworks and they've been using them to celebrate happy occasions for millennia, they know what they're doing," I reassured myself. "You are just being a typical overcautious American."

One of the highlights of my trip was seeing the massive construction site where the two buildings that will soon house the government run China Central Television Network are being built. The complex includes the gravity defying, Möbius strip of a skyscraper that some have dubbed "The Big Pants" and second structure that they call "The Boot". Together these two Blade Runner-esque towers equal an investment of over $700 million!

Fast forward 12 months...

It's still not completely clear why or how, but earlier this week on the final night of celebrations to ring in the new year of the Ox, some China Central Television employees took advantage of the fact that neither "the big pants" nor "the boot" is occupied yet and set off what are being officially described as "firecrackers" between the two buildings. Those "firecrackers" somehow started a massive blaze that completely engulfed "the boot" in flames. iReporter Fred Rice called it a "Towering Inferno."

Incredibly, given the restricted nature of information coming from inside China, the spirit of citizen journalism filled the crowds who gathered to watch the blaze. Reports of a massive fire in the Central Business District started POURING into iReport.com. Henry Hanks and other iReport producers began to send out emails to HLN and CNN staffers containing links to the incredible pictures and video. I was shocked at how easily information was flowing from a country that is notoriously tight lipped when it comes to disseminating bad news. In fact, as it turns out, iReporters provided coverage of the fire even before some Chinese news outlets did!

Big thanks to ireporters Fred Rice, James Marks, Ant Yeung, Chad Moore, Ray Ally and everyone else who sent in pics and video from the scene.

Catch "News To Me" tonight on HLN to see their work on the air!