Help! It's on Fire! Trivia Quiz

Answer: Steve McQueen

The fictional Glass Tower, as the building is known, is the tallest building in the world. It is magnificent in design but it was poorly constructed. When a fire breaks out on the 81st floor it threatens the lives of a host of people including a large party commemorating its opening on the top floor. The San Francisco Fire Department is overworked and ill-equipped to deal with this disaster and Chief Michael O'Halloran (Steve McQueen) must work closely with the Tower's designer (Paul Newman) to save the day.

"The Towering Inferno" was the highest grossing film of 1974, received eight Academy Award nominations (including Best Picture), and was the first occasion that two major Hollywood studios (20th Century Fox and Warner Bros.) co-produced a motion picture.

This question was created by Phoenix Rising team member pollucci19.

Answer: Cyrano de Bergerac

The movie is more about love than fire, but although most of the part-time firemen of the team are comically incompetent, they do manage to rise to the occasion when C.D. Bales (Steve Martin), with his Cyrano de Bergerac trademark nose, sniffs out a fire in town and the crew save the day.

This question was created by Phoenix Rising member smpdit.

Answer: An Ex-WWII Bomber plane

One of Steven Spielberg's lesser known movies starring Richard Dreyfuss, Holly Hunter and a Douglas A-26 Invader fire bomber, "Always" (1989) was a romantic comedy and a remake of the 1943 romantic drama "A Guy Named Joe". Both Spielberg and Dreyfuss were inspired by this older movie when they were younger, and when they were both on the set of "Jaws" (1974) they traded quotes from the movie and made a pact to re-make the movie. "Always" was also notable as it was Audrey Hepburn's last movie.

This question was created by Phoenix Rising member 1nn1.

Answer: Fires Were Started (1943)

"Fires Were Started" was directed by Humphrey Jennings. Actual firemen were cast in the movie instead of professional actors. The film is about a man who is recruited as a firefighter in World War II London and it focuses on his interaction with his fellow firefighters and their mission to save a burning building. The film was critically acclaimed for its authenticity.

"Heroes of the Flames", directed by Robert F. Hill, is about a firefighter who develops a novel type of fire extinguisher.
"A Dangerous Summer", directed by Quentin Masters, investigates whether a hotel fire was deliberate or an accident.
"Under Fire", directed by Roger Spottiswoode, is set in the late 1970s during the end of the Somoza regime in Nicaragua.

This question was written by Phoenix Rising team member purelyqing.

Answer: Volcano

Okay, let's get the possible disconcertion out of the way early. Yes, Mike Roark (Tommy Lee Jones) is not "technically" a firefighter in this film but he is the head of the Los Angeles County Office of Emergency Management which trumps a firefighter and indicates he must have some idea of what to do in the event of a fire. An earthquake hits Los Angeles and triggers the formation of an underground volcano that starts to rise out of the La Brea Tar Pits. It sends streams of lava flowing freely down Wilshire Boulevard, setting fire to everything in its path. Roark and his crew desperately seek ways to divert the flow and avoid further loss of lives and property.

The film received mixed reviews and suffered at the box office, though this could be attributed in part to the release of a similar movie, "Dante's Peak", two months prior.

This question was created by Phoenix Rising member pollucci19.

Answer: Richard Widmark

Smokejumpers are firefighters that parachute into a forest fire to extinguish it. This movie is based on the 1949 Mann Gulch forest fire in Montana.
Richard Widmark was nominated for an Academy Award as Tommy Udo in his debut movie, "Kiss of Death" (1947). Best known for his role in Westerns, he had a renaissance in the 70s playing villainous roles.
All the other actors listed above starred in "Murder on the Orient Express" (1974).

This question was created by Phoenix Rising member 1nn1.

Answer: Ladder 49

Joaquin Phoenix plays fictional Baltimore firefighter Jack Morrison, a search and rescue member on Ladder Company 49. The main action centers around Jack being trapped inside a warehouse fire while his Chief (played by John Travolta) attempts to stage a rescue. Meanwhile, we get to know more about Jack and the firefighter lifestyle through a series of flashbacks. But it's not just a movie about fires and heroics with some biographical back story. The characters and their stories are layered and complex and real and really lend some humanity to the picture. According to film critic Roger Ebert, "It's about character, and about the kind of man who risks his life for a living. And it's about work, about what kind of a job it is to be a fireman."

This question was written by Phoenix Rising team member JCSon.

Answer: 451 °F is the temperature at which paper catches fire and burns.

Guy Montag (Oskar Werner) is a fireman who is employed to find and burn any books that have been outlawed by the government to prevent independent thinking. He meets a girl (Clarisse played by Julie Christie) who secretly reads books and he is intrigued by the ideas and ideals that she has. He begins to secretly read the confiscated books and starts to question the reasons behind the government's book burning policies.

This question was created by Phoenix Rising member smpdit.

Answer: Chicago

"Backdraft" was directed by Ron Howard and follows the action of Engine 17, a firefighting squad, in the Chicago Fire Department. Brothers Stephen (Kurt Russell) and Brian McCaffrey (William Baldwin) are firefighters who come from a tradition of firefighting. Their firefighter father died on the job when they were young. The movie tells their story as they face an arsonist who sets fires in the city. At the time of its release, the movie was the highest grossing movie about firefighters.

The Great Chicago Fire occurred in 1871 and started on October 8 and was not extinguished until October 10. Nine square kilometres (3.3 square miles) were destroyed leaving 100,000 residents homeless. According to legend the fire was started by Mrs. O'Leary's cow. The Great Fire of Rome happened under Nero in 64 AD. The Great Fire of London happened in London 1666. In 1906 an earthquake in San Francisco caused a city-wide fire.

This question was created by Phoenix Rising member tazman6619.

Answer: I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry

Larry Valentine's (Kevin James) wife has passed away and, knowing that he has a dangerous job as a firefighter, Larry endeavours to protect his children's future by making them the beneficiaries of his life insurance policy. When he discovers that he is unable to do this he contemplates leaving his job but that puts the safety net that is his pension at risk. He's in a real bind. That is until he saves the life of his best friend, Chuck Levine (Adam Sandler), while on a job and Chuck gratefully acknowledges that he owes Larry one and Larry suddenly sees the solution to his problem. Larry convinces Chuck to form a domestic partnership, on paper only, and calls him to move in with him. However, things start to unravel when Larry senses that the Pension Department is onto them and starts an investigation.

This question was created by Phoenix Rising member pollucci19.