Reply #2: fire doesn't get hot enough, thermite burns at 2000c (3600F) [View All]

[rman]

Some people think the fires in the WTC were particularly hot because of the jet fuel - but fuel is essentially carbon and burns at a temperature comparable to wood and paper. The color of any material (including burning gas aka "fire") is directly proportional to its temperature regardless of the fuel; red = ~600c.
NIST concludes that at no time did any of the steel of the WTC get any hotter than 600c.
http://911research.wtc7.net/papers/legge/PancakeTheoryFalseByNIST15.pdf

Thermite otoh cuts through steel like a warm knife through butter.