Toygeek

Kingpin
I actually thought that, myself. By all rights, and a very basic idea of structual engineering, the Firehouse should've collapsed from damaged foundations.

Not necessarily. All “containment units” (cells, cages, whatever you want to call them) have one side that opens, and five that don't. It's entirely possible that the “laser containment grid” was just what kept them from going out the in door, as it were. Kinda like those mouse traps where the floor tips over when the mouse enters so it can't get out. When the grid was shut off, it was like someone threw the door open, and all the ghosts ran out at once. They exploded outward, but all in the same direction, because THAT'S where the opening was. Now why they went straight up afterwards is beyond me…but it IS a movie, after all. As for the structural intregrity, it seems to me that in a firehouse, where most of the bottom floor is open garage space, going straight up through the center isn't such a big deal, as there isn't much in the way of support structure in the way. It would probably put a wicked big hole in the floor, but as long as it shot straight through and didn't buckle the floor itself, the rest of the building should remain intact. (buildings with open area at the base often take their support from playing the sides off of the middle…as long as the sides are intact to brace off each other. I'm no architect, so I can't really explain it very well…sorry)

The explosion that went upward was still wide enough to take out that whole tiny basement they had and a lil more around it to. Also, just with the thought of how old that firehouse is.. I would think that an explosion like that would've completely demolished it if it weren't a movie. And like said already, ‘it had serious metel fatigue in all the load bearing members’… I doubt they had the money or means to fix that when they bought it.

Dont you remember the walls blowing out in the first movie when the containment unit was shut down? The glowing? I'm guessing there was more behind that wall than just cement. Plus, we never did get to see any more angles of the basement than just the few that showed the containment unit and the switch Seriously though, I think we think about these things WAY too much, lol.

-Mike D

Mike D
Dont you remember the walls blowing out in the first movie when the containment unit was shut down? The glowing? I'm guessing there was more behind that wall than just cement. Plus, we never did get to see any more angles of the basement than just the few that showed the containment unit and the switch Seriously though, I think we think about these things WAY too much, lol.

-Mike D

I guess the ‘glowing’ could mean their was more behind the wall… but i don't figure their was much more. As for the size of the basement we did see in the movie.. Eventhough we didn't get to see the angle of the basement where the cameras were, I bet that's where the wall would've been anyway. I also believe that the basement area wasn't that far below the garage level, and it wasn't a very tall basement either, so it didn't extend very far underneath the garage… This would back my theory that the explosion shouldv'e destroyed the HQ by removing it's foundation. “reiterates the serious metal fatigue and the age of the firehouse”

LOL, why shouldn't we think about this too much? A lot of other things have been thought about way too much on this board.

The GB1 ECU is like this;

The wall unit (input center) is processing for new arrivals, the trap goes into the unit, is inserted into the mechanism and the ghost is flushed into the output system. Behind the wall is the “cell”, which is the rest of the basement that's been rebuilt into a high voltage laser containment grid. This area is just like any other room, but running in a continous pattern around the room is the grid (think of it as a constant proton stream), which keeps the spooks inside at bay. Turn off the grid, the spooks discover they're free and get out as fast as they can, spectral energy tears the hell out of the fire house but doesn't entirely gut it like Citizen Ghost would suggest, and bingo bango, building is left intact and basement is in need of remodeling.

Who knows, maybe sebastien and co will go with Aykroyd's idea that after purchasing the fire house they discover there's an unfinished transit tube near their basement and use that to their advantage.

SoulWrangler
The GB1 ECU is like this;

The wall unit (input center) is processing for new arrivals, the trap goes into the unit, is inserted into the mechanism and the ghost is flushed into the output system. Behind the wall is the “cell”, which is the rest of the basement that's been rebuilt into a high voltage laser containment grid. This area is just like any other room, but running in a continous pattern around the room is the grid (think of it as a constant proton stream), which keeps the spooks inside at bay. Turn off the grid, the spooks discover they're free and get out as fast as they can, spectral energy tears the hell out of the fire house but doesn't entirely gut it like Citizen Ghost would suggest, and bingo bango, building is left intact and basement is in need of remodeling.

Who knows, maybe sebastien and co will go with Aykroyd's idea that after purchasing the fire house they discover there's an unfinished transit tube near their basement and use that to their advantage.

In GBI, they said that turning off the grid would be like dropping a bomb on the city.. To me, that sounds a little different than the ghosts realizing they can escape because the laser in their room disappeared. They would then just start running out through the walls.

Assuming that the holding cell is behind the wall.. Does it go any lower than the room we do see with the ‘input’ mechanism? Cuz the basements in RGB, EGB and Legion are very deep underground. This would suggest the crater idea.. but of course the HQ would just collapse if it were a crater..

Whats this about an unfinished transit tube? I don't remember ever hearing anything about that in GBI, GBII or any of the cartoons or comics.

I don't know about you guys, but my basement has the same amount of floor space as the other two floors in my house… so just going by that, I'm still in support of my (and other's who agree'd with it) idea about the wall going up. And the energy going up is seen clearly NOT touching any corner or wall of the building, the building didn't collapse or even part of it when the explosion happened. Plus, we SEE the wall itself being destroyed, so that also supports my theory. But that's all it truly is… a theory. (*egon)

I like that Theory it makes sence, Good theory (^_^)

Ah, ya see, I guess i'm kinda basing my thoughts on my basement as well.. Where it is much much shorter than the living space of my home and isn't as deep either.. Meaning, it doesn't cover as much ground as the rest of the house.

I think the simplest explanation would be that when the ECU blew up in the 1st movie and when they went back to repair the firehouse they opted to rebuild the basement bigger then it was(the explosion probably left a huge crater anyway) so that they could build a bigger better ECU.

Ghostbuster626
I think the simplest explanation would be that when the ECU blew up in the 1st movie and when they went back to repair the firehouse they opted to rebuild the basement bigger then it was(the explosion probably left a huge crater anyway) so that they could build a bigger better ECU.

Well, that is part of the argument. Please refer to earlier posts in this thread. It is my believe that the hq should've collapsed after the explosion.. Since that would've rendered the building weak from a damaged foundation.