TM;
Your analogy is TOTALLY flawed:
1) to compare 2'-3' I-beams to a coathanger is rank foolishness.
2) Remember, there were thousands, perhaps millions of tons of weight on the steel structure.
If one were to center your"coat hanger upon a rock, then put a rock on each end of the coat hanger, the approximation would be closer,
but still very flawed. The steel structure is an interconnected, interdependent framework which is much more subject to hold longer, thus
delaying it's sudden collapse. Rather like "the straw that broke the camel's back".
3) I am however, just a blacksmith and certainly not a structural engineer, but common sense and a familiarity with properties of steel necessitate
obvious conclusions.
Have you seen the famous film of the Hindenburg burning ? It had an interdependent metal frame; albeit aluminum..but the strength/melt factor
would be similar except at a lower temperature. That craft held it's shape for some time..even fell to the ground, kept burning, and then collapsed suddenly.
I have seen barns burn in my home area, both wood, wood framed and steel framed..the final collapse is not greatly different..except for temperature.
To see the Hindenburg burning, go to
www.youtube.com/ and type in a search for < hindenburg burning >