In response to comments from the building community, NIST conducted an additional computer analysis. The goal was to see if the loss of WTC 7s Column 79the structural component identified as the one whose failure on 9/11 started the progressive collapsewould still have led to a complete loss of the building if fire or damage from the falling debris of the nearby WTC 1 tower were not factors. The investigation team concluded that the columns failure under any circumstance would have initiated the destructive sequence of events
NIST Tech Beat - November 20, 2008
Even without the structural damage, WTC 7 would have collapsed from the fires that the debris initiated.