We use Optical Character Recognition (OCR) during our scanning and processing workflow to make the content of each page searchable. You can view the automatically generated text below as well as copy and paste individual pieces of text to quote in your own work.
Text recognition is never 100% accurate. Many parts of the scanned page may not be reflected in the OCR text output, including: images, page layout, certain fonts or handwriting.
28
Mr. EsTEPP. That would be hard for me to estimate. Depending on how much was involved and what occurred, we could expect these toxic gases to travel several hundred feet without any question.
There are incidents on record involving this type ot material where people as far as 300 feet away from a fire or explosion were seriously burned. I think that is an indication that certainly 150 or 200 feet of clearance is not sufficient for a facility operating on a daily basis when there have been incidents of people injured as far away as 300 feet.
Mr. Preyer. Did you evacuate any of the residents during this fire?
Mr. EsTEPP. Yes, sir. We evacuated over 100 families and businesses in the immediate vicinity of the three bunkers.
The wind was traveling in that direction, as you can see from the photos. Directly across Suitland Road from the bunkers, there is a populated areas.
We thought it best at that time to evacuate those areas.
Mr. Preyer. Assuming that you had a deluge sprinkler system, and that the doors were insulated and everything was properly done, are you saying to us that even under optimal conditions nitrate film is so unstable and so dangerous that it should not be located in an area where there is heavy population ?
Mr. EsTEPP. I think that is a fair statement ; yes, sir, Mr. Chairman.
Mr. Preyer. So what you are saying, really, and your basic answer is to transfer all nitrate film into safety film ; is that correct ?
Mr. EsTEPP. Yes ; and do it away from Suitland, not store those materials there. [Laughter.]
I would follow up that remark, Mr. Chairman, by asking if you would like to have several cases of dynamite stored in your neighborhood. That same comparison could perhaps be made even if it were in nice concrete vaults. I do not think I would want it.
Mr. Preyer. I recognize Mr. Ingram.
Mr. Ingram. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Chief, you propose the theory that the fire was started by self-ignition of the flammable nitrate brought on by a breakdown in the air-conditioning system.
Are you able to prove this theory to the exclusion of all others ?
Mr. EsTEPP. No ; I do not think we can. I think it would be purely speculative for me to say that we could do that. We feel that cause to be where the facts point the most.
Mr. Ingram. Could a cigarette have started the fire ?
Mr. EsTEPP. It is possible, but again, conditions do not indicate that. In vault 10, presuming that we are talking about where people were working, and if somebody opened the door and dropped a cigarette into one of the vaults, I guess that could be possible.
But if we are concentrating on the areas that workmen were known to have been in, I think conditions would have been different had a cigarette been dropped into these materials.
Mr. Ingram. You speculate that the fire may have started in vault 8. Was the door to that vault open or closed ?
Mr. EsTEPP. We do not know. When Mi's. Ward looked down the corridor, she was about 50 feet away from the area that was involved. She said that her view was blocked by opened vault doors.