National Archives and Records Service film-vault fire at Suitland, Md. : hearings before a subcommittee of the Committee on Government Operations, House of Representatives, Ninety-sixth Congress, first session, June 19 and 21, 1979 (1979)

Record Details:

Title:
National Archives and Records Service film-vault fire at Suitland, Md. : hearings before a subcommittee of the Committee on Government Operations, House of Representatives, Ninety-sixth Congress, first session, June 19 and 21, 1979
Date:
1979
Publisher:
Washington : U.S. Govt. Print. Off.
Volume:
National Archives and Records Service film-vault fire at Suitland, Md. : hearings before a subcommittee of the Committee on Government Operations, House of Representatives, Ninety-sixth Congress, first session, June 19 and 21, 1979
Leaf #:
000152
Language:
English
Subjects:
Washington National Records Center. Building A, Motion picture film collections
Collection:
Books and Government & Law
Format:
Books
Contributor:
Prelinger Library
Sponsor:
Internet Archive
Coordinator:
Media History Digital Library
Description:
Date Added:
July 19, 2022
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144 We are not convinced that the cause of the fire will ever be determined with complete certainty. My most immediate concern today, however, is to ens\ire that steps are taken to reduce the likelihood of another such occurrence. Mr. Rhoads has already detailed the numerous steps the National Archives staff are taking to accelerate conversion of the nitrate film. This accelerated program will in turn allow us to revise and expedite our repairs and alterations to the buildings. First, we are now working with National Archives staff to evaluate the possibility of converting Building A into a film laboratory. This would allow them to ranove all nitrate film processing activities from the National Archives buildings. Immediate improvements will be made in each building where appropriate. The first of these will be the introduction of standby compressors to augijment the existing cooling systems in Buildings A and C. The contract to replace the cooling systems in these buildings is being cancelled; the new cooling systems will not be required, as all nitrate film is expected to be removed from the buildings in two to five years. Also, individual control valves are being provided for the existing vault sprinklers so they may provide high-speed operation. Other improvements recommended by the Ad Hoc Committee investigating the fire are being re-evaluated. These include: installation of an emergency generator, an autonlatic vault temperature monitoring system, and a gas detector system to monitor nitrate film decoii5)osition products. The exact nature of the improvements made will depend on the expected future use of Buildings A and C, and the intentions of the Library of Congress with regard to the continued storage of nitrate film in Building B. Mr. Chairman, this concludes my prepared statement. I will be happy to answer any questions you may have.