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Mr. Preyer. The subcommittee will now stand in recess until 2:15 this afternoon.
[Whereupon, at 12 :50 a.m., the subcommittee recessed, to reconvene at 2 :15 the same day.]
AFTERNOON SESSION
Mr. Preyer. The subcommittee will come to order.
I am sorry about the delay. We had two Panama Canal votes together there.
Our next witness is Mr. John G. Degenkolb, a fire safety engineer who has been a consultant to motion picture studios on the subject of storing film. Mr. Degenkolb has agreed to testify as an outside expert for the subcommittee.
Mr. Degenkolb, would you be sworn, please ^
Do you solemnly swear that the testimony you will give this subcommittee will be the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, so help you, God ?
Mr. Degenkolb. I do.
Mr. Preyer. Thank you.
STATEMENT OF JOHN G. DEGENKOLB, EIRE SAFETY ENGINEER, LOS ANGELES, CALIF.
Mr. Degenkolb. Mr. Chairman, I would like to comment on various points that were shown in the GSA report.
First, site inspections such as were made in the period of October 23 to 27 are, in my opinion, totally inadequate. They w^ere doing over 5 million feet per day. The condition of a roll of film cannot be determined without the use of a hand rewind. When the can of film is removed from its slot in the storage rack and the lid is removed, a glance on the surface of the film will not let the observer know what is occurring at the middle of the film where it is tightly wound on the spool.
The correct inspection method is to use a rewind and check every foot of the film.
Second, while one report referred to the construction of the vault as being of cinder block, it seems to have actually been of 8-inch thick concrete block. If there were cracks or holes in the blocks, the inside of the outside walls should have been plastered.
Third, it is apparent that storage racks extended to the ceiling. There should have been an absolute minimum of 12 inches between the top of the storage and the sprmkler heads. The lowering of the sprinkler lines will leave additional shelving unprotected.
Further, the storage of films in the aisle to a height of ?> oi 4 feet renders the sprinkler system more ineffective.
Fourth, the metal shelving does not meet the requirements because it is not insulating in nature.
The use of asbestos boards blowout panels requires 85 pounds pressure to vent and is in violation of venting requirements of the National Fire Protection Association's standards. So, the explosion vents could certainly not serve as decomposition vents. As a result, the decomposition products had nowhere to go, except to remain in the vault.
A single strength glass not exceedins: one-sixteenth of an inch in thickness and not caulked Avould have allowed decomposition gases to