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)

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187 Mr. Preyer. I certainly want to commend the Library of Congress for the work you are doing in film and film preservation. I think our ancestors will rise up to call you blessed for that. We want to make sure we keep them preserved and do not have a big bonfire of them some day by accident. We have a vote on right now. Mr. Kindness? Mr. Kindness. Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman. I really do not have any far-reaching questions to ask today. I had an opportunity to go over your testimony yesterday evening. But I wonder, with respect to the Wright-Patterson Air Force Base location— I have been there a number of times, but I am not familiar with the location on the base of those storage vaults. Are they in a rather remote location ? Mr. CuRRAN. Since you have been to the base and, not sui-prisingly, I have been there recently, too — and I was stationed there as a matter of fact — it is area B, the old Wright Field side where the museum is. It is the industrial side of the field. The old Wright Field is now closed, and they have static aircraft exhibits. It is up the hill from the flight line. The main activities on the base are in areas A and C across the highway. So, it is the industrial side where they do stress testing and have various other kinds of lab facilities and operations. I am not an expert on the type of construction of that building, but that is its general location. The vaults are similar to those here, but, as I think has been pointed out, there are several features about the vaults which are different and represent an improvement on the vaults in Suitland. First of all, they are double-door vaults, and there is a mechanism — a fuse link which would melt, for example, causing a mechanical weight to drop and close the door automatically. On the other end, where the blowout panel is, the blowout is in to a concrete silo. The exhaust would go up like in a chimney. There is a grate over the top of it so that, if there were exploding cans, they presumably would drop back down into the empty silo. Those vaults have more of the features of California A^aults that were described earlier by a previous witness. Mr. Kindness. They are newer in construction ? Mr. CuRRAN. I am not sure of that. I simply do not know how new they are. Of course, they were designed and built for nitrate film that the Air Force had there, and they have since completed whatever nitrate work they had and emptied the vaults and now allow the Library of Congress to use the facility. Mr. Kindness. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr, Preyer. Thank you. There is a vote on. We would like to recess foi about 10 minutes. If you could remain, I think there will be a few more questions. We will try not to keep you waiting too long. Mr. CuRRAN. We will be here. Mr. Preyer. The subcommittee stands in recess for 10 minutes. r Recess taken.] Mr. Preyer. The subcommittee will come to order. I would like to ask Mr. Bamow first^ — or perhaps some of the others of you would have comments on it, too. George Stevens testified