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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55 We, too, hope that improvements in the program can be realized but, to a great extent, this will depend upon the availability of additional resources. Thank you. Mr. Preyer. Thank you very much, Dr. Rhoads, for your testimony. You mentioned the building was designed to confine a blaze to a single building. Was this building designed with the idea in mind of storing film in it? Dr. EnoADS. Yes, sir, it was. Mr. Preyer. When the building was located where it is, was it an isolated area or was it relatively populated as it is today ? Dr. Rhoads. I was not in Washington in 1949, Mr. Chairman. I suspect there wei-e some other Federal buildings on the Federal complex at Suitland at that time. A lot of the commercial and residential areas that are now, I think we would all agree, too close to our film vaults had not, as yet, been built. Mr. KiNDXEss. ]Mr. Chairman, I was in Washington at that time. That was in the countryside. [Laughter.] Mr. Preyer. You mentioned some recent tests that apparently the Navy had run on the combustibility of film. Was there anything you learned from those tests that would either back up or contradict Chief Estepp's testimony that this kind of film is like having dynamite in the neighborhood. Dr. Rhoads. There is no doubt that once this film catches on fire it behaves in a very volatile way. The tests at Indian Head, however, did demonstrate that nitrate film in good condition was very difficult to ignite. A number of tests took place. There were tests that dropped film from a height of 40 feet, both flat and on its edge. There were attempts made to start fires with electrical currents through the film cans. There were tests that put open flame underneath the film cans. There were friction tests. There was quite a panoply of tests which were performed. Tliese tests demonstrated, to my satisfaction, that film in good condition must reach a temperature of at least 240 degrees Fahrenheit before ignition takes place. Film in the vaults that burned had been inspected no earlier than 30 days before the fire. The film that we found to be decomposing had been removed. We think it is unlikely that there was any seriously degraded film in the vaults at that time. The ambient temperature, the outdoor temperature, was only about 55 degrees on that day. There had been relatively cool weather for several weeks beforehand. Mr. Preyer. So the study, you think, bolsters vour suggestion or the suggestion of tlie PBS committee that, rather than igniting spontaneously, it might have been caused accidentally ; is that right ? Dr. Rhoads. I cannot be certain anv more than I think anyone else can be certain, but I think tlie evidence suggests that it was ignited accidentally and not through spontaneous combustion. Mr. Preyer. How much nitrate film does the Archives have left to convert to safety film ? I think we all agree that is one final solution to the problem. Dr. Rhoads. Yes ; there is no question that is the only final solution. We have approximately 13 million nmning feet of nitrate motion picture film m our custody. Most of that is newsreel footage.