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Update on fire at NARA's Washington National Records Center



On Tuesday, February 29, 2000, fire destroyed some records stored at the Washington National Records Center, the Suitland, Maryland, facility run by the National Archives and Records Administration. There were no reports of injury to staff or visitors, and efforts to recover damaged records began even before the fire was completely extinguished by the Prince George's County Fire Department.

Of the 3.7 million cubic feet of records at the Suitland location, only about 3,000 cubic feet were water-damaged, and less than 300 cubic feet were damaged or destroyed by fire. Agencies whose records were affected have been notified. Most of the damaged or destroyed records were from the Department of Veterans Affairs and involved benefit claim case files of deceased veterans from the Spanish-American War through the Korean War. Other files affected were those from the Patent and Trademark Office (primarily patent drawings); the District of Columbia government (corrections files), the Bureau of Indian Affairs (tribal accounting records), and the Department of Labor's hour and wage division.

It may be some time, even months, before it is known exactly which files were lost or damaged. In some cases, the ends of boxes were burned off and the contents spilled on to the floor, and in other cases firefighters had to empty boxes to completely extinguish the fire. Now, each piece of paper must be identified and the records of each agency reconstructed by file and box.  

NARA has focused its efforts on saving as many of the damaged records as possible. Warm, dry air is being pumped into the area of the fire, Stack 15, to lower the humidity level and dry out all the boxes so that an inventory of the damage can be taken.  Severely water-damaged records are being frozen in specially built tractor-trailer trucks provided by private vendors. The freezing will prevent mold and mildew growth until they can be treated and dried. NARA personnel have been working long hours to speed recovery efforts and will be on the scene all weekend. Conservation and preservation specialists from NARA's main records storage facility in College Park, Maryland, have been dispatched to Suitland to oversee this aspect of the recovery efforts.

The cause of the fire is as yet undetermined. Sprinkler alarms were activated at 2:30 p.m., and the first fire company arrived between 2:45 and 2:50. By 8:13 p.m., firefighters on the scene believed the fire was extinguished enough to allow the investigation to begin in the stack. Because the property is Federal, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms as well as the General Services Administration are investigating. NARA leases the building from GSA. The Prince George's County Fire Department is also investigating.

Reference operations at the Suitland facility have returned to essentially normal conditions, and the research room has resumed normal operations.  

For more information, please contact the NARA Public Affairs Staff at 301-713-6000.

Posted by
Lori Lisowski
Policy and Planning Staff
NARA

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