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Fire Suppression Update



Thank you to everyone who sent information about their research into and
installation of fire control systems.  By popular demand, here are excerpts
from some of the messages that were sent to me off-list.

Joseph M. Komljenovich
Assistant Archivist
Federal Reserve Bank of New York
Joseph.Komljenovich@ny.frb.org

Any comments or statements made in this transmission reflect the views of
the sender and are not necessarily the views of the Federal Reserve Bank of
New York.

One person suggested looking at the Northeast Documentation Conservation
Center website (http://www.nedcc.org).  Under "Publications," one can find
an online version of the NEDCC's "Preservation of Library and Archival
Materials," (1999, I think) which contains sections addressing fire hazards
and the pros and cons of various suppression systems.

Another respondent reinforced the need to protect storage areas from fires.
Their institution installed a water-based sprinkler system because of
budgetary constraints.


An eyewitness account of the Inergen system:

   We just had a Inergen system installed....We had a test of the system
   and it was something to see.  It puts out quite a blast of air.  Other
   than blowing around dust and any pieces of paper that would be laying
   loose though, it does an excellent job as far as we can tell.  We were
   able to return to the area about 15 minutes after the test.  We breathed
   a little fast for a while, but we lived.  Also we held a lighter and
   then a lit piece of paper up to the door to the Archives before we
   entered after the test and the Ingergen snuffed it out immediately.

   This is an expensive system, but it doesn't do harm to people, the
   environment, or collections.


Finally, from someone with extensive knowledge of gas-based systems:

   ...FE-13. This was required to have a special vent to get the gas out of
   the building if it was ever dumped. Other than that it seemed a good
   system. Inergen requires a 50% concentration which requires very large
   tanks. It  also requires special vents to allow 50% of the air in the
   room or vault to be vented out as the gas explodes into the room. Most
   do not like big tanks, pipes coming through the wall and the fact that
   special vents must be used which could fail in a fire.

   FM-200 is the dominating gas in the market as it is very environmentally
   friendly with a short half life. It also requires only a 7%
   concentration so the small tank required can be located right in the
   vault. This gas is also the most competitive in price. Great Lakes
   Chemical who invented it set up three dealers in each market so pricing
   is always considerably less than Intergen. FM-200 is used within Asthma
   Inhalers so you know it is safe to breath.

   Halon is seldom used outside of government projects because of the
   Montreal Accord which bans its sale for new installations. You would
   have to buy the gas from banked supplies and there is a huge tax to make
   it less attractive to you.

   I would suggest you pursue FM-200 if it is a vault environment.

   As for Water Misting, it depends on the type of records you are storing.
   Most people with microfilm and computer media do not want to use it.

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