This report presents the research findings concerning a fire exercise the National Archives of Australia held in association with ACT Emergency Services Agency (ESA) in 2012. The purpose of the exercise was to examine questions relating to the fire protection provided by of storage materials and furniture. A range of box types, furniture types and surrogate materials were included in the exercise including documents, artworks, photographs, film, magnetic tape and discs. Among the questions being looked at were: • What box making material is best? • What style of box is best? • Is metal or wooden shelving preferable? • What type of enclosure is best for motion picture film? • What fire protection is afforded by plan drawers? What protection is afforded by filing cabinets? • What is the best framing method? Also examined was the effect of fire on various vulnerable materials, for example thermal papers and CDROM. It provides background on where and how the fires were conducted, includes before and after photos for the various questions asked and ends with a set of conclusions which could be used to help develop a set of guidelines for best practice storage for fire protection. The paper was given at the AICCM 2013 National Conference.
This short article provides an interesting addition to the basic guidelines concerning fire protection of materials stored in an archive depot. It differs from the usual best practice documents in that it concerns the result of actual experiments; the inclusion of photographs really drive the point home. It also presents some unusual conclusions regarding the dangers of compact shelving and use of wooden enclosures. Moving image and recorded sound materials are addressed as well. Recommended additional reading for those responsible for the physical security and disaster recovery of archive collections.