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 |
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Accident and Fire agencies alarm American Film Institute Archives and Records Archives building audiovisual automatic sprinkler cellulose nitrate Chairman construction contract contractor converted copy corridor County Fire Department decomposition DEGENKOLB deluge system deterioration Dirty projector drill employees ESTEPP facility feet of nitrate film storage film vaults fire doors Fire Prevention Branch fire protection fire safety firefighters footage Freon GALUARDI Georges County Fire Government HAWKINS hazard heat humidity HUTCHENS ignition INGRAM inspection installed KINDNESS Lansburgh's Library of Congress located material million feet MORR motion picture film NARS National Archives NFPA 40 nitrate film operation outtakes preservation PREYER Prince Georges County Public Buildings Service question Records Center Records Service reel RHOADS Richardson Preyer safety film sprinkler heads sprinkler system standard statement stored subcommittee Suitland temperature Thank tion unit Universal Newsreel Universal Pictures valve vault building vault doors
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Page 79 - ... warning detection system shall be entirely separate in its wiring and controls from any other system. Provision shall be made, however, for an appropriate transmitter (or other device) to transmit the signal across the building fire alarm system, indicating detection. Depending on the arrangement and lay of the building, multiple transmitters may be necessary to indicate zoning or location of the alarm source. It is desirable that the specification for the ion chamber system state that the indicated...
Page 453 - Vaults shall be supported by masonry or steel of sufficient strength to carry the load safely. Beams shall rest at both ends on steel girders, iron or steel columns, or walls or piers of masonry. The supports shall afford at least 4 hours' protection as determined by the "Standard Fire Test Specifications.
Page 75 - Any contmuoxxs mwrifcxtt* ox o'&vsx framing systems having a direct effect on more than one structural bay shall be of 2-hour fire resistance. No portions of the roof framing shall pass across a fire wall. Light Fixtures. Light fixtures for lighting stacks shall not be more than 9 inches wide including the maximum width of the reflector. The fixture shall be of all metal 'construction and shall be equipped with thermally protected ballasts. The lowest point on any fixture shall be at least 12 inches...
Page 76 - All facilities shall comply vith the criteria listed below with respect to firesafety. In addition, the lower story of any two-story facility and all portions of any buildings higher than two stories shall comply with the requirements for Type A fire-resistive construction. The detailed description of Type A fire-resistive construction is contained in Chapter 2-3 of GSA Handbook, Building Firesafety Criteria (PBS P 59?OS Area There is no firesafety limit on the total building area.
Page 79 - ... from the building. No other fire alarm boxes shall be located in stack areas. The fire alarm system shall be provided with central- station service or other automatic means of notifying the municipal fire department. Each sprinkler system shall be provided with an alarm check valve, with a...
Page 78 - Fire hydrants shall be located so that each entrance, or other access to the records centre that could be used by firefighters, shall be within 250 feet of a fire hydrant. All hydrants shall be at least 50 feet away from the building wall and adjacent to a roadway usable by fire apparatus. Alarm system All records storage areas only, shall be provided with an ion chamber, early-warning type fire detection system.
Page 73 - ... levels. Existing storagetype buildings must be considered when their location and physical characteristics permit safe and economical operation, thus avoiding the cost of new construction. 2. Center buildings should be individual structures, sufficiently separate from other buildings and external hazards to insure a high degree of safety from fire, flood, and other possible disaster. Any expansion space should be provided on a contiguous basis.
Page 77 - Heating. Any furnaces or boilers shall be separated from the records storage by a 4-hour fire wall, with no openings directly from the furnace or boiler room to the records storage areas. No open flame (oil or gas) equipment shall be used in any records area. Service Aisles. The stack arrangements shall be such that there will be no dead-end aisles. Where stacking runs perpendicular to the wall, it shall terminate at least 18 inches from the wall.
Page 76 - All walls separating records storage areas from other portions of the building shall be 4-hour fire-resistive fire walls. In addition to fire resistance, all fire walls shall be structurally sound, capable of standing impact and imposed loads, if severe fire exposure would cause collapse of the framing members on one side of the wall. All openings in fire walls, shall be protected by Class "A" fire doors on each side of the fire wall.
Page 78 - A single-feed main froa the public water system would not be considered a dependable source. Two feeds from different points in the public system would be considered satisfactory, if dependable facility fire pumps are provided. An on-site reservoir with both electric motor and internal combustion engine driven pumps is another example of a single, but adequately dependable supply. Any two source system with sufficient pressure and capacity in each source is, of course, also satisfactory.