When a fire broke out at Notre Dame Cathedral in April 2019, people across the globe watched in despair as smoke plumed from one of the world's most recognizable buildings. Sadly, that was not an isolated incident. Through the years, several libraries, museums, palaces and cathedrals have been damaged or destroyed by fire — one of the most dangerous threats facing cultural buildings around the world, says FM Global's report, "It's Time to Protect Our Heritage and Stop Burning It." |

Challenge of protecting cultural buildings

Often erected decades or centuries ago, many cultural buildings are constructed with combustible materials, while the artifacts and contents within them also are often composed of flammable materials. Additionally, many buildings are subject to ongoing renovations or repairs, which can spur concerns over loss of authenticity. Pressure to retain the original features of a property has resulted in many modern fire protection systems, such as fire doors and automatic fire protection systems, being viewed as intrusive, says the report. The absence of these systems leaves a void in an already complex, and at-times inadequate, fire prevention and protection strategy for cultural buildings. "The retention of [combustible] features has made these buildings extremely vulnerable to fire, especially during renovation periods when hot work or additional equipment are brought to the building to conduct the repairs," explains FM Global's report. "This means such buildings are susceptible to common ignition sources, and once ignition occurs, a fire will almost inevitably spread to the available combustibles." |

Fires around the world

In the past five years, several fires have taken place at cultural heritage sites globally, many occurring at properties in the U.K., FM Global explains. In 2015, a fire at the 18^th-century mansion Clandon Park House destroyed thousands of historic items. The Glasgow School of Art, pictured in the slideshow above, experienced two fires within a few years' time. The first occurred in 2014, which severely damaged the building. Then in 2018, a second fire broke out during renovation, emphasizing the serious risk renovations can bring to these at-risk sites.

One of the more high-profile fires in recent years occurred at the National Museum in Rio de Janeiro. The fire destroyed the largest anthropological collection in Latin America, which consisted of approximately 20 million artifacts including the earliest human remains found on the continent. According to authorities, the fire was caused by an overloaded electrical connection of three air conditioning units to a single circuit breaker. "The building had reportedly been in dire need of repair, and the lack of a fire sprinkler system was arguable one of many problems," the report says. In India, the National Museum of Natural History was scheduled to relocate to a different facility because the museum was in need of extensive renovation. However, before the move could happen, a fire destroyed numerous exhibits in an area of the museum that did not have automatic fire protection. |

Fire protection strategies

Highly valuable, irreplaceable and timeworn, these buildings and their contents are very sensitive to smoke, humidity and dust, and require specialized firefighting methods that will result in the least possible amount of damage, presenting a unique challenge to firefighters. As with Notre Dame, aerial firefighting could not be used because of the potential damage it could cause to the edifice. Meanwhile, the stone structure, which trapped heat and smoke, made it difficult for firefighters to get to the source of the flame, reported CNN. "The traditional concepts of fire protection for such buildings are all valid," explains the report. "Their application to the heritage buildings will have increased challenges in terms of assessment, design, installation and cost." One basic fire protection concept, compartmentation, can be used in heritage buildings to help limit the spread of fire by using firewall barriers. "Compartmentation is intrusive but will delay fire spread and contain the fire to an area that a property owner is 'willing to lose,'" FM Global says. |

Sprinkler controversy

Despite the effectiveness of fire sprinklers, this method has roused up controversy in the heritage community over fears that the sprinklers will turn on inexplicably, causing irreparable water damage to building contents, such as artifacts or art. While FM Global data states that the average loss of fire in electronic assembly facilities without sprinklers was seven times that of the average sprinkler leakage damage, the arts and heritage community continues to fear sprinkler systems. However, the report affirms that the majority opinion within the community is that sprinklers cause more harm than good when accidentally operating in a non-fire situation. FM Global suggests that cultural sites should research sprinkler systems with a proven track record of success and implement them strategically to provide fire protection while simultaneously navigating the challenge of protecting arts and artifacts. |

Taking action

Several of the heritage buildings that experienced a fire in recent years actually considered installing fire protections at their sites but didn't take action soon enough. However, after the fire at the National Museum in Rio de Janeiro, the Brazilian government finalized a project to upgrade electrical installations and improve fire protection measures in 200 historical buildings and federal museums around the country — a positive step forward. "Fires across the globe destroy [our] heritage during renovations or simply by everyday ignition sources. The fire events are followed buy immense national grief, anger, fundraising and commitments to rebuild. yet we still see heritage sites burn ... [It] is vital that we open our thinking to the means by which we can protect such buildings, retain their character, but limit the potential significant damage from such fire events," the report concludes. Related: |

• Playing with fire: Avoiding toxic exposures in structure fires
• Data insights and fire claims
• How museums fight fires, floods and climate change