Archives restoration ‘progressing’ after lightning strike fire

Significant progress is being made in the restoration and protection of the Archives Department following a devastating fire in June, with a focus on resilience, security and comprehensive preventative measures, according to the Minister in the Prime Minister’s Office with responsibility for Culture, Senator Dr Shantal Munro-Knight.

Salvage efforts have been “a little bit more successful” than initially anticipated after the blaze destroyed a two-storey block at the Archives, she told Barbados TODAY.

The fire, sparked by a lightning strike just before midnight on June 19, prompted the government to embark on a comprehensive operation to salvage and restore damaged documents and artefacts.

“I’m going to get a detailed report just to make sure that we are on track with what we need to be able to do there,” Senator Munro-Knight said. “In relation to the archives itself, the salvaging has been a little bit more successful than again; I had even contemplated it, and I am waiting for a report now that will come to me by the end of August that will then allow us to have a really clear picture of what we would have salvaged, right, in detail.”

The minister outlined ongoing efforts to protect the archives, particularly with the hurricane season in mind. “We are focused, again, on cordoning up the site, just making sure, again, that with the hurricane season, we can preserve as much material as we can there, and then to be able to continue to go through the fine efforts of salvaging,” she explained.

Senator Munro-Knight confirmed that measures were being implemented for hurricane resilience and fire safety, with a detailed report forthcoming to ensure all necessary steps are being taken to safeguard the nation’s historical records.

The government has sought external assistance through the services of a forensic investigator to advise on comprehensive protective measures.

“What she advised is, well, we were perhaps focused on the fire suppression system, but they’ve recommended a series of actions,” the minister said.

These actions include considering building materials that are less likely to conduct lightning, implementing new protocols, and improving the fire service’s response times.

She detailed the comprehensive approach being taken, including “increased training because training was provided, but we want to retrain again,” and ensuring the fire service is well-informed about the location of critical documents.

“For instance, the protocol is that if a fire happens, where will the most important documents be stored? So the fire service knows: ‘Listen, left-hand corner, that’s the cabinet that we would want to get out if possible,'” the minister explained.

Senator Munro-Knight stressed continuous improvement and adaptation in preservation efforts, including the use of fire-resistant materials and considering alternative fire suppression methods such as carbon dioxide gas instead of water.

She also provided an update on the relocation of records to a new site in Newton, Christ Church. “I was actually visiting the site at Newton . . . where I would have indicated previously that we’d be moving the records there by November. I visited that site to get an update to make sure that we were on track. And we certainly are,” she confirmed.

The Archives complex at the former leper asylum in Black Rock involves multiple buildings, complicating the implementation of fire suppression systems, the minister noted.

“The current setup for the archives now is multiple buildings and not just one. So that’s not just one fire suppression system, but multiple,” Senator Munro-Knight said, adding that additional security measures and personnel have been put in place across all archive sites.

As the restoration and protection efforts continue, the minister expressed satisfaction with the progress made thus far: “I’m satisfied that we are doing as much as we can there.”