Fire Protection Strategies for Collections and Museums

This webinar elaborates on the leading causes and management of museum fires including a brief review of Smithsonian’s experience in mitigating fire risk. It was presented by Michael Kilby, associate director for fire protection at the Smithsonian Institution. The webinar was hosted by the Foundation for Advancement in Conservation on their official website as part of the Institute of Museum and Library Services’ (IMLS) national initiative called the Connecting to Collections Care (C2C Care). The C2C Care program is designed for all types of small to mid-sized cultural institutions to provide resources, professional development opportunities and support for caring for collections. It was funded by the Institute of Museum and Library Services.

Managing the fire risk to collections and museums requires a multi-pronged strategy, which includes prevention programs, fire containment measures, as well as detection and suppression systems. When implemented together, the frequency of unintentional fires can be drastically reduced, and the impact of fires successfully managed.

Major learning outcomes of the webinar include:

• Identifying risk tolerances
• Identifying measures to prevent and mitigate fire risk
• Evaluating and addressing fire containment and suppression needs
• Developing an implementation plan