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Saving grace The Notre-Dame fire underlined the value of effective salvage planning and operations.Terry Crowdy shows how it’s done at our Historic Royal Palaces
building since Windsor Castle in 1992. People watched aghast as the roof of the building was engulfed in fl ame and the spire toppled. For those of us working in the heritage sector, and who plan for disasters such as these, it was doubly painful to watch. As the footage unfolded, a key question was: ‘Did they manage to salvage anything from inside?’ We know from bitter experience how the fi re loading in those dry, ancient timbers is not easily overcome by jets of water. We also know that if the bulk of the structure can be saved, buildings can often be repaired. In fact, we repair our historic buildings all the time: services, bricks and timber are constantly replaced. Fire damage can be made good with time and money. But the collections inside the buildings are more vulnerable. When works of art and other treasures are consumed by fi re, they are gone forever. This is why it is vital that historic buildings, galleries and museums have effective, rehearsed procedures for salvaging their collections. At the Historic Royal Palaces (HRP), the independent charity responsible for the care of fi ve historic buildings in London – including the
O 46 JUNE 2019
www.frmjournal.com
N 15 April, the world watched live footage of the fi re at Notre-Dame de Paris – one of the most signifi cant fi res in an historic
Tower of London – and one in Northern Ireland, we have had our share of fi res over the centuries, the worst in modern times being the 1986 fi re at Hampton Court Palace. A fi re in a grace and favour apartment caused extensive damage to the King’s State Apartments. However, almost all the collections were saved by the palace salvage team and the fi re brigade. The palace’s salvage response dates from a fire in 1882, after which, we learn from Hansard: ‘structural alterations were made in the galleries, by which they were subdivided into compartments, separated by fi reproof partitions; and elaborate arrangements were devised for facilitating the removal of the pictures and tapestries in case of fi re’. One hundred years on, these measures remained effective. In the 21st century, HRP has four salvage
teams: three in London (Hampton Court and Kensington Palaces, and the Tower of London) and one at Hillsborough Castle in Northern Ireland. With their origins in the old palace fi re brigades, these salvage teams are trained and equipped to protect some of our nation’s most important treasures. Over recent years, we have refreshed our procedures to keep abreast of developments in incident management, such as joint emergency services interoperability
Above: HRP salvage team waiting to deploy; uniforms are clearly labelled with hi-vis reflective strips (Credit: HRP).
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