Current affairs
principles (JESIP), and we have enhanced our corporate major incident plan to ensure we have resources to recover the collections, undertake inventory control and contact collection owners, as many of the collections in our palaces are not owned by HRP. Underpinning everything we do are these basic principles: • priority plans must be up to date •
the salvage command structure and the terminology must be compatible with that of the fire service
•
salvage teams must have a strict ‘safe system of work’, including appropriate personal protective equipment
Selecting priorities
In a perfect world, everything will be saved. In reality we have to ask ourselves some difficult questions. If we cannot save everything, what are the priorities? If you are in a situation where a room is about to be lost and the fire service asks which objects you most want saved, it is helpful to have made this decision in advance as otherwise firefighters will make that decision for you. The priority plan should not show every single collection object, but rather a ‘snatch and grab’ list – normally just a few items per room. When you exhibit or store collections, think about the salvage implications. There is often a balance to be struck between the security requirements and the accessibility of objects
FOCUS
Sector commander briefs salvage team (blue) and conservators (orange) (Credit: HRP).
for salvage. Can you arrange the priority objects so that they are closest to a door, or hung lower on the walls so ladders are not required? Think of the fixing methods. Imagine being a firefighter, in breathing apparatus, with heavy gauntlets and a room beginning to fill with smoke. Your decisions must be realistic. If your single biggest priority needs to be unscrewed from the wall, takes eight people to lift and will not fit through a door, will you have time to do anything else? Do you want the fire service to cut a picture from the frame? Do you want them to smash open display cases? Your plan needs to state this. You should also consider whether it is better
to protect in situ rather than remove. We have purchased fire resistant, padded covers for large sculptures or some of the more secure display cases. It is amazing what can be recovered from the rubble after a fire.
Priority plans
Having selected your priorities, you must produce a plan showing the location of these items. Someone must be made responsible for keeping this plan up to date and it should be easy to access, but stored securely – after all, these plans detail how to remove your most valuable objects in the collection! It is helpful if there is a general layout plan
Sheeting up operation: firefighters and salvagers cover exhibition cases to protect from water ingress (Credit: HRP).
which shows the target room in the context of access routes, stairs and fire compartmentation.
www.frmjournal.com JUNE 2019 47
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