I've always held that every archives needs an occasional fire now and then to provide some plausible deniability for records someone doesn't wish to release to the public or that the records center just plain can't find. Something like: "Oh, those records were probably destroyed in "the great fire of 2000"". Anyone who has investigated the GI A-Bomb veterans, for example, knows what I'm talking about. It isn't necessary that a lot of records are destroyed, just enough so that anything missing or troublesome that arises after that date can be said to have "probably been destroyed in the fire". Michael Ravnitzky mikerav@ix.netcom.com National Archives and Records Administration Statement on Records Center Fire To: National Desk Contact: National Archives Public Affairs, 301-713-6000 WASHINGTON, March 1, /U.S. Newswire/ -- The following is a statement from John W. Carlin, archivist of the United States, on the Feb. 29 Records Center Fire: Yesterday (Tuesday, Feb. 29), the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) reported a fire in its Washington National Records Center in Suitland, Md. The fire was contained by the Center's fire-safety system and extinguished with no reports of harm to staff or visitors, but some records were damaged. The following is an update on that from Archivist of the United States John Carlin. |