Examiners Fire

Examiners Fire

Examiners Fire


Thursday 4th October 2012

On Thursday 4th October at 1.30am a fire started in our Examiners Print Room, Main Street - Flagstaff Hill Maritime Village. The fire quickly took hold of the small weatherboard building and it was instantly engulfed in flames.

**Important Message - This fire only effected two buildings out of the 38 we have on site. The village is open as normal for both Day and Shipwrecked Sound and Laser Show**

Immediate Response

The CFA attended the fire and controlled its spread. The adjoining Fire Station building was impacted, although the collection that it contained was saved through the excellent work of the Warrnambool CFA.

The fire was controlled within 1 hour and investigations started the following morning. It was determined that a electrical fault in one of the buildings cables had sparked the fire. Its weatherboard contruction and easterly winds at the time intensified the fire.

A passing resident videoed the fire as it took hold of the Print Store. See link here.

Fire Video - Flagstaff Hill Print Shop

Damaged Caused

The fire completely destroyed our Examaners Print Store, and severly damaged the adjoining Fire Station.The village opened as normal at 9am as the fire area was only a small part of the Flagstaff Hill Maritime Village area.

Recovery Started

Flagstaff Hill Maritime Village has an active Collection Management Process which was enacted immediately the fire was reported.

  • Staff on the evening of the fire worked with the CFA to take items out of the Fire Station building and placed in a safe and secure area of the village.

  • The following morning staff and volunteers started the process of recovery by securing the site to ensure no items left the area without being recorded.

  • Security was left at the site over night to ensure no access was maintained and we could begin to account for all items on our collection register.

Collection Recovery Plan

Flagstaff Hill Maritime Village received direct support from Heritage Victoria when Susie Collis from the HV Collection Lab attended the scene. Susie assisted in developing a recovery plan that took into account the safety of staff/volunteers and develop a course of action to recover any collection pieces; which involved deciding whether to save to destroy damaged items.

 

Heritage Victoria Staff Assist Flagstaff Hill to Recover

 

The Recovery Plan has started and we will update images of the process in the image gallery below through the coming months.

Thank you to staff/volunteers and the wider community for their words of support.