Small fire at the Smithsonian Institution does almost no harm

Monday, Feb. 7 was a tough day at the Smithsonian Institution. A little fire started in the air conditioning system. The fire was very quickly put out by Washington D.C. firefighters. Deferred upkeep at the Smithsonian Institution adds up to over $ 2.5 billion, and the number is going up. They are lucky the damage was not severe because this could have possibly cost a lot more than a personal loan for the city if loss was worse. Resource for this article – Small fire at Smithsonian Institution does little damage by MoneyBlogNewz.

A small fire at the Smithsonian to put out

The Washington D.C. fire department reported this morning that firefighters were called to the National Museum of Natural History. Air conditioning equipment sparked a little fire, which spread to nearby insulation. Firefighters were able to extinguish the fire easily, and damage to the Natural History museum was small. Traffic in and around the Natural History Museum was disrupted during the fire, as a plume of black smoke was visible in and around D.C.

Maintenance at the Smithsonian

The majority of funding for the Smithsonian Institution comes from the United States government. In order to stop the costs from getting too high, the 2010 Deficit Commission recommended that admission fees be added. There aren't admission fees currently. There are billions put into upkeep that is not getting done with the Smithsonian Institution instead. The reason for the Smithsonian Institution fire could have come from the upkeep getting deferred. This would be why the air conditioning would spark a fire at all.

Other Smithsonian fires in history

The small fire wasn't the first to take place at the Smithsonian Institution. It has experienced others. There have been many little fires over the years at the various museums. There was a major fire damaging the picture gallery, lecture room, philosophical laboratory and first story of the building on Jan 24, 1865. During both fires — 1865 and 2011 — the institute was closed and no injuries were reported.

Articles cited

Son of the South

.sonofthesouth.net/leefoundation/civil-war/1865/february/smithsonian-fire.htm

Yahoo News

news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20110207/ts_alt_afp/usfiremuseum