Fire breaks out at the American Museum of Natural History

Several artifacts at the American Museum of Natural History suffered minor damage when a fire on the outside of the building sent smoke circulating inside, activating the emergency sprinkler system, officials said.

The blaze started when maintenance workers were using a blow torch to repair an AC unit on the outside of the buildings first floor around 3:30 p.m.

One of the units filters caught fire, sending clouds of thick, black smoke circulating into the hall of Northwest Coast Indians, the FDNY said.

Firefighters respond to the scene.Photo: AP

The pall activated the halls sprinkler system, which sent water raining down of priceless artifacts including several totem polls and other native American artifacts.

[The smoke] was pretty thick. I couldnt see across the room, said FDNY Deputy Chief Joseph Schiralli.

There was a lot of water that spilled into that area, so the damage was all water damage. Schiralli said three or four thousand people self evacuated from the Museum while firefighters went to work extinguishing the blaze.

The extent of the damage to the waterlogged artifacts was not immediately clear but museum staff insisted the they would be open for business as usual on Saturday.

We are very hopeful that the damage was minimal since the response was so quick and it was just smoke, said the museums senior vice president, Ann Canty. Were going to be assessing the extent of the damage.

Go here to read the rest:
Fire breaks out at the American Museum of Natural History