[CPProt.net] More on USMA library fire

[MSN CPPnet (Ton Cremers)]

October 27, 2005

Fire hits USMA library

   By Greg Bruno
   Times Herald-Record
   gbruno at th-record.com
   
   West Point - Fire damaged the special collections and archives wing of
the U.S. Military Academy library yesterday, forcing the evacuation of the
building as crews worked to save some of the nation's oldest military
documents.
   Academy officials said a preliminary investigation found little or no
damage to the papers, photographs and sound recordings - some dating to West
Point's founding in 1802 - although fire investigators were still on scene
late yesterday afternoon.
   The collections include the administrative record of the military
academy, as well as letters, reports and personal memoirs of past
superintendents.
   "It doesn't appear that the archives have been damaged in any way, but we
won't know until the investigation is complete," spokeswoman Theresa
Brinkerhoff said.
   Mike D'Aquino, another West Point press officer, said fire officials were
able to contain the blaze between the ceiling and the roof, presumably
inside a drop ceiling that lines the fourth floor of the building. He said
the cause of the fire is under investigation.
   There were no injuries reported. 
   In addition to West Point fire trucks, crews from Highland Falls, Fort
Montgomery and Cornwall-on-Hudson were called to the academy at about 12:30
p.m., when students typically are studying for afternoon classes.
   As flames and smoke lapped the roof of the gray granite building near the
cadets' housing area, firefighters cut away metal rain guards near the
structure's peak. 
   By 2 p.m., hoses began to appear from one of the building's open windows,
and with a final puff of smoke and water, the flames disappeared.

http://www.recordonline.com/