Baltimore's Most Historic Buildings Have Fire Suppression Systems To Prevent A Fire Like Notre Dame
BALTIMORE (WJZ) -- In light of the devastating fire at the Cathedral of Notre Dame in Paris, how vulnerable are some of Baltimore's most historic buildings?
There are a lot of reasons why the fire at the cathedral was out of control and while they were built centuries apart -- are Baltimore's oldest, most historic buildings vulnerable?
City Hall, The Baltimore Basilica, Fulton St Warehouse B & O Railroad, Bromo Seltzer Arts Tower or the George Peabody Library -- it has a priceless collection.
"If we lost this material, it would be pretty much irreplaceable," said Peabody Library Curator Paul Espinosa.
But just a few months ago, Hopkins spent millions to install a state of the art fire suppression system.
"In the event of a fire, gas will come out of nozzles and fill the room," said Cecilia Etzel, Associate Director of Facilities at Hopkins.
The special neutral gas will put out the fire protecting the rare book room, but is safe for humans. But what about the main stacks?
"Here we have a custom box enclosure and a sprinkler head," Etzel added.
Now, everyone breathes easier here.
Baltimore Basilica Remembers French Design, Art Roots To Notre Dame
"When they added that fire suppression system, I could sleep extra well at night," said Espinosa.
Peabody Library. Check. The BMA also has sprinklers. The warehouse got them in 1992.
Hopkins historic dome also covers a sprinkler system.
In the 1970's, renovations brought them to City Hall.
Kevin Williams said they've pre-planned for fire at any of these historic buildings.
"That information for the building is entered into our cad system and every unit in the city has access to that cad system," Williams said.
The Bromo Tower? Yes, it's protected.
Tony Azola's family did the work.
"It makes you feel like what your restored is going to be there if there is a fire that it hopefully will extinguish the fire before it got out of control," Azola said.
Finally, we come to the Basilica. You'd think because it was recently renovated it would have sprinklers. It doesn't. The Archdiocese said that's because it was designed to be fireproof. It's made entirely out of concrete, masonry, and stone -- no wood, not even any steel.
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