A fire Friday afternoon raged through the headquarters complex of Flight 93 National Memorial in Pennsylvania and destroyed three buildings before the flames could be put out. None of the staff or volunteers at the national memorial were injured, but officials fear some of the archival and curatorial collections, including the flag that flew over the U.S. Capitol on September 11, might have been destroyed.
"The lost buildings served multiple functions for the operation of the memorial, including administrative and staff offices, conference facilities, and storage of some of the memorial’s archival and curatorial collection," the Park Service said in a release. "Of greatest concern are those collections. Fortunately, only 10 percent of the Flight 93 National Memorial collection was kept on-site in this building, and many of those objects are stored in fireproof safes. Until the area is declared safe, however, staff will not be able to access the collection storage area and determine the condition of any other objects."
Park Service officials said staff was able to save oral history collection and the photo collection that were kept in the facility. The Congressional Gold Medal awarded last month was not on-site at the time of the fire, they added.
"The 9/11 flag that flew over the United States Capitol on September 11 and was presented to the park just last month during the annual 9/11 observance was stored on site, though, again, staff have not yet been able to access the collection area to determine the condition of the flag," the agency said.
The cause of the fire, which was reported shortly after 3 p.m. local time, was under investigation by local fire officials, but National Park Service special agents were en route to the site and were to take over the investigation upon their arrival.
Because of the distant location of these buildings from the memorial plaza and the access road to reach the memorial, Flight 93 National Memorial will be open for visitors on Saturday morning at the regular time.
Comments
And why is that? What facts do you have to automatically rule out arson? Don't you find it interesting that we have still to hear a peep about the possible cause. Seven people were in the buildings but we haven't heard a single hint on where and why the fire started.
Ah - once again more government is the answer. No thanks.
Everything said after ...when we find out actually what happened... is wild-assed-guesses.
I love that no matter what the topic you can always work in thst its always about the under funded NPS. If Jarvis wasn't such a red handed manipulator perhaps this agency would have enough clout to get some more funds. His "make the public feel the pain" mentality is the root cause.
Didn't rule out arson. Just said it's unlikely. You're word twisting again.
And given the intensity of the fire, an exact cause may be very hard to pinpoint.
We'll see.
Heck, the way it's going NPS may be one of the better operating agencies. Has anyone been paying attention to the others? Any of them? Something very different about this bunch.
nypost.com/2014/10/03/the-loislerner-app/
Not that I like hanging around the NY Post all that long without tyvek overalls, but that is a dead link.
No you said it was "very, very, unlikely" which is darn close to ruling it out. But if it makes your feel better, what facts do you have to say it is "very, very, unlikely"? Probably the same facts you have to accuse Ken Ivory of being a notorious developer, i.e. none.
Okay, just Google Lois Lerner and all the lost IRS emails (the dog ate them) and you'll get the idea. Think she just might be the model employee if you don't think Eric Holder would be a better example. Great excuse if any of us get audited. The dog, good old Molly, ate my tax returns.