Book burning refreshed: Brazil's National Museum, 200 years old, goes up in flames

[Cebu_4_2]

Brazil's National Museum, 200 years old, goes up in flames


http://www.foxnews.com/world/2018/09/02/brazils-national-museum-200-years-old-goes-up-in-flames.html

Firefighters in Brazil on Sunday worked to douse massive flames engulfing a 200-year-old history museum — as the country's president called it "a sad day for all Brazilians."
The National Museum of Brazil in Rio de Janeiro, also known as Rio Museu Nacional, caught fire late Sunday after the building had closed for the day, according to O Globo (https://oglobo.globo.com/rio/tragedia-no-museu-nacional-poderia-ter-sido-evitada-diz-ministro-da-cultura-23032915). It was not immediately clear what sparked the fire; the museum reportedly had infrastructure problems in recent years.
Sgt. Moises Torres, of the state's firefighting headquarters, said it wasn't known if anyone was injured in the blaze.

http://a57.foxnews.com/images.foxnews.com/content/fox-news/world/2018/09/02/brazils-national-museum-200-years-old-goes-up-in-flames/_jcr_content/article-text/article-par-3/inline_spotlight_ima/image.img.jpg/612/344/1535940437573.jpg?ve=1&tl=1
People work to rescue items during a fire at the National Museum of Brazil. (REUTERS)


"Two hundred years of work, investigation and knowledge have been lost," President Michel Temer tweeted. (https://twitter.com/MichelTemer/status/1036418286534238208)
The museum is Brtazil's oldest. Sérgio Sá Leitão, the country's culture minister, told the newspaper how ragic it was to see the museum in flames, and, according to a translation of his remarks, said the fire "could certainly have been avoided."
http://a57.foxnews.com/images.foxnews.com/content/fox-news/world/2018/09/02/brazils-national-museum-200-years-old-goes-up-in-flames/_jcr_content/article-text/article-par-5/inline_spotlight_ima/image.img.jpg/612/344/1535940497405.jpg?ve=1&tl=1
The museum is 200 years old, and many of its collections came from members of Brazil's royal family, according to its website. (REUTERS)

The museum holds thousands of items related to the history of Brazil and other countries, according to its website, and is part of the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro.
Many of its collections came from members of Brazil's royal family, officials said.

[vacuum]

20 million artifacts.

Incomprehensible.



"Two hundred years of work, investigation and knowledge have been lost," President Michel Temer tweeted. (https://twitter.com/MichelTemer/status/1036418286534238208)

Thats not how it works dumbass. Much more than 200 years was lost.

[midnight rambler]

You'd think they'd have take much better precautions toward fire prevention/fighting/extinguishing/suppression measures (like widely available fire hose cabinets, sprinklers, halon suppression systems, fire doors, fire containment, fire-proofing in general, etc.) considering the MILLIONS of artifacts in their (now largely destroyed) collection were priceless and irreplaceable.

[madfranks]

You'd think they'd have take much better precautions toward fire prevention/fighting/extinguishing/suppression measures (like sprinklers, halon suppression systems, fire doors, fire containment, fire-proofing in general, etc.) considering the MILLIONS of artifacts in their (now largely destroyed) collection were priceless and irreplaceable.They don’t think like we do.

[midnight rambler]

They don’t think like we do.

They knew they had a problem and they were intending to fix the inadequate fire suppression/fighting systems, but not soon enough -

https://www.news4jax.com/news/international/brazils-national-museum-burns-weeks-before-fire-system-improvements

[Cebu_4_2]

I wonder what that museum had to offer that I haven't seen before?

[kiffertom]

great way to erase their history. here we topple statues, rename schools and hide what was our true history. anyway history is rewritten ever 20 years by some new professor. this was a great lost to all humankind!

[Cebu_4_2]

Fragments found in Brazil museum fire provide some hope

https://apnews.com/e2c924ddcbd94230a35ac790e0497f4b/Fragments-found-in-Brazil-museum-fire-provide-some-hope
RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) — Firefighters found bone fragments from a collection in the still-smoldering National Museum, an official said Tuesday, raising hopes that a famed skull might somehow have survived a massive blaze that turned historic and scientific artifacts to ashes.

Flames tore through the museum Sunday night, and officials have said much of Latin America’s largest collection of treasures might be lost. Aerial photos of main building showed only heaps of rubble and ashes in the parts of the building where the roof collapsed.

The firefighters “found fragments of bones in a room where the museum kept many items, including skulls,” said Cristiana Serejo, the museum’s vice director. “We still have to collect them and take them to the lab to know exactly what they are.”

In its collection of about 20 million items, one of the most prized possessions is a skull called Luzia, which is among the oldest fossils ever found in the Americas.

Museum spokesman Marcio Martins noted that the collection contains hundreds of skulls, and all material would first need to be examined by the Federal Police, who are investigating the still-unknown cause of the fire. Experts will then examine them to determine their identity.


A huge fire engulfed Brazil’s 200-year-old National Museum in Rio de Janeiro, lighting up the night sky with towering flames as firefighters and museum workers raced to save historical relics from the blaze. (Sept. 3)

Some objects were rescued from the flames on Sunday night by a professor who rushed into the blaze. Paulo Buckup, a professor of zoology at the museum, recounted Tuesday how he and a few other people pulled out mollusks and marine specimens, going into and out of the building several times until it became too dangerous. He said the group tried to identify in the dark the most irreplaceable objects, but said they only saved a “minuscule portion of the heritage that was lost.”

Many have already said that regardless of what is salvaged, the loss will be immeasurable. Marina Silva, a candidate for president in upcoming elections, called it a “lobotomy of Brazilian history.”

The Globo newspaper wrote in an editorial published Tuesday: “The size of the catastrophe is vast: It struck the national memory, through the loss of the important historical collection; it affected the sciences, interrupting research; and it represents a cultural loss impossible to quantify. We only know that it is enormous.”

Investigators were first allowed to enter the main building Monday, but it is still off-limits to researchers. Instead, some scientists were focusing attention on an annex on the site, where vertebrate specimens were housed. The fire didn’t reach the area, but it caused the electricity to fail, threatening some artifacts, said Marcelo Wexler, a researcher in the vertebrate department.

“We have animals that need to be frozen, and they were rotting without electricity,” Wexler said.

In a sign of the enormity of the task ahead, a man created a stir when he arrived on the scene carrying a document he said belonged to the institution that he had found across the street. A group of journalists crowded in to see the piece of paper, which was burned at the edges and contained printed text and was in a clear plastic folder. It was not clear what it was or if it was authentic.

“I came here to give it back. I am sure there is much more that flew around,” said Felipe Silva, who said he was a guard at the museum.

Even as efforts turned to searching the rubble, firefighters were still occasionally directing water at the building, where some embers were still burning. Eduardo Rosse, a fire official, said that was normal for a blaze of this size.

Luiz Fernando Dias Duarte, a museum official, said Monday that anything held in the main building was probably destroyed, and Serejo told the G1 news portal that 90 percent of the collection may have been destroyed.

But on Tuesday, she held out some hope, telling journalists that staff members were “reasonably optimistic about finding some more items inside.”

She added that UNESCO, the U.N.’s cultural agency, had offered financial and technical assistance. French and Egyptian officials also have offered help. The museum was home to Egyptian artifacts, and Egypt’s ministries of foreign affairs and antiquities have expressed concern over the fate of those objects.

With the cause still under investigation, many already have begun to fix blame, saying years of government neglect left the museum underfunded and unsafe.

Roberto Leher, rector of the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, to which the museum was linked, said it was well known that the building was vulnerable to fire and in need of extensive repair. In fact, two years ago, federal prosecutors in Rio de Janeiro began investigating safety conditions in the building.

The institution had recently secured approval for nearly $5 million for a planned renovation, including an upgrade of the fire-prevention system, but the money had not yet been disbursed.

On Monday, government officials promised $2.4 million to shore up the building and promised to rebuild the museum.

[Cebu_4_2]

Official website, this place was huge!

http://mhn.museus.gov.br/

[midnight rambler]

Official website, this place was huge!

http://mhn.museus.gov.br/

Click through to see some of the artifacts lost -

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Museum_of_Brazil#/media/File:Pal%C3%A1cio_de_S%C3%A3o_Crist%C3%B3v%C3%A3o. jpg

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/ab/Pal%C3%A1cio_de_S%C3%A3o_Crist%C3%B3v%C3%A3o.jpg/2560px-Pal%C3%A1cio_de_S%C3%A3o_Crist%C3%B3v%C3%A3o.jpg

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d3/Fachada_do_Museu_Nacional_da_UFRJ_-_S%C3%A3o_Crist%C3%B3v%C3%A3o%2C_Rio_de_Janeiro.JP G

[Cebu_4_2]

I'm going to try and look through the museum site when I get some time. There has to be a ton of images in there somewhere.

[madfranks]

They knew they had a problem and they were intending to fix the inadequate fire suppression/fighting systems, but not soon enough -

https://www.news4jax.com/news/international/brazils-national-museum-burns-weeks-before-fire-system-improvements

From that article:


During the blaze, firefighters arrived at the scene only to find two hydrants did not have enough pressure to work properly, according to Roberto Robadey, a spokesman Rio de Janeiro fire department. Fire crews had to draw water from a nearby pond instead, said Robadey.
The building was equipped with a sprinkler system, but it was inadequate, according to Brazilian Minister of Culture Serguio Sá Leitao.
Even if they were planning to fix it, a building like should be under permanent 24 hr firewatch until it gets fixed. I worked as a fire protection consultant for a condominium building that needed its entire suppression system repaired, and the local fire dept required 24 hr fire watch until it was fixed.

[Cebu_4_2]

Even if they were planning to fix it, a building like should be under permanent 24 hr firewatch until it gets fixed. I worked as a fire protection consultant for a condominium building that needed its entire suppression system repaired, and the local fire dept required 24 hr fire watch until it was fixed.

I worked for a guy that was starting a store, about 1200-1500 feet. The fire suppression system cheapest bid was 70K. More than the business itself and start up costs. I'm much better off financially running my shyt from my property than to open a store.

After the system was in it was quite impressive until I saw the backup was a split breaker into the neighbors power box... AND it was approved lol. Gimme the money man..

I worked in that startup also and there were so many regulations wrong it would never pass... but it did.