1. Report on Fire Suppression Research for High-Density
Storage Facilities
Roberta Pilette
Director, Preservation Department
Yale University Library
Hosted by ALCTS The Association for Library Collections and Technical Services

2. HD Library Facility vs Warehouse
Solid shelves spaced 12”-18” apart
Narrow aisles due to size of materials being retrieved
Long-term, homogeneous collections
Warehouse
Open rack shelving
Large, open aisles to facilitate palletized delivery & retrieval
Short-term, ever-changing materials

3. HD Library Facility vs Warehouse

4. Project Development June 2005
Informal gathering of preservation librarians to determine next steps
Columbia University Harvard University
Library of Congress University of Chicago
University of Michigan Yale University
University of Illinois-Urbana Champaign
The informal gathering became an informal consortium

5. Survey Results Identified 51 institutions with high density facilities
Survey conducted February 2006; 51% responded
Questions asked regarding:
Type of facility
Environmental conditions
Age of facility
Construction details regarding the roof, exterior & interior walls and overall size with regards to length, height, width
Tier/shelving configuration
What materials are stored in the facility and how stored
Sprinkler/fire suppression systems

6. Survey Results What is stored and how
Bound items directly on shelf 68%
Mss & archival collections, non-plastic containers 88%
Analog audio disks, mechanical recordings, non-plastic containers 54%
Microfilm/fiche, non-plastic containers 47%
Magnetic media in trays on shelf 67%
Oversize maps & drawings in flat files
& shelves 56%

7. Survey Results Storage within the a module Fire Suppression systems
Interfile format types within a module 54%
Mixed formats within a section of shelving, the shelf, or within the range/aisle >33%
Fire Suppression systems
In-rack sprinklers 50%
No in-rack sprinklers 50%

8. Project Timeline July 2006 May 2007 Feb 2008 March 2010 June 2011
Survey results in
Meeting at Yale to establish goals and expected outcomes
May 2007
FMGlobal approves project
Project and testing design begins; research engineer assigned
Feb 2008
Update on first set of tests
Lessons learned & reaffirmation of goals
March 2010
All testing complete
Preliminary results & recommendations presented to consortium
June 2011
Final Report

9. Project Goals
Provide fire protection options for a typical high-bay, high-density storage arrangement
Develop loss mitigation methods to reduce non-thermal damage
If necessary, make recommendations for the future design of high density storage modules

10. Terminology & Test Array
Longitudinal flue
Aisle
Rack
Sprinkler heads Transverse flue
Overhead view of the shelving arrangement for tests.

11. The Tests Test #1 Test #2 Test #3 In-rack sprinklers at 10 & 19 ft
level at each transverse &
longitudinal intersection
Ceiling sprinklers
Books in trays on shelves
Test #2
Sprinklers same as #1
Books in trays & Archive boxes on shelves
Test #3
Sprinklers same as #1 BUT add face sprinklers at 10 & 19 ft level

12. Results & Conclusions
Smoke detectors in all tests went off prior to the first sprinkler head release.
The combination of in-rack and ceiling sprinklers provides adequate fire protection.
Additionally, in-rack sprinklers are effective in reducing the temperature of the racks thereby limiting the possibility of rack collapse.
By adding face sprinklers it is estimated that there is 50% less damage to materials due to fire and water.

13. Other Findings Along the Way
Narrow aisles make fire fighting difficult
Amount of material affected even in a small incident is large—remember this is ‘high-density’

14. Slides from FM Global tests

15. Other Findings Along the Way
Cardboard trays failed quickly
-Create falling book hazard
-Front of tray with barcode info is lost
-Weakened trays could not be used to pull books off shelf

16. Final Recommendations
Early detection devices mean faster response and less damage
In-rack & ceiling sprinklers are good but adding face sprinklers provides the best protection
Local fire department needs to be familiar with facility and its potential challenges and hazards
Response & recovery plan are necessary
Considering replacing corrugated trays with something that is non-combustible and will not fail when wet

17. Many thanks to David Fuller, Kristin Jamison & Mary Breighner at FMGlobal; Tom Gaitley at Copper Harbor Consulting, Inc; and fellow consortium members on this project. For copies of the FM Global report contact: David Fuller Thank you