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| | ICEFAT
Newsletter #5 | |
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A WAKE-UP CALL
FOR ART STORERS
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The disastrous
fire at the storage depot of the art transportation company Momart in east London
at the end of May has stoked up debate around the art world. | | 
BRITISH
ART WORKS WORTH MILLIONS OF POUNDS WENT UP IN SMOKE WHEN MOMART’S ART DEPOT
WAS GUTTED BY FIRE.
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swathe was cut through the world of British contemporary art when the storage
facility depot was completely destroyed. Momart is not a member of ICEFAT, but
one of England's leading specialists in the storage and transportation of art
works. | | | Police
confirmed that the fire which destroyed the warehouse at Leyton started in a business
unit some distance away from the warehouse. It occurred after a break-in at premises
containing computers, watches and mobile telephones. Whilst the police cannot
categorically say that this was an act of arson, they have said that they are
linking the two incidents.
The fire has highlighted issues of safety,
fire alarms and the construction of buildings with fire compartments etc. Everyone
working with the storage of art works ought to check their buildings and procedures
to prevent the risk of a similar accident occurring. Naturally, there can never
be a total guarantee against all accidents, but there are a number of measures
which should be carried out before a storage space can be considered safe.
SOME
GUIDELINES
Ensure that you include all the safety features laid down by
anti-burglary organisations, the insurance industry and fire authorities for a
highest risk storage depot.
Experienced ICEFAT Members have put together
the following list of aspects to consider when choosing or setting up art storage
:
• Have an integrated fire, burglar and property alarm that is directly
linked to the fire brigade, police and supervised alarm transmission.
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Make sure there are security guards on the beat, patrolling the premises out of
hours.
• Ensure that you carry out regular, documented inspections
of buildings, locks, alarms, fire-extinguishers and have technical monitoring
carried out by professionals. These records must be delivered to company management.
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The storage space should be built of concrete and brick for optimum protection
against burglary and fire.
• Check the nature of neighbouring businesses
and avoid facilities where neighbouring businesses hold flammable liquids etc.
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There should be no water whatsoever on the premises, neither pipes nor water-filled
radiators.
• Make sure the fire alarm is activated by both smoke
and heat.
• Have the storage space divided into fire compartments.
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The storage space should be windowless, and should have as few doors as possible..
These
were just a few guidelines, but we will be sure and return to the question of
safe storage in a future issue of ICEFAT News. By Stefan Fors – MTAB
& Peter Ramberg
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