The Getty and Fire Prevention

The NY Times recently posted an interesting article on the Getty  and how it was designed with built in fire resistance systems, including reinforced concrete walls, automatic fire doors and air filtration systems.

Follow the source link below for more information and images on the various fire prevention systems.

The NY Times reports

The Getty’s architect, Richard Meier, built fire resistance into the billion-dollar complex, said Ron Hartwig, vice president of communications for the J. Paul Getty Trust. These hills are fire prone, but because of features like the 1.2 million square feet of thick travertine stone covering the outside walls, the crushed rock on the roofs and even the plants chosen for the brush-cleared grounds, “The safest place for the artwork to be is right here in the Getty Center,” he said.

Within that lovely milky travertine skin, the buildings have reinforced concrete walls and automatic fire doors that can trap fires in sealed-off areas. A carbon-filtered air conditioning system pushes smoke out instead of letting it in, and the internal sprinklers — whose pipes remain dry until needed, to avoid damaging accidents – stand ready to douse flames.

“Should any fire move within one of those compartmentalized areas, it can’t get anywhere,” said Michael G. Rogers, director of facilities at the Getty. Since water supplies can be cut off in a disaster, The Getty has its own million-gallon water tank buried under the parking garage. The result is a complex that is rated Type 1, the highest level of fire resistance.

The Skirball fires, which afflicted the neighborhood of Los Angeles where the Getty is located, drew as near as the San Diego Freeway it overlooks. But the system worked.

On the morning of December 6, an ember drifted over to the Getty hill. It landed and started a small fire. But the damp earth had been thoroughly soaked with 1.2 million gallons of water from the sprinkler system, giving the fire little to work with. “It ignited, it moved very slowly,” Mr. Hartwig said. The fire department put it out before flames could climb the hill.

“We sure are glad it was a non-event,” Mr. Hartwig said. Now the Getty appears to be out of danger, said Captain Cody Weireter, a spokesman for the Los Angeles Fire Department. Still, Mr. Hartwig said, “We continue to worry until the last ember is out.” And, as Californians know too well, there is always another fire.

Source: The NY Times