Dealing with fire (and water) damage

Loose paper

Do not try to separate individual sheets when they are still very wet.

Interleave stacks of pages every 2cm with paper towelling or sandwich small piles of papers between pieces of towelling. Once this towelling gets wet, it needs to be changed and thrown away.

If towelling isn’t available other papers such as blotting paper, butcher's paper, newsprint or even photocopy paper are acceptable alternatives.

Remove the wet waste from the area you are using to dry your material as it will contribute to high moisture levels in the room and slow down the drying process. A fan and/or an open window in the room gently moving the air around will also speed up the drying process.

As you replace the wet towelling, put the new towelling in a different place in the pile of papers – This will remove the water from the pile more evenly. As the pages start to dry out, the paper regains some strength and individual pages can be separated.

Working from the least burnt edge, use a blunt knife like a butter knife, to lift the edge along its length. Once you have enough to hold on to, pull it back and lay it over a cardboard roll, e.g. the core from your roll of paper towel. This will support the fragile edge as you lift the page off the wet stack.

Watch all the edges as you lift to avoid tearing. Once you have the page free, lay it out flat on absorbent paper and leave it to dry completely. You will probably need to change the paper it is laying on, as it takes up moisture from the page.

Keep repeating this process until you have used all your available workspace.

Leave the pages spread out until they are completely dry, then stack them and start the separating process all over again.

Papers that are dry but affected by soot should be dealt with once the wet material is under control.

Using a soft brush (such as one available from art suppliers), brush the loose debris off the papers into a vacuum cleaner nozzle which has had a piece of stocking or fine gauze secured over the end with a rubber band.

Open up the vent on the nozzle to reduce the suction and make it gentler.

Soot can be picked off paper by rolling a piece of kneadable eraser across the surface; these are available from art suppliers.

Charred paper will not cope with this much pressure, so avoid these areas.

Portions of your material may well be in such a fragile state that they cannot be easily separated for drying. If the fire was extensive, you may not be able to deal with all affected material in time to avoid mould growth, particularly if the affected area is very warm and damp.

If you feel you can’t attend to the material within a couple of days, wet paper material can be safely frozen and recovered later.

Wrap flat bundles of papers (no more than 1–2cm in thickness) in greaseproof paper and put them flat in a regular domestic freezer. Once you have the time and the space, you can take them out bit-by-bit and dry them.

Do not freeze magnetic media such as cassettes and floppy disks.

Books

Do not try and close books that have fallen open and become wet. The paper will have expanded and if the book is closed, the spine may break under pressure.

To dry wet books that are open, lay them out on absorbent paper and insert paper towelling about every 50 pages to begin taking up moisture. Proceed from here as per the instructions for the stack of paper.

Books that are closed should be stood on absorbent paper, on their bottom edges and fanned open. Separate a few pages at a time, as they begin to dry out and regain strength.

Books can be frozen and attended to later.

Each book should be wrapped in greaseproof paper and placed in a domestic freezer. Books that are open should be laid in the freezer horizontally, on their backs. Books that are closed but wet should be wrapped and stood in the freezer vertically, resting on the spine.

Books with glossy, coated paper, e.g. large format picture books, have a low recovery rate as the pages permanently stick together when they become wet and then start to dry. If it is possible to replace the book, do so, rather than trying to salvage it. If you need to salvage the book, freeze it as soon as possible.

When you are ready, defrost the book, separate the pages while they are still wet and interleave them with greaseproof paper or baking paper.

To remove soot from dry books, refer to the instructions for paper above.

Photographs

Black & white photographs can be kept wet in cold, clean water until there is time to separate and dry them all individually. They can be kept this way for up to 48 hours and still be salvageable. When you are ready, remove bundles of prints from the water, and gently separate each print.

Colour photographs need to be separated and dried immediately or the dyes that make up the image may begin to run. Other photographic media e.g. colour and black & white negatives, transparencies and glass negatives are also too vulnerable to be left wet for long periods. These should also be carefully separated and dried.

If there is not the time or space to immediately dry wet photographs, both colour and black & white photographs can be frozen provided they are first separated and are interleaved with greaseproof paper before being frozen.

Transparencies in glass mounts need to be removed from the mounts, as they won’t dry behind the glass.

Once the photograph, negatives and transparencies have been separated, they can be pegged on an inside line made of nylon fishing line or similar material, to air-dry. Or else the photographs can be laid out to dry individually, face up, on absorbent paper. Photographs may tend to curl a little as they dry but this is unavoidable. If, on drying, the photographs curl to an extreme degree contact National Archives for advice on how best to flatten them out.

Photographs that have been affected by heat and water and allowed to dry out, may have stuck together to form blocks of prints. These can sometimes, but not always, be separated by gently popping them apart with a small spatula or blunt knife inserted between each print. This is most likely to work with modern, resin-coated papers. Older prints on fibre-based papers will not respond as well and you may not be able to salvage them.

To remove soot from photographs refer to the instructions for paper above.

Framed works of art

If the glass is intact, the object inside the frame may not have suffered too much damage. When you have the time and the space, un-frame the item and open the mount if possible, to allow the item to air-dry.

If the item is adhered between the mount boards, don’t try and separate it yourself – Seek the advice of a qualified conservator. Contact National Archives for a list of approved professionals.

Paintings with a layer of soot over their surface should be cleaned by a qualified conservator.

If the surface of the painting is wet, don’t wipe or blot the surface. Remove the painting from the frame, but not its stretcher. Lay the painting flat, face up and allow it to air dry.

Floppy disks

If you have back-up disks off-site, avoid attempting to salvage the damaged ones.

Floppy disks cannot be frozen.

If you need to salvage the disks, rinse debris off the disk jacket with clean running water. Undo the jacket and lift the disk out. Rinse the disk in clean water and very gently blot it with a lint-free cloth. Put the dry disk in a new jacket, and copy the information on to a new disk. The jacket used to hold the salvaged disk can be used to hold subsequent disks during copying.

If the disk is warped from the effects of heat, it is unlikely the information can be retrieved.

Video- and audio-cassettes

If tapes can be replaced, don’t worry about trying to salvage them. If the tapes are irreplaceable, it may be possible to salvage them.

If the tape has been wet, first wipe dry the outside of the casing, then inspect the cassette to see if water has penetrated to the inside. If it has, undo the screws holding the halves of the outer casing and open up the cassette. Then very gently blot the edge of the tape pack and leave the tape to air-dry.

Reassemble the cassette and copy the tape as soon as possible. It may not be possible to ascertain for sure whether moisture has penetrated to the inside of the cassette. In such cases it would be wise to open up the casing and let it air-dry for a few hours before putting it back together.

If the cassettes are warped from heat exposure, it may be possible to transfer the tape and reels to a new cassette. Seek advice from National Archives before attempting this.

CDs

Do not attempt to salvage CDs that are easily replaced.

Wipe the CD case dry and clean and then open it up. If the CD inside is dry and clean, leave it to air-dry for a couple of hours, then return it to the case. If it is wet or dirty, gently rinse the CD in clean water and stand it vertically to air-dry. If necessary, blot dry with a lint-free cloth.

Do not wipe the disk, as you may scratch the track.

Glossy paper CD inserts need to be treated as for glossy paper books – Either freeze them immediately or separate each page, interleave and dry immediately.

If the CDs are warped from heat exposure, they may not be salvageable.