National Archives Building Has Small Fire

    Dec. 21, 2003
    An electrical short circuit sparked a small fire in a storage area at the National Archives building, and about 100 boxes housing records from the 19th century sustained water damage.
    WASHINGTON (AP) -- An electrical short circuit sparked a small fire in a storage area at the National Archives building, and about 100 boxes housing records from the 19th century sustained water damage.

    However, the documents inside the boxes, which are designed to soak up water, were not damaged after the fire late Saturday night, archives spokeswoman Susan Cooper said Sunday.

    The fire, which broke out in an upper-level storage area, was immediately extinguished by building sprinklers. The incident occurred in a part of the building not open to the public and far from displays of the Declaration of Independence, Constitution and Bill of Rights.

    The damaged storage boxes contained land records from the 1800s and pension files for War of 1812 veterans.

    ``The best guess at the moment is that the damage is not significant,'' Cooper said.

    The building was scheduled to open on time Sunday to the public.

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