ABSTRACT
Fire is the major threat to the existence of museums and other cultural institutions. Institution managers often associate fire protection with the physical security program. Managers might recover stolen items and repair damaged objects, but fire destroys quickly and permanently. Many developing museums in old buildings with poor electrical wiring and little fire protection are threats to the collections themselves. Protection from fire is often the most critical part of a cultural property protection program. A fire has occurred in almost every institution. Some fires are small and not reported. Some managers fail to report large fires. Most persons might extinguish a small fire. A small fire that no one reports or that no one extinguishes becomes a large fire in only a few minutes. Very few persons know how to extinguish a large fire. Protection managers report every fire to the fire service in order to learn fire prevention techniques that prevent the next small fire from becoming a major loss. Protection managers require fire prevention to be the business of every staff member.
