27/04/2013 Fire Update

Further to a fire at the National Library of Wales yesterday (Friday 26 April). Following the raising of the alarm at approximately 2:40pm the Library conducted a successful and incident free evacuation of the building. The fire services extinguished the fire and began a salvage operation

At present, the fire service is investigating the cause of the fire. The Library will, in due course, be holding its own investigation. Contractors were working on the roof of the building yesterday prior to the outbreak of the fire but at present the Library is not in a position to draw any conclusions from this. The building suffered fire, smoke and water damage to areas used mainly as office space. No storage areas were affected and the only collections to suffer damage were those in use by staff in those areas. The Library is presently working closely with the fire services to asses the damage and to ensure safe entry for the staff to the affected areas.

Arwel Jones on behalf of the Library said “ Our evacuation procedures worked well yesterday and we are now operating an emergency which will safeguard the building and our collections from any further possible damage. Structural engineers are assisting us in this process. Sir Deian Hopkin, The Library’s President, said: ‘I would like to express my relief at the news of the safe evacuation of the Library when the alarm was raised and on behalf of the Library I would like to thank the Mid and West Wales Fire Service for their prompt attendance and their efforts in extinguishing the fire. I would also like to thank the many individuals and organisations for their immediate offers of material assistance and for their expressions of concern at this most difficult moment in the Library’s history

The Library will remain closed to the public on Monday 29 April as we continue to monitor and assess the situation. The Library will issue regular updates to staff and the public via its website, facebook and twitter account.