1973 National Archives Fire

The 1973 National Archives Fire, a severe blow to the National Archives and Records Administration of the United States, was a disastrous fire that occurred at the National Personnel Records Center (NPRC) in St. Louis, Missouri, on July 12, 1973. NPRC, the custodian of military service records, lost approximately 16-18 million Official Military Personnel Files as a result of the fire.

Affected records

The affected record collections included:
* U.S. Army personnel discharged November 1, 1912, to January 1, 1960
* U.S. Air Force personnel discharged September 25, 1947, to January 1, 1964, with names alphabetically after Hubbard, James E.
* Some U.S. Army Reserve personnel who received final discharge as late as 1964

Navy and Marine Corps records

On the morning of the National Archives Fire, a very small number of U.S. Navy, United States Coast Guard, and U.S. Marine Corps records were out of their normal file area being worked on as active requests by employees of the National Archives and Records Administration who maintained their offices on the 6th floor of the building. When the NPRC fire began, these Navy and Marine Corps records were caught in the section of the building which experienced the most damage in the fire.

The exact number of Navy and Marine Corps records destroyed in the fire is unknown, since such records were being removed only for a few days while information was retrieved from the record and were not normally stored in the area of the building which experienced the fire. Estimates indicate that the number of affected records was no more than two to three dozen. Since such records are considered "special cases", the present policy of NPRC is to state that there were no Navy and Marine Corps records destroyed in the fire.

Cause

The exact cause of the 1973 National Archives Fire was never fully determined. An investigation in 1975 revealed that the affected floor, where the fire had started, had been under extreme temperature with little or no ventilation. It was speculated that air pressure on the floor had reached such a level that, combined with the very high temperatures in the enclosed space, the brittle and dry records began to spontaneously combust. The investigation also did not rule out embers of cigarettes as a possible cause, which were present in several trashcans.

Damage and reconstruction

The 1973 fire destroyed the entire 6th floor of the National Personnel Records Center. Damage from the fire can still be seen today. In 1974, a massive reconstruction effort was begun to restore the service records which were destroyed. In most cases where a military record has been presumed destroyed, NPRC is able to reconstruct basic service information, such as military date of entry, date of discharge, character of service, and final rank.

References

* Case Reference Guide (CRG) of the Military Personnel Records Center
* "The 1973 Fire" - Public information pamphlet published by the National Personnel Records Center
* "How to obtain Veteran Records" - Instruction sheet from the office of Senator Ted Kennedy which mentions the 1973 fire

External links

* [http://www.archives.gov/st-louis/military-personnel/fire-1973.html National Archives 1973 NPRC Fire Information Page]
* [http://www.archives.gov/st-louis/military-personnel/nprc-fire.pdf An essay regarding the 1973 NPRC Fire]