<div dir="ltr"><div>I have heard that standard refrigerators and freezers generate sparks and are not safe for storing flammable materials. Manufacturers do make flammable-safe freezers. Here is an excerpt from a UC Berkeley document that is available online if you search on "flammable safe freezers" (as are a lot of sites selling them). I didn't realize that it's not possible to get ultracool freezers this way??? Worth further investigation.<br><br>"It is unsafe to store flammable liquids in domestic refrigerators or freezers. Explosions,<br>injuries, and costly laboratory fires have resulted from this dangerous practice. . . . Flammable material refrigerators and freezers are designed to prevent ignition of<br>flammable vapors inside the storage compartment and should be purchased whenever<br>a refrigerator is needed to store flammable liquid. . . .The refrigerators must be U.L. Listed as Flammable Material Storage Refrigerators. Ultra low freezers (less than -40˚F) generally cannot be approved for storage of flammable materials."<br><br></div>This could obviously be a problem for a lot of genetic samples!<br><div><div><div><div class="gmail_extra"><br><div class="gmail_quote">On Wed, Jun 22, 2016 at 12:01 PM, <span dir="ltr"><<a href="mailto:nhcoll-l-request@mailman.yale.edu" target="_blank">nhcoll-l-request@mailman.yale.edu</a>></span> wrote:<br><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0px 0px 0px 0.8ex;border-left:1px solid rgb(204,204,204);padding-left:1ex"><br>
<br>
Message: 1<br>
Date: Tue, 21 Jun 2016 18:17:52 +0000<br>
From: "Sarah K. Huber" <<a href="mailto:skhuber@vims.edu">skhuber@vims.edu</a>><br>
Subject: [Nhcoll-l] Fire Marshall Regulations<br>
To: "<a href="mailto:nhcoll-l@mailman.yale.edu">nhcoll-l@mailman.yale.edu</a>" <<a href="mailto:nhcoll-l@mailman.yale.edu">nhcoll-l@mailman.yale.edu</a>><br>
Message-ID:<br>
<<a href="mailto:7CE771B434EF9746B5E88386824839645F20ACEE@mboxes2.campus.vims.edu">7CE771B434EF9746B5E88386824839645F20ACEE@mboxes2.campus.vims.edu</a>><br>
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<br>
I might be opening a can of worms here, but I would be interested in hearing what regulations your local fire marshall has put into place regarding your wet collections (I am interested only in collections that store fluid preserved specimens in ethanol or isopropyl, including -80 freezers with tissues in ethanol). Everything from fire suppression systems to allowable jar sizes (jars no bigger or smaller than X). While we have not had any issues with our fire marshall, I would like to know what I might be up against in case we ever have problems in the future. We are also trying to plan for future renovation of our space, so having an idea of what might be required by a fire marshall for a facility such as ours would be helpful.<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
Sarah K. Huber, Ph.D.<br>
Curatorial Associate, VIMS Nunnally Ichthyology Collection<br>
Office <a href="tel:804.684.7104" value="+18046847104">804.684.7104</a> | Collection <a href="tel:804.684.7285" value="+18046847285">804.684.7285</a><br>
<a href="mailto:skhuber@vims.edu">skhuber@vims.edu</a> | <a href="https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=http-3A__www.vims.edu&d=CwMFaQ&c=-dg2m7zWuuDZ0MUcV7Sdqw&r=CLFZJ3fvGSmDp7xK1dNZfh6uGV_h-8NVlo3fXNoRNzI&m=XeCAHsW7MFCIpyfJndMp7C7TmSIRgNY9fKxmHC0DLZ8&s=xcKBVbjs2yxYssi-YR4ZdNr40zOaWb6mRMBtItgsdVI&e=" rel="noreferrer" target="_blank">www.vims.edu</a><br>
PO Box 1346 | 1375 Greate Rd., Gloucester Pt., VA 23062<br>
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Message: 2<br>
Date: Tue, 21 Jun 2016 21:40:23 +0000<br>
From: "Gegick, Patricia, DCA" <<a href="mailto:patricia.gegick@state.nm.us">patricia.gegick@state.nm.us</a>><br>
Subject: Re: [Nhcoll-l] Fire Marshall Regulations<br>
To: "Sarah K. Huber" <<a href="mailto:skhuber@vims.edu">skhuber@vims.edu</a>>, "<a href="mailto:nhcoll-l@mailman.yale.edu">nhcoll-l@mailman.yale.edu</a>"<br>
<<a href="mailto:nhcoll-l@mailman.yale.edu">nhcoll-l@mailman.yale.edu</a>><br>
Message-ID: <3380be6bdba8428e831d6fac4543b9a1@MBXCAS002.nmes.lcl><br>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"<br>
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Sarah,<br>
You will get many answers to this request, I'm sure. Our fire marshal requires that we keep all of our fluid specimens in the yellow flammable cabinets that were made for storing flammable liquids, not museum collections. There are no cross bars to prevent the jars from falling off the shelves, the shelving adjustment is minimal and some of the ones ordered by a non-collections purchaser have self-closing doors, which are dangerous and more than a pain in the neck, in my opinion. Previously, we used metal shelving in metal cabinets specifically designed for fluid specimen storage (which 25 years ago was fine with the fire marshal), but when we moved into the new building, the new fire marshal said that those cabinets were not "flame proof" and we couldn't occupy our building until we obtained the yellow cabinets. If you plan renovations, be sure that that the fire marshal and your architect are on the same page, i.e., interpret the code the same way with respect to what<br>
type of storage facility you are. This affects all of the issues like wall types, sprinkler density, drains, hood type, etc. Good luck to you.<br>
Patti<br>
<br>
Patricia J. Gegick<br>
Bioscience Collections Specialist<br>
Department of Collections and Research<br>
New Mexico Museum of Natural History & Science<br>
1801 Mountain Road, NW<br>
Albuquerque, NM 87104-1375<br>
Phone: <a href="tel:505.841.2867" value="+15058412867">505.841.2867</a> Fax: <a href="tel:505.841.2808" value="+15058412808">505.841.2808</a><br>
email: <a href="mailto:patricia.gegick@state.nm.us">patricia.gegick@state.nm.us</a><mailto:<a href="mailto:patricia.gegick@state.nm.us">patricia.gegick@state.nm.us</a>><br>
"Never argue with stupid people, they will drag you down to their level and then beat you with experience." Mark Twain<br>
<br>
From: <a href="mailto:nhcoll-l-bounces@mailman.yale.edu">nhcoll-l-bounces@mailman.yale.edu</a> [mailto:<a href="mailto:nhcoll-l-bounces@mailman.yale.edu">nhcoll-l-bounces@mailman.yale.edu</a>] On Behalf Of Sarah K. Huber<br>
Sent: Tuesday, June 21, 2016 12:18 PM<br>
To: <a href="mailto:nhcoll-l@mailman.yale.edu">nhcoll-l@mailman.yale.edu</a><br>
Subject: [Nhcoll-l] Fire Marshall Regulations<br>
<br>
<br>
I might be opening a can of worms here, but I would be interested in hearing what regulations your local fire marshall has put into place regarding your wet collections (I am interested only in collections that store fluid preserved specimens in ethanol or isopropyl, including -80 freezers with tissues in ethanol). Everything from fire suppression systems to allowable jar sizes (jars no bigger or smaller than X). While we have not had any issues with our fire marshall, I would like to know what I might be up against in case we ever have problems in the future. We are also trying to plan for future renovation of our space, so having an idea of what might be required by a fire marshall for a facility such as ours would be helpful.<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
Sarah K. Huber, Ph.D.<br>
Curatorial Associate, VIMS Nunnally Ichthyology Collection<br>
Office <a href="tel:804.684.7104" value="+18046847104">804.684.7104</a> | Collection <a href="tel:804.684.7285" value="+18046847285">804.684.7285</a><br>
<a href="mailto:skhuber@vims.edu">skhuber@vims.edu</a><mailto:<a href="mailto:skhuber@vims.edu">skhuber@vims.edu</a>> | <a href="https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=http-3A__www.vims.edu&d=CwMFaQ&c=-dg2m7zWuuDZ0MUcV7Sdqw&r=CLFZJ3fvGSmDp7xK1dNZfh6uGV_h-8NVlo3fXNoRNzI&m=XeCAHsW7MFCIpyfJndMp7C7TmSIRgNY9fKxmHC0DLZ8&s=xcKBVbjs2yxYssi-YR4ZdNr40zOaWb6mRMBtItgsdVI&e=" rel="noreferrer" target="_blank">www.vims.edu</a><<a href="https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=http-3A__www.vims.edu&d=CwIFAg&c=-dg2m7zWuuDZ0MUcV7Sdqw&r=CLFZJ3fvGSmDp7xK1dNZfh6uGV_h-8NVlo3fXNoRNzI&m=n8gxwVME7doSaIyZccvPGucwIwxIP_mLm1IFg9YND4k&s=A66qs26XZz_U4G_LavMO-wjDelsp0-2XKduWiOBQxfY&e=" rel="noreferrer" target="_blank">https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=http-3A__www.vims.edu&d=CwIFAg&c=-dg2m7zWuuDZ0MUcV7Sdqw&r=CLFZJ3fvGSmDp7xK1dNZfh6uGV_h-8NVlo3fXNoRNzI&m=n8gxwVME7doSaIyZccvPGucwIwxIP_mLm1IFg9YND4k&s=A66qs26XZz_U4G_LavMO-wjDelsp0-2XKduWiOBQxfY&e=</a> ><br>
PO Box 1346 | 1375 Greate Rd., Gloucester Pt., VA 23062<br>
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