NFPA Journal - January/February 2020 - 60
Perspectives
SAFE SPACE
The Getty Center's facilities are so wildfire-resistant that firefighters used
them as a rest area and lookout tower as they battled the Getty Fire on the
west side of Los Angeles in October. At right, fire-resistant stone tiles make
up much of the exterior building components of the Getty Center's facilities.
NFPA Journal recently spoke with Michael
Rogers, director of facilities at the Getty Center,
about the wildfire and how the museum and
other Getty facilities stay safe during California's
increasingly active wildfire season.
How close did the fire get to the museum?
The Getty Fire started off of our property, north of
us, in the early morning hours of October 28. But
as it grew, it came down onto our property and
actually burned areas of what we call our openspace property, which is just to the north of the
Getty Center proper.
nfpa.org/
perspectives
Read blogs posted
by the Getty Center
chronicling the
experience of
its staff during
the Getty Fire in
October.
Was this the first fire on Getty property?
No, we had a fire in 2009 that was on our property, but it wasn't as large as this one. In 2017,
we had a fire on the east side of the 405, but the
flames never made it over that barrier.
As the fire bore down on the Getty Center,
were you nervous or confident?
I was confident. We have strong policies and
procedures in place. A fire emergency on our
property is something we plan for. We felt very
confident we were ready.
60 | NFPA JOURNAL * J A N U A R Y / F E B R U A R Y 2 0 2 0
What's the procedure when there's a high
wildfire risk or news of an impending fire?
When we see a red flag warning, which is a warning put out by the weather service to alert people
of a high wildfire risk, we immediately put into
motion procedures to carefully monitor the
temperature, humidity, wind, and other conditions around the Getty Center. We pre-deploy staff
to the center. We make sure we're ready should
something happen, day or night. Those are the
kind of steps we take right away. We say, "Let's
get ready for a fire, let's make sure our fire procedures are ready to go." I was part of that response
during the Getty Fire. I was on site as part of the
emergency operations control command center.
Shortly after the Getty Fire began, the center
pushed out information that seemed to be
aimed at quelling fears over why the museum
wasn't evacuating artwork. Why would
removing the artwork be more dangerous
than leaving it inside during a wildfire?
In the planning and design of the Getty Center,
thinking about fire both internally and externally
was really integral. Fire has been something we've
thought about for a very, very long time. The
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NFPA Journal - January/February 2020
Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of NFPA Journal - January/February 2020
Contents
NFPA Journal - January/February 2020 - Cover1
NFPA Journal - January/February 2020 - Cover2
NFPA Journal - January/February 2020 - 1
NFPA Journal - January/February 2020 - 2
NFPA Journal - January/February 2020 - 3
NFPA Journal - January/February 2020 - Contents
NFPA Journal - January/February 2020 - 5
NFPA Journal - January/February 2020 - 6
NFPA Journal - January/February 2020 - 7
NFPA Journal - January/February 2020 - 8
NFPA Journal - January/February 2020 - 9
NFPA Journal - January/February 2020 - 10
NFPA Journal - January/February 2020 - 11
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NFPA Journal - January/February 2020 - 16
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NFPA Journal - January/February 2020 - 35
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NFPA Journal - January/February 2020 - Cover3
NFPA Journal - January/February 2020 - Cover4
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