Vital Records Protection at the Municipal Level

It goes without saying that all levels of government should be prepared to protect vital public records against fire, flood or any other type of disaster. From the U.S. Constitution to a simple parking ticket, important and vital governmental documents should be kept in fireproof file cabinets, safes or vaults. Federal, state and local govern¬ments should all have their own specific rules and regulations when it comes to vital records protection. While vital records protection at the state and federal level is regularly addressed and heavily regulated, things are different at the smaller city and town levels.

The town of Cape Carteret on the coast of North Carolina is subject to state regulations regarding records protection because of its proximity to the ocean and the possibility of a hurricane hitting the coast, devastating buildings and destroying everything in its path, including important files and documents. Carol Fox, deputy clerk for Cape Carteret said that "Minutes from the bi-monthly board meetings, personnel records, financial documents, historic town maps, and other permanent records are kept in our four fireproof file cabinets. Thankfully, we purchased these proactively rather than reactively to a disaster where we could have lost very important municipal documents."

Unfortunately, not all municipalities have regulations on what needs to be protected and the method of protection. For example, the small town of Elida, NM, with less than 500 residents, does not have any local, state or federal rules on vital record protection. According to Sandra Monks, Elida’s Town Clerk, traffic citations and other important court correspondence are kept in a fireproof file.

On the other end of the spectrum, some local government offices keep all records in UL (Underwriter’s Laboratory)-rated fireproof file cabinets. Underwriters Laboratories Inc. (UL) is an independent, not-for-profit product safety testing and certification organization that tests products for public safety. Fireproof file cabinets and safes with the "UL-rated" seal have been tested and passed according to UL’s specifications.

When a disaster destroys documents it makes proactive protection a very wise decision, whether by law or choice. Fran Leal, office manager for the town of Sterling in northwest Illinois, endorses the protection of all office documents. "Here in Sterling, all of our office documents are kept in fireproof file cabinets," she said. "Also, any of our non-essential daily documents are backed up on disks, which are in turn stored in fireproof containers. It gives us peace of mind knowing that the documents are secure and will not need to be replaced following a disaster."

Not all municipalities have been so lucky. In April 2002 a devastating fire destroyed nearly everything in the municipal offices of Ovid, CO. The only items salvaged were those that were stored in the fireproof safes in use at the time. "It was a huge mess. We were not properly prepared or protected at all. Thousands of important documents were gone forever after that day," commented Carol Dunker, Ovid Town Clerk.

A more recent example of a town losing almost everything due to fire damage happened on May 27, 2003. The municipal building in Doniphan, MO housed the town clerk, courthouse, mayor’s office, police station and prison. On that particular day, a prisoner stuck a piece of lead in a socket to create a flame for the purpose of lighting a cigarette. A few moments later the fire in the walls behind the socket spread throughout the building, which would eventually cause major structural damage. Barbara Jarrett, Doniphan City Clerk at the time, spoke about the damage caused by the prisoner. "It was a real disaster. All of the prisoners had to be relocated to another facility while the fire ravaged the building. After the fire was extinguished and we could assess the actual damage, we found that about 95% of all the documents had been destroyed. Even the ones in the fireproof containers were badly damaged because of smoke and water entering the container."

Mayor William Rosenblatt, Loch Arbour, NJ, understands the need for vital record protection. "Although we have never lost any documents because of a fire, I fully appreci¬ated the need for a way to secure them," he said. "Document recovery can prove to be an impossible task after a disaster. I’ve been mayor of this small town for nearly ten years and can only imagine the amount of work that would be required to restore or replace some of the documents that can be as old as 50 years. In my opinion every office, not just a governmental office should take whatever measures necessary to protect their most vital records."

Whether local, state or federal, all governmental agencies and municipalities should be prepared and protected for a disaster of any kind. Keeping records secure and intact is essential to moving forward following a catastrophe.

About the Author
Van Carlisle is President and CEO of Fire King International, Inc., a security and loss prevention company.

Underwriters Laboratories Inc. (UL) is an independent, not-for-profit product safety testing and certification organization that tests products for public safety.