Other Business New York City, NY – Sprinkler system helps control fire at American Museum of Natural History December 14, 2014 viking210 The blaze started when maintenance workers were using a blow torch to repair an AC unit on the outside of the building’s first floor around 3:30 p.m. One of the unit’s filters caught fire, sending clouds of thick, black smoke circulating into the hall of Northwest Coast Indians, the FDNY said. Several artifacts at the American Museum of Natural History suffered minor damage when a fire on the outside of the building sent smoke circulating inside, activating the emergency sprinkler system, officials said. Schiralli said three or four thousand people self evacuated from the Museum while firefighters went to work extinguishing the blaze. The extent of the damage to the artifacts was not immediately clear but museum staff insisted the they would be open for business as usual on Saturday.
