(no subject)
Fire heavily damages Dallas museum
04:01 PM CDT on Tuesday, June 28, 2005
From WFAA-TV Staff Reports
Dallas Fire-Rescue personnel battled a six-alarm fire at the Biblical Arts Center museum and theater near NorthPark Center shopping mall in North Dallas.
The fire was first reported shortly after 11 a.m. at the center, located in the 7500 block of Park Lane at Boedeker Drive just west of Central Expressway.
"There was actually a group inside taking a tour, and that group smelled smoke inside, so they notified the staff," said Dallas Fire-Rescue spokesman Lt. Joel Lavender. "The staff made sure that everybody was evacuated without hurt, harm or danger."
Smoke could be seen billowing from the roof, and scanner reports indicated heavy fire on the building's interior. Some 120 fire personnel and 20 pieces of heavy firefighting equipment surrounded the building. Park Lane and Boedeker Drive were closed in the vicinity of the fire.
No injuries were reported.
The Biblical Arts Center is a non-denominational, non-profit organization with a mission to help people "more clearly envision the places, events and people of the Bible." The center’s most notable permanent work was "The Miracle of the Pentecost" - 124 feet wide and 20 feet tall. It took almost three years for mural artist Torger Thompson to complete his historical interpretation of the day of Pentecost.
After trucks with ladder hoses to flood the roof and interior, firefighters were able to enter the building and begin rescuing some of the art. About 1:15 p.m., they started taking objects out through a west entrance - including paintings taller than the men carrying them. Among the sculptures and paintings were framed pictures of Pope John Paul II.
Some of the artworks had frayed edges and obvious smoke damage; about two dozen rescued paintings and pictures were leaned up against a brick wall. The building looked unsalvageable.
“This is a horrible loss for the City of Dallas,” said Scott Peck, the center's director.
Dallas Fire-Rescue officials said the flames were constrained within the building by the way the building was constructed, making the heat within at first too intense to allow firefighters to work inside. They said the air within was poisonous, with no visibility.
"We have unique and additional challenges with this fire," Lavender said. "Not only do we have sensitive material inside, we also have a building that's not sprinklered. The building was built before the code required sprinklers."
Lavender added that the challenges were multiplied by the temperature, which was approaching 100 degrees.
"We want to make sure our firefighters are safe, our firefighters are well; we want to make sure that they're able to handle the task at hand," he said.
In 2003, the Biblical Arts Center drew thousands to the exhibit "From the Dead Sea Scrolls to the Forbidden Book," a $15 million collection of manuscripts and Bibles.
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