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Brazil’s National Museum in the Paço de São Cristóvão, Quinta da Boa Vista, Rio de Janeiro, in 2010, eight years before the fire.
Sep 2, 2018Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

Fire Guts Brazil’s National Museum

Two centuries of collections, from Indigenous language recordings to Egyptian mummies, burned in one night.

Shortly after public visiting hours ended on the evening of September 2, 2018, a devastating fire ignited inside the National Museum of Brazil in Rio de Janeiro. The rapid inferno swept through the three-story palace, which was formerly the residence of the Brazilian imperial family. By the time emergency crews arrived, the blaze was consuming an institution that held more than twenty million cataloged items, representing two centuries of scientific, anthropological, and historical heritage.

First responders confronted immediate structural and logistical obstacles upon reaching the site. Rio de Janeiro's fire department reported that the two hydrants closest to the complex lacked sufficient water, forcing crews to draw water directly from a nearby lake. Although dozens of firefighters deployed to the park of Quinta da Boa Vista, the flames spread through the building for hours. The roof and much of the interior collapsed, leaving the main building a gutted shell.

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Sources

  1. Five Things We've Learned Since Brazil's Devastating National Museum Fire (Smithsonian Magazine)
  2. Faulty Air Conditioning Unit Sparked Devastating Brazil National Museum Fire (Smithsonian Magazine)
  3. Brazil Lost 80 Percent of Its National Museum Collection in One Night (Smithsonian Magazine)
  4. National Museum of Brazil fire

Image: Cyro A. Silva from Rio de Janeiro, Brasil · CC BY 2.0 · Wikimedia Commons · cropped