REPORT# 1

EL DORADO HISTORICAL MUSEUM – FIRE RISKS AND POTENTIAL LIABILITIES

The recent wildfires in Southern California caused unprecedented destruction, which resulted in the loss of several culturally important structures, including libraries and museums. In El Dorado County, the threat of wildfire is nothing new to its residents, and the development and implementation of mitigation strategies are a top priority of the Board of Supervisors. Despite those efforts and those of local fire agencies, city councils, and community action groups, there remains an ever-present risk of devastating loss.

As the El Dorado County Historical Museum in Placerville considers plans to move into a new administrative era, questions about the age, condition, and vulnerability of its facility at 104 Placerville Drive have arisen, especially about the risks it faces due to the potential of a spreading wildfire as well as the potential of on-site fires due to its storage and display of a variety of flammable materials

Some issues to consider:

● In 2003, the El Dorado County Grand Jury made an unannounced visit to the El Dorado County Historical Museum to evaluate the condition of its building and grounds. In its final report, the Grand Jury recommended that a zoned sprinkler system be installed “to protect valuable artifacts and irreplaceable records.” In response to that recommendation, the Museum Administrator said that an assessment was being conducted “to establish the kind of sprinkler system to install.”To date, no zoned fire suppression has been installed in the museum. It relies, instead, on portable fire extinguishers.

Andrew Wilson, who oversaw the Smithsonian Institution’s fire protection program for 32 years, has warned against such a minimal defense. “If one were to examine every cultural property (historic building, museum, library, place of worship, etc.) lost to a fire, the only factor they would share in common would be lack of an automatic fire suppression system.”

● On February 6, 2025, a Public Records Act Request was submitted to the El Dorado County Fire District, which asked for “a full and complete copy of all documents, print and digital, generated in preparation for and after the execution of any Fire and Life Safety Inspection conducted at the El Dorado County Historical Museum” since January 1, 2005.  located at 104 Placerville Drive, Placerville, California from the period: 1 January 2005 to 5 February 2024. The sought documents would include, but not be limited to: letters, internal memos, inter-agency memos, staff reports, and emails.” 

● On February 7, 2025, Chief Tim Cordero of the El Dorado County Fire District responded, saying “After reviewing our current Records Managment System (RMS) and the archives in our previous RMS platform, we do not have any copies or reports pertaining to 104 Placerville Drive as requested.

Without the recent performance of a Fire and Life Inspection, there is no assurance that the El Dorado Historical Museum is operating in compliance with prevailing fire codes; thus, potentially increasing the risk of endangerment to staff and museum patrons due to undetected hazards. Additionally, El Dorado County, in the event of a fire that caused personal injury or death, could find itself facing a dramatically increased liability, as it could be seen that it was negligent in not insuring that proper fire safety measures were undertaken.