Smoke incident near National Library

26 September 2017

A minor electrical issue in a plant room in Rugby House, next to the National Library in Molesworth St, triggered a fire alarm late last night.

The Library’s fire alarm system is designed to pick up very small smoke particles to ensure there is early warning of any possible event.

The Library’s monitoring system calls the fire service automatically when it detects any changes to the environment. The fire service detected no sign of fire.

There was no danger or damage to any of the Library’s collections, which include the constitutional documents held at National Library: the 1835 Declaration of Independence, The 1840 Treaty of Waitangi and the 1893 Women’s Suffrage Petition.

The three documents are well protected and our systems are designed to pick up very small smoke particles so we get early warning of any event.