Archivists racing to save records after Aberdeen fire

Published 1:30 am Friday, June 15, 2018

Associated Press

ABERDEEN — Washington state archivists and others are trying to save historic artifacts after a fire destroyed the armory building in Aberdeen that housed the Aberdeen History Museum.

The June 9 fire destroyed exhibits, including one of Kurt Cobain. The Nirvana frontman grew up in Aberdeen about 100 miles from Seattle. Water also damaged the museum’s historic records that were stored in the basement.

State archivist Steve Excell says two truckloads of photographs, negatives and other records were taken to a warehouse near Olympia. He said Friday that archivists and volunteers will be working through the weekend to painstakingly save the records before mold or other damage sets in.

Excell thinks they’ll able to save most of the records retrieved from the basement.

No one was hurt in the blaze that gutted the two-story structure.