National Museum of Brazil fire
2018 CE.
Shown on the map at -22.906°, -43.226°.
The National Museum of Brazil was heavily damaged by a large fire which began about 19:30 local time (23:30 UTC) on 2 September 2018. Although some items were saved, it is believed that 92% of its archive of 20 million items was destroyed in the fire. The small number of unscathed items were stored in a separate building which was not damaged. The fire is believed to have started from a malfunctioning air conditioner, and was exacerbated by years of neglect to the building and surrounding infrastructure. First responders fighting the fire were hindered by a lack of water. Rio's fire chief said two nearby fire hydrants had insufficient water, leaving firefighters to resort to pumping water from a nearby lake. According to a CEDAE (Rio de Janeiro's Water and Sewerage State Company) employee, although the hydrants did have water, the water pressure was very low because the building is on top of a hill, making them unusable. Brazilian president Michel Temer said that the loss due to the fire was "incalculable."
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