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Fire reported at RTPI

Photo by Cameron Hurst City fire crews responded to a fire alarm at the Roger Tory Peterson Institute on Curtis Street. Sprinklers put out the fire on the second floor but might have caused water damage to a small area of the facility.

JAMESTOWN — A fire that broke out Thursday morning at the Roger Tory Peterson Institute of Natural History was contained quickly, but a sprinkler system that went off might have caused water damage to a small area of the facility.

Firefighters from the Jamestown Fire Department were called to the 311 Curtis St. property around 10:20 a.m. for a fire alarm. The building was evacuated, and when firefighters arrived, smoke was located on the second floor.

The fire was reported out around 10:35 a.m., with crews looking for extension. The property’s sprinkler system went off as a result of the fire. Firefighters later requested tarps to cover items inside.

“The fire was contained to a pretty small area of the building,” Jamestown battalion Chief Brian Achterberg said. “The fire was put out by the sprinkler system for the most part and that did what it did, but when the sprinklers turned on it did cause some water damage.”

Achterberg said fire crews worked “hand-in-hand” with Jamestown Community College maintenance staff and CEO Arthur Pearson “to salvage as many things as possible” since the damage was in close proximity to the institute’s archive room.

“We immediately started, once we knew the fire was controlled, we were able to work with maintenance to shut off the sprinkler system,” he said. “That ceased and we began to salvage operations tarping everything we could and containing the water damage to as small a place as possible.”

The water damage, Archterberg said, also affected the gift shop off the front lobby.

Off-duty firefighters were summoned to the scene, along with fire investigators. That investigation, Achterberg said, had yet to be completed and no cause has been determined at this time.

“No one got hurt and a lot of stuff was saved,” he added. “Those are super people with the college as well as the maintenance staff. We all worked hand-in-hand. It was very efficient and we were able to save as much stuff as possible and it really did affect a small percentage of the whole building.”

Founded in 1984 and opened in 1993, the institute’s mission is “to honor and continue the work of Roger Tory Peterson,” a noted naturalist, ornithologist, illustrator and educator born in Jamestown, “to foster understanding, appreciation and protection of the natural world.”

Attempts to reach the institute had yet to be returned as of press time.

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