[MSN] Firefighters say motors in air circulation system overheated; no damage to Clifton Park-Halfmoon Public Library.

[Museum Security Network Mailinglist]

Library smoke traced to fans 
Firefighters say motors in air circulation system overheated; no damage to
Clifton Park-Halfmoon Public Library  
  
By BOB GARDINIER, Staff writer 

First published: Monday, January 1, 2007 
 
CLIFTON PARK -- Fire officials responded Saturday and Sunday to smoke
conditions inside the new Clifton Park-Halfmoon Public Library.
A call went out at about 11 a.m. Sunday for smoke coming from the building
at 475 Moe Road.

   
"We had a smoky haze situation inside," said Second Assistant Fire Chief
John VanChance from the Clifton Park-Halfmoon Department. "This is second
day in a row we were called. Looks like the building's circulation fan
motors were overheating."

The library, which was to open from noon to 5 p.m., opened shortly after
fire crews left the scene just after noon. It was closed for a time Saturday
as well, but reopened.

VanChance said library officials would have to sit down with engineers in
coming days to solve the overheating problem in the air circulation system.

There were no injuries or damage to the library's collections from either
fire call, officials said.

David Golden, vice president of the library's board of trustees and a
spokesman for the group, said two fans on the library's roof malfunctioned
in the last two days.

On Saturday, the fan leading into the library director's office failed and
on Sunday it was the one that fed the treasurer's office that prompted the
fire call, he said.

"These were two similar but different instances, but not the same thing
recurring," Golden said, adding that it was too early to tell why the motors
overheated.

Despite the problem, he said there was never an "open flame" caused by the
problem or a threat to the building.

The library will be closed today the New Year holiday.

The $15 million, 55,000-square-foot library held a grand opening Dec. 11.

Dubbed the "Taj Mahal" by critics, the site houses more than 150,000 items.

Two years ago, a slim majority of voters in Halfmoon and Clifton Park agreed
with the board that the old Clifton Country Road site was too small to serve
the needs of the district and approved the much larger Moe Road facility.

The environmentally sensitive, or "green," building was designed by
architects Woodward Connor Gillies & Seleman, aided by a grant from the New
York State Energy Research and Development Authority.

Practically everything in the library was selected with the environment in
mind, from the masonry and structural steel forged from scrap metal, to the
window wall that allows extensive use of daylight, to carpets made from
bio-based fibers, recycled tires and plastic, and counter tops made from
recycled metal and resins, according to the library's Web site. 

Bob Gardinier can be reached at 454-5696 or by e-mail at
bgardinier at timesunion.com. 
 
http://timesunion.com/