The Records Fire

摘要

Amassive orange glow lit up the night sky just after midnight on July 12, 1973, as a devastating fire engulfed the National Personnel Records Center in St. Louis, Mo. It took just 4 minutes and 20 seconds after the alarm sounded for firefighters to arrive on scene. Although no one was injured in the horrific fire, it was already too late for millions of official military personnel files. The National Archives estimates that 16 million to 18 million files were destroyed in the blaze, including 75 percent of all Air Force records for personnel discharged between Sept. 25, 1947, and Jan. 1, 1964. Roughly 80 percent of Army records for personnel discharged between Nov. 1, 1912 and Jan. 1, 1960 also were destroyed.