Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE: Fire Damaged Photographs

This is topic Fire Damaged Photographs in forum Film-Yak at Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE.

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Posted by Randy Stankey (Member # 64) on 12-10-2009, 08:29 PM:

The apartment where my brother lives (or used to live) burned down last Sunday. The place is a total loss.

http://yourerie.com/content/fulltext/?cid=89562

That's my brother, Ryan, in the interview.
He lived on the second floor, caddy-corner across the hall from the apartment that was the origin of the fire. His apartment is a virtual 100% loss.

Yesterday, the fire marshal let us into the apartment to salvage what we could. We didn't get much. There were a few books, some small items. That was just about it.

On a small stroke of luck, I ripped the back off a chest of drawers in his bedroom and pulled out his scrapbook and about a dozen envelopes full of family photographs. Surprisingly few of them were damaged beyond recognition. Many of them have 1 to 2 millimeters of charring around the edges which could be carefully cut off. There were several that didn't seem to be damaged at all.

Quite a few of them are dirty and wet. Many of the negatives survived without apparent damage upon visual inspection. A lot of things are stuck together.

I'm just wondering what's the best course of action.

Here's my plan:

1) Sort out all the stuff that's too far gone then find the stuff that's damaged but possibly salvageable. Finally pull out all the stuff that's still good.

2) Separate out all the negatives and carefully set them aside.

3) Try to match up the "gone" prints up with a negative. IF the negative is salvageable, use it to reprint.

There aren't very many "valuable" photos in the bunch so most of them could be just cleaned up, packed away then stored again. We originally thought they would be a total loss so anything we gain out of this is a bonus.

What do you think would be the best method of cleaning up old photos and negatives damaged by fire?

Could I use a clean developing tray filled with a solution of distilled water and Kodak Photo-Flo then carefully rewash them, in just like the way they were washed when they were originally made.

I do know how to develop and print B/W film by hand and I have used automated machines to create color prints.

What do you think is the best course of action?

Posted by Scott Norwood (Member # 30) on 12-10-2009, 10:53 PM:

Sorry to hear about the fire.

B&W negatives and prints should be able to be rewashed without problems. This should help if they are stuck together. I've heard of re-fixing before rewashing, but never actually done that and am not sure what advantages, if any, that would offer. In any case, all of this can be done in trays in a bathtub. Not sure about color negs or prints, however. Someone else here will know, I'm sure.

Posted by Randy Stankey (Member # 64) on 12-10-2009, 11:26 PM:

Thanks. [Smile]

Ryan works for a local hotel chain as a rooms inspector. (The guy who keeps the maids in line and makes sure the rooms are clean before a new guest is allowed in.) The owner of the hotel said he can stay in a room for a couple of weeks until he can find a new place.

I have a 35mm developing tank and some trays. I could pick up a bottle of Photo-Flo from the photography shop. Distilled water can be bought from Walmart, et. al.
Like you say, if it was all B/W I'd do it in a minute. Some of it is B/W but most is color. Just want to double check before I start.

I also have a good flatbed scanner with a film attachment.
http://www.usa.canon.com/consumer/controller?act=ModelInfoAct&fcategoryid=120&modelid=15561

Anything that is marginal can just be scanned and the originals can be stored if they are okay to be stored or just tossed if they can't be saved.

Posted by Jack Theakston (Member # 4484) on 12-10-2009, 11:33 PM:

Randy, one of my side jobs is doing digital photo restoration/retouching. If there are any photos that seem like they may be too far gone, drop me a line first and I'll be glad to give them a shot for free.