Residents who have recovered sentimental items from burn areas that are damaged from ash, soot, smoke, or water/snow are advised to hold onto these items and not attempt to clean them on their own. Soot and ash are toxic and abrasive. Please refer to FEMA guidelines for safe handling of fire damaged items for your own personal safety and to avoid further damage to salvaged items.

Louisville Historical Museum staff are planning a series of workshops with professional conservators who will help residents learn how to evaluate and care for items they have recovered from the Marshall Fire. Conservators will discuss safe handling, care, and cleaning of fire-damaged items and be available for Q&A. These workshops will be free and open to the public. They will take place at the Louisville Public Library (951 Spruce St.) in the Meeting Room between 2 and 4 PM on the following dates: 

Saturday, March 26
Sunday, March 27
Saturday, April 23
Sunday, April 24
Saturday, May 28
Sunday, May 29

The workshops will have multiple stations to provide several services to the community at once. One station will be dedicated to caring for items recovered from Marshall Fire burn areas. Another station will give residents the opportunity to learn about scanning and preserving photos, important documents, and family recipes. The last station will give residents the space to share their stories about the Marshall Fire with the Museum as a way to document the many experiences of our community during this time.