Analysis of the October 2023 fire at the Balat Toy Museum in Istanbul: a qualitative case study in disaster management
Museum Management and Curatorship, 2026 (AHCI, Scopus)
- Yayın Türü: Makale / Tam Makale
- Basım Tarihi: 2026
- Doi Numarası: 10.1080/09647775.2026.2654882
- Dergi Adı: Museum Management and Curatorship
- Derginin Tarandığı İndeksler: Arts and Humanities Citation Index (AHCI), Scopus, Art Abstracts, Art Index, Art Source, Hospitality & Tourism Complete, Hospitality & Tourism Index, Humanities Abstracts, Index Islamicus, Humanities Source Ultimate (EBSCO)
- Anahtar Kelimeler: Museum fire, fire safety measures in museums, disaster management, emergency planning, disaster preparedness, risk management
- Kırklareli Üniversitesi Adresli: Evet
Özet
This study aimed to identify challenges and lessons learned in protecting cultural assets from fire and to develop policy recommendations. A qualitative case study was conducted on the 2023 fire at the Balat Toy Museum in İstanbul through the lens of disaster management. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews with the museum director, a museum employee, and two firefighters involved and corroborated by the official fire brigade report, on-site observations, online news articles, and visual documentation. Thematic analysis was conducted before, during, and after the fire. The fire ignited at 4:53 a.m. due to a failure in the museum's electrical circuit. It rapidly engulfed and severely damaged the historic building housing the museum and over 10,000 toys and handcrafted dioramas collected over 50 years due to the building's wooden structure, weak audible alarm, malfunctioning sprinklers, lack of routine electrical inspections, combustible collections, and absence of personnel. The museum's lack of a disaster management strategy left it unprepared. This case study demonstrates the risk of substantial loss of cultural assets due to fire, highlights insufficient preparedness among cultural heritage institutions, and addresses a gap in the literature by examining fire impacts on small-scale cultural structures and proposing suitable disaster management strategies.