Earlier this month, a fire destroyed an estimated 90 percent of the nearly 20 million pieces housed at the National Museum of Brazil.

But in burning artifacts, the blaze also erased a large amount of the country’s history. Around the world, museums house the items that tell a region’s story.

As we’ve learned before, though, there are no guarantees that museums and what they contain will survive.

Chip Colwell, senior curator of anthropology at the Denver Museum of Nature and Science, joined The Show to talk about fire and the other hazards that can put artifacts in danger.