Success Stories

Every summer, the NPS Structural Fire Program recruits and places fire protection engineering, fire protection administration, and fire investigation students in NPS sites across the country to assist parks with meeting their structural fire management responsibilities. These interns bring their knowledge of fire protection systems and prevention strategies to the parks; in turn, parks offer vital work experience that the interns can take into future careers.

The NPS Structural Fire Protection Internship Program is celebrating 10 years of park structural fire protection. The program provides work experience for students in fire protection engineering, fire protection, administration, and fire investigation while the students complete critical structural fire management responsibilities for the park. Join us on a photographic journey to celebrate the successes of this program!

The NPS Structural Fire Academy held its first training at the Boise Fire Department training facility in Boise, ID. Previously, the course was hosted at Glen Canyon National Recreation Area in Arizona. Over the years that Glen Canyon NRA hosted the academy, the team was instrumental in conducting fire academies and improving the NPS Structural Fire training program. The academy was moved to Boise, ID to be closer to the program’s headquarters.

On January 4, 2023, a boiler fire (Boiler 2) occurred at the Canyon Visitor Education Center at Yellowstone National Park. A fuel line leak at the bottom of the fuel pump caused fuel to be sprayed into the air, which then ignited. The flames scorched the insulated covering of the pipes above the boiler activating four sprinkler heads and indicating a large amount of heat traveling across the ceiling.

In January 2023, the National Park Service (NPS) was reaccredited through the Pro Board for the third time. Pro Board, a system of international accreditation for fire service organizations allows the NPS to continue being recognized with more than 70 other national and international organizations for affirmation that our bureau’s testing process for firefighter training is fair, valid, and reliable.

The National Park Service Structural Fire Branch took time away from their busy annual Structural Firefighting Leadership Council seminar to pause and remember firefighters from across the world who have given the ultimate sacrifice in the line of duty. The NPS has a robust structural and wildland firefighting program with firefighters facing challenging situations on a daily basis. It is important for us to memorialize those that we have lost, while remembering to be safe.

The NPS delivered a Structural Firefighter Refresher course hosted at Glen Canyon Recreational Area (NRA) on February 22-24, 2022. Structural firefighters from Glen Canyon NRA, Glacier Bay National Park, Zion National Park, and Big Bend National Park participated in the refresher, which is usually given several times a year, but was delayed due to COVID-19 restrictions. The NPS Structural Fire Program is proud to meet the mission of protecting lives and property.

The Century of Progress Homes are situated among the oak trees and dune grasses of the Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore. These homes which are listed on the National Register of Historic Places, are in the Wildland Urban Interface leaving them vulnerable to wildfire. For the last several years, the area south of the homes has been burned in a series of prescribed fires to reduce the amount of vegetation in the area should a wildfire occur.

Minute Man National Historical Park in Concord, Massachusetts, can count on the local Concord Fire Department. The park has relied on the department’s expertise twice to save The Wayside: Home of Authors, in 2012 and again in 2014. Fully functional fire detection and suppression systems; annual inspection, testing, and maintenance; a working relationship with the department; familiarity with the building; and proper safety planning during renovation saved the building.

Lake Meredith National Recreation Area (NRA) provided many hours of training for firefighters in local communities after several large fires affected the suburbs of Amarillo, TX, in 2011. Amarillo City Fire Department (FD) and Randall County FD sought out wildland fire training, and the local communities will be better protected by these trained firefighters.