Life Safety Stories

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.

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.

The NPS Firefighter I program (Defensive Firefighter) was beta tested in Yosemite in 2011. NPS fire instructors put wildland firefighters from several national parks through 40 hours of intense classroom and fire suppression exercises, including structure, vehicle, and dumpster fire extinguishment. The training was designed to instill the skill sets to allow defensive firefighters to operate safely and competently, and helps address the problem of limited resources.

NPS is collecting info on historic structural fire incidents on NPS property

The historic fires in the Greater Yellowstone Area in 1988 brought issues at the wildland-urban interface to the forefront. This article discusses the differences between fighting a wildland fire and a structural fire. The Yellowstone fires were the impetus behind the National Park Service’s current focus on the wildland-urban interface.

Mark Gorman, NPS fire instructor, tells the story of when his own NPS-furnished house caught fire. A neighbor saw a strange light and called to alert the family of a potential fire outside the house. The park’s structural fire company responded quickly and damage was light. Because the fire started outside and was moving into the attic, no alarm sounded.

Everyone agrees--ZERO structures burned is the goal. With more than 26,000 buildings in its care, many of which are historic, it is easy to understand why fire prevention must be a priority to the Service.

What is our obligation for providing fire and life safety in concessions operations? Generally, it is no different from our obligations in any building. We are as responsible for the buildings that are under contract to concessions operators as we are for buildings used solely for NPS operations. But how we accomplish the goal of making a building safe differs. We use contracts, operations plans, annual assurance inspections, and action when requirements are not followed.