Safety Lapses Found at National Parks

At Yosemite National Park in California, defective sprinklers meant to protect buildings from fires--including structures where workers live--haven’t been replaced despite a national recall.

At Prince William Forest Park in Virginia, the 115 wooden cabins lack smoke detectors and fire extinguishers. And the 250 buildings in Sequoia-Kings Canyon National Park in California have never had formal fire-safety inspections, despite 41 structural blazes since 1988.

Such lapses in fire-prevention efforts are common nationwide, says a General Accounting Office study that criticized the National Park Service.

“Structural fire-safety efforts in national parks are not effective,” GAO official Jim Wells told a House Budget task force hearing Wednesday.

Among the complaints at six parks visited were fire extinguishers left unchecked for years, overnight accommodations not inspected by certified safety officials and cabins without smoke detectors.

“It saddens me that despite an annual budget of $1 billion to operate its parks, the Park Service cannot manage to keep their structures safe from fire,” said Rep. George Radanovich (R-Mariposa).

Officials Plan to Coordinate Efforts

Park officials didn’t dispute the findings, but said they expect to coordinate plans nationally by September about how to meet safety standards. The service created a post in Boise, Idaho, to coordinate fire-safety plans and budgeted $6.6 million during the next five years to install fire alarms and upgrade fire hydrants in 46 projects.

“The report offers us an opportunity to begin the development of a comprehensive structural fire program,” said Maureen Finnerty, associate director of park operations at the Interior Department.

With 30,000 buildings in 379 parks, the service is the country’s third-largest landlord behind the Defense Department and U.S. Postal Service. Despite publicity for wild land fires such as in Yellowstone National Park in 1988, there have been more than 1,400 building fires at national parks since 1990.

But the service never singled out firefighting in its budgets, leaving local managers to develop their own safety plans until recent years.

“We have known for quite some time that the programs needed a close looking at,” said Ed Duncan, fire management officer at Yosemite. “There is never enough [money] to cover all the needs that we have.”

At Yosemite, officials missed a U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission deadline to have a company replace its defective sprinkler heads that sometimes fail to respond when heated. The park still qualifies for replacement parts, but its own workers will have to install the heads, Duncan said.

Another difficulty facing park officials is the need to upgrade historic buildings with modern firefighting equipment. The 123-room Ahwahnee Hotel in Yosemite is getting a new smoke detection system this year to replace its 20-year-old version. But officials plan to hire a special contractor for advice on how to install sprinklers in the hotel, a historic national landmark.

Jody Lyle, a spokesman for Sequoia, said many park buildings are small sheds that the public doesn’t visit. She noted that even modern smoke detectors and sprinklers didn’t prevent a fire this year in the new John Muir Lodge at her park.

“Everywhere that a visitor is going to be in the parks, whether it’s a gift shop or a lodge or public building, there are smoke detectors,” she said. “We would love to see an increase in funding so we could fix some of these problems.”

On the Net: General Accounting Office: https://www.gao.gov

The National Park Service: https://www.nps.gov