NPS Fire & Aviation Blog - Erik Link

PEFO Update

Fri, 03 Aug 2012 18:46:00 -0600

At this point, I have been to nearly all of the structures in the park to conduct the annual fire safety building inspections. The bulidings did pretty well, and there were no really serious issues. As is common throughout the Park Service, ITM on the portable fire extinguishers was not being performed, or at least noted, each month. The park is in the process of fixing this issue with their revived building safety warden program. This week I have been working on putting my findings into work order requests.

Another project I have worked briefly on was the park's Building Warden Program. This program was developed several years ago for use at the park for a monthly safety check of each building. In the past few years however, the implementation of the program faltered. PEFO is now making an honest effort to restart the program. Each division of the park management has one employee assigned as a building warden for a period of time. Their duties include acconting for other staff during emergencies and conducting a simple monthly safety check of their building. There is a check sheet to be filled out that includes inspections of fire extinguishers, first aid kits, exit signs, emergency lights, electrical panels, and fire exits. This inspection sheet is due each month at the park's Safety Committe meeting where issues can be discussed. If there is a more severe problem discovered during the inspection, the building wardens are instructed to report their finding immediately. Hopefully with a strict deadline and follow up discussion, these inspections will be done routinely. I met briefly with each building warden and sat in on the safety committe meeting during their discussion of the program.

I am currently in the final stages of my report on the fire protection evaluation of the Painted Desert Visitor Center and Administration building. This was a project Brian Johnson asked each of the interns to work on for a historic structure at their park. We were asked to look at the buildings in a prescriptive manner (straight from the code requirements) and a performance based manner (what are the real hazards and solutions). This was a good project and used some of the knowledge from class. It was a way to use the classroom learning from ENFP 250 and portions of ENFP 411 in the real world. It's an important reminder that the code is often just a starting point, especially for existing and historic structures.

Last week I assisted the PSFC with the training of several employees in the use of fire extinguishers. At PEFO, employees are provided a hands-on fire extinguisher training opportunity each year. There is a very cool training device called a BullEx that the park uses. It is a propane fueled burner (similar to a grill, but big fire) that employees put out with a water extinguisher. It is electronically controlled and can simulate different class fires.

Additionally, I have just started looking at the park's Occupant Emergency Plan for the administration building. This document lays out the procedures and responsibilities of employees during several different types of emergencies, including fires. I hope to clarify and update it in the next few days.

It's not been all work and no play though... Luckily, Arizona is a diverse landscape and I have been able to enjoy it on my days off. I've been almost all the way through the state, from Phoenix to Flagstaff and a weekend at the Grand Canyon. It's unbelievable that just 2 hours north of 110 degree Phoenix you can be over 12,000 ft on top of the highest mountain in Arizona, where it's just a touch above 60.

First Thoughts and Fire Protection in the Desert

Tue, 03 Jul 2012 16:16:20 -0600

Like a few of the other interns, I thought that fire protection with the National Park Service was all about the grand lodges, forests, wildfires, and keeping parks safe in the wildland urban interface. When I found out that I was going to be working at the Petrified Forest this summer doing fire protection, it sent a few jokes my way. Surely, the forest of petrified wood, located in the middle of the desert, would be safe from fires. Below is a photo of just one of the logs located here at the park.

The jokes were fun, but in reality, there is more to fire protection in the Park Service than Smokey the Bear and wildfires. While wildfires are no joke, structural fire is a very real hazard throughout the Park Service, and here at PEFO. Part of the challenge here, as with many parks, is the remoteness and dependency on outside fire departments. Here at PEFO, if a structural fire were to occur, it will take the fire department at least 45 minutes to arrive – after the call is made. This fact makes fire prevention and emergency preparedness even more important.

I have been working on a few different projects the past few weeks. It is of great interest to the park to install automatic sprinklers in the buildings here for several reasons. The primary goal is to get protection in the visitor center and headquarters building, as well as the employee housing. The installation of these sprinklers will keep people safe from fire, and will also reduce the impact of a fire to the historic buildings, irreplaceable collections, and personal property. To move towards this goal, I have been working on a project description and scope of work to install these systems.

Last week, I was able to work with the Park Structural Fire Coordinator and perform the annual flow tests of all of the fire hydrants here at the park. This ensures that the hydrants are operating properly, and that the water supply remains adequate and reliable. The park has a nifty device that attaches to the hydrant and has a built-in pitot gauge which helps simplify the pressure reading process (see image below).

In the next few weeks, I hope to help the park with their annual building fire inspections to ensure that fire and life safety measures are being maintained and the buildings are safe.

On a different note, the monsoon season is here, and last week it rained for the first time in months. I am looking forward to seeing water flowing down the Puerco River that runs through the park. At the moment, it's hard to believe it's a river...

Intern Introduction

Fri, 08 Jun 2012 16:30:00 -0600

Hi everyone. My name is Eric, and this summer I will be working in the Petrified Forest National Park as a Structural Fire Intern. I am a senior at the University of Maryland, expecting to graduate in December with a degree in Fire Protection Engineering.

After a long (2200 mi) drive from home, I finally arrived here in Arizona. It is quite a different location than I'm used to. It is relatively remote, there are essentially no trees or shade, it's nearly always sunny, and there is no humidity! But so far so good! The park is great, and I recommend a visit at some point to explore the history and natural beauty that is protected here.

I've been here for a week now, and have begun working on projects concerning the structural fire protection capabilities here at the park. One of the main goals is to investigate installing automatic sprinkler systems and updating the fire alarms in the visitor center, concessions facility, offices, and employee housing.

I am excited to be here, and hope that I am able to apply my education to the benefit of the facilities, employees, and visitors of Petrified Forest National Park.