Structural Fire Plans & Policy

Structural Fire Program Strategic Plan

This multi-year strategy takes into account the unique and multifaceted mission of the National Park Service and specifically the responsibilities the NPS has for structure fire protection. It provides focused guidance to national, regional and park management on all aspects of a comprehensive structural fire program.

The National Park Service (NPS) enabling legislation, as well as other statutes, charges the Service with preserving and protecting human life and the resources entrusted to its management. These resources include buildings and structures, irreplaceable cultural resources, valuable property, and infrastructure.

NPS maintains a structural fire program capability that meets the diversity and complexity of the different units of the System. The structural fire program provides servicewide policy, standards, operational procedures, and accountability. The program ensures that all areas within the system have an appropriate level of structural fire protection that is provided in a safe and cost-effective manner by qualified personnel.

The Structural Fire Program Strategic Plan provides vision and philosophy to guide decisions about priorities, scope, and direction of the structural fire program. Program decisions, major initiatives, and work plans will be tied to this plan.

Policy

Policy, through the Department of the Interior as well as the National Park Service, assists the structural fire program in accomplishing a complex mission safely.

Departmental Manuals

Use the dropdown navigation to locate the following:

Departmental Manual, Safety Management

Part 485, Chapter 19—Fire Safety. Specifies the minimum program requirements for protecting Departmental and public property and persons from the adverse effects of fires.

Departmental Manual, Safety Management

Part 485, Chapter 20—Personal Protective Equipment. Specifies the minimum Safety and Occupational Health Program (Program) requirements for the selection, issuance, use, maintenance, and storage of personal protective equipment (PPE).

Departmental Manual, Safety Management

Part 485, Chapter 6—Inspections and Abatements. Specifies the minimum program requirements for conducting formal inspections of establishments and timely abatement of identified hazards.

Departmental Manual, Administrative Services

Part 310, Chapter 11—Smoking in Public Buildings. Prohibits the smoking of all tobacco products in the interior space of all facilities occupied by the Department of the Interior.

Departmental Manual, Property Management

Part 411, Chapter 3—Standards for Managing Museum Property. States the Department's professional standards for managing museum property.

Director's Orders

Director's Order #58—Structural Fire Management

The purpose of this Director's Order is to provide more detailed interpretation of the structural fire policy articulated in National Park Service Management Policies 2006 by setting forth the operational policies and procedures necessary to establish and implement structural fire management programs throughout the National Park System.

Director's Order #57A—Medical Standards

Referenced in RM #58 related to medical and physical fitness requirements to be certified by the NPS Structural Fire Program to perform fire suppression duties.

Director's Order #24—NPS Museum Collections Management

This Director's Order provides further policy guidance, standards, and requirements for preserving, protecting, documenting, and providing access to, and use of, NPS museum collections.

Director's Order #20—Agreements

The purpose of this Director's Order is to: (1) establish NPS policies and procedures for administering agreements; (2) identify and describe the types of agreements that the NPS enters into with Federal and non-Federal entities; (3) identify and describe the responsibilities and functions of NPS officials in administering agreements; and (4) affirm the NPS's commitment to comply with the regulations, policies and procedures imposed by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Circulars, the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR), the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR), Executive Orders (E.O.), the Department of the Interior (DOI) regulations and other applicable governmental laws and regulations.

Director's Order #18—Wildland Fire Management

This Director's Order states the basic principles and strategic guidelines governing the management of wildland fire by the National Park Service (NPS).

Reference Manuals

Reference Manual 58—Structural Fire Management

Reference Manual 57A—Medical Standards Program

Structural firefighters are subject to the standards in this reference manual.

Reference Manual 18—Wildland Fire Management

Represents the most detailed and comprehensive guidance on implementing Service-wide wildland fire management policy for the National Park Service.

Handbooks and Guidelines

Museum Handbook

Supplemental to Director's Order 24

Cultural Resource Management Guideline

Chapter 4 (Stewardship), D (Fire Management), 1 (Structural Fire)

Agreements Handbook

The Agreements Handbook covers policy, procedures, samples, and formats for NPS Agreements.