Summary: At six parks GAO visited, structural fire activities lacked many of the basic elements needed for an effective fire safety effort, including fundamentals such as adequate fire training for employees, fire inspections, and fire detection or suppression systems. GAO found these deficiencies occur principally because local park managers are not required to meet minimum structural fire safety standards and place structural fire safety near the bottom of parks' priority lists. The Park Service has acknowledged problems in implementing its structural fire safety program and has taken several steps to address them. These include (1) developing new agency policies for addressing structural fire safety responsibilities, (2) placing specific minimum fire safety requirements on park managers, and (3) developing a process for structural fire inspections and assessments of structural fire risks at each unit of the national park system. Until these initiatives are completed, however, park visitors, employee, buildings, and artifacts are vulnerable to fire.
