How Sprinklers Saved Yellowstone's Canyon Visitor Education Center From a Boiler Fire

The Canyon Visitor Education Center. NPS/D. Renkin.

On January 4, 2023, fire broke out at Boiler 2 of the Canyon Visitor Education Center in Yellowstone National Park. Fuel leaking from a line at the bottom of the fuel pump sprayed into the air and caught fire. The flames scorched the insulation on the pipes above the boiler and set off four sprinkler heads, a sign that a lot of heat was travelling across the ceiling. The park's structural firefighters responded, and no one was hurt.

Scorched insulation on the pipes above the boiler. NPS/B. Gray.

Automatic sprinklers release enough water to put a fire out, or stop it spreading until firefighters arrive; properly inspected, tested and maintained, they save lives and prevent serious damage. Here the fire never spread beyond where it started and damage was minimal. Park staff were back in their offices the next day, and the sprinkler system was back in service on January 26.

In the words of fire chief Britton Gray, "The fire sprinklers did what they are designed to do, control, and hopefully extinguish the fire." The maintenance staff had kept the system ready to work. The fire department followed its training and arrived with its apparatus and protective gear, ready to put out anything the sprinklers had not and to shut them off quickly to prevent needless water damage. He called it an example of a successful fire prevention and suppression program: its purpose is to prevent fires, and when one does start, to keep it small and contained so that firefighters can finish the job and limit the loss to the building.

Another view of the scorched insulation. NPS/B. Gray.

Sources

• National Park Service, Yellowstone National Park, "Sprinkler save at Canyon Visitor Education Center, Yellowstone National Park." https://www.nps.gov/articles/000/sprinklers-save-visitor-center.htm