Mitigating the Effects of Fire Suppressants on Cultural Resources | P19AS00337

Opportunity Information: Apply for P19AS00337

The grant opportunity titled "Mitigating the Effects of Fire Suppressants on Cultural Resources" (Funding Opportunity Number P19AS00337) is a National Park Service initiative under the U.S. Department of the Interior focused on a growing problem in wildfire management: the potential damage that modern chemical fire retardants and suppressants can cause to historic and archeological resources. The background for the project is the scale and frequency of wildland fires in the United States, with the National Interagency Fire Center reporting that more than 75 million acres burned between 2007 and 2017. As wildfire activity expands and intensifies, especially across the American West, fire response increasingly relies on chemical products to slow or stop fire spread. While these products can be essential for protecting life, property, and landscapes, they may also interact with cultural materials in harmful ways, creating an urgent need for research-based guidance.

The opportunity is rooted in real impacts to National Park Service units, using Mesa Verde National Park as a clear example. During the 2002 Long Mesa fire, about 5,700 acres were affected, and several significant cultural areas were impacted, including the Administrative Area National Historic Landmark, the CCC Camp Historic District, the Navajo Hogan Area Historic District, and the Residential White House #191 and Utility Area Historic District. Incidents like this highlight that wildfires do not only threaten natural resources; they also endanger built heritage, historic landscapes, and archeological sites, including sites that may not yet be documented. When suppression chemicals are applied near or directly on these resources, there is a possibility of staining, corrosion, surface alteration, accelerated weathering, or other forms of material incompatibility depending on the substrate (stone, wood, metal, mortar, ceramics, soil matrices, etc.) and the chemical formulation used.

The core goals of the project are twofold: first, to study the effects of fire suppressants on cultural resources, and second, to identify effective methods to remove fire suppressants from cultural resources when contamination occurs. Building from those goals, the project lays out several practical objectives. It aims to identify both the benefits and the hazards of specific fire suppressants as they relate to cultural resources, recognizing that these products may sometimes reduce fire damage but still pose risks through chemical exposure. It also seeks to develop recommendations for removing suppressants from affected cultural materials, which is a critical post-incident need for parks and preservation professionals responding to wildfire events. Another major deliverable is the creation and publication of a publicly accessible, science-based best practice protocol that can guide how suppressants should be used on or near significant cultural resources, helping incident managers and fire crews make better-informed decisions during high-pressure operations. Finally, the project emphasizes broad dissemination of results through peer-reviewed journal publications, conference presentations, and educational webinars, signaling an intent to translate research into field-ready guidance and training.

From an administrative standpoint, the opportunity is listed as a discretionary program and uses a cooperative agreement as the funding instrument, under the activity category of disaster prevention and relief (CFDA 15.923). The posting notes an award ceiling of $50,599 and an expectation of one award. Importantly, the notice is explicitly described as a non-competitive Notice of Intent, and it states that no applications are being accepted at this time. That means the listing functions more as an announcement of planned or ongoing work rather than an open competition, and anyone interested in similar funding would need to watch for future competitive solicitations or related NPS research and cooperative agreement opportunities.

Overall, the opportunity is designed to close a practical knowledge gap at the intersection of wildfire suppression and cultural resource protection. As chemical suppressants become more common in wildfire response and climate-driven fire risk continues to rise, the National Park Service is aiming to produce defensible, science-based protocols that reduce unintended harm to irreplaceable historic and archeological resources while still supporting effective fire management.

• The Department of the Interior, National Park Service in the disaster prevention and relief sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Mitigating the Effects of Fire Suppressants on Cultural Resources" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 15.923.
• This funding opportunity was created on Jul 01, 2019.
• Applicants must submit their applications by This is a non-competitive Notice of Intent only. No applications are being accepted at this time.. (Agency may still review applications by suitable applicants for the remaining/unused allocated funding in 2026.)
• Each selected applicant is eligible to receive up to $50,599.00 in funding.
• The number of recipients for this funding is limited to 1 candidate(s).
• Eligible applicants include: Others (see text field entitled Additional Information on Eligibility for clarification).

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