Fire In Leased Park Building Causes Limited Damage

A maintenance worker at the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) office building in the park’s Sandy Hook unit noticed smoke blowing out of the dive locker’s air vents on the afternoon of March 5th and reported it to dispatch. The Sandy Hook fire brigade responded. Electrical power to the affected area was disconnected. The source of the smoke was determined to be an exhaust fan motor in the shower room that had burned out. Brigade members ventilated the smoke and searched for possible fire spread with an infrared camera, but found that damage was limited to the fan motor. The damage was estimated at about $1,000. The building is NPS-owned and leased to the state of New Jersey. NOAA is the building’s primary tenant.