Fire
Damages Building Under Renovation
 A
fire in the attic of Bldg. 6 broke out Aug. 15, shortly after 5
p.m., drawing NIH firefighters and numerous local departments,
but was quickly extinguished. The building was empty at the time
and no one was injured. Employees in Bldgs. 6A and 6B adjacent
to the historic structure were evacuated during the fire, but later
allowed to return. According to the NIH fire marshal, a worker
involved in the renovation of Bldg. 6 had been using a torch to
cut a vent pipe in the attic. Evidently, hot metal dripped into
the roof membrane, where it smoldered unnoticed until after workers
had left for the day. Heavy smoke from the blaze drifted across
campus. NIH deputy director Dr. Raynard Kington, sitting in his
office in Bldg. 1, smelled smoke and turned in the alarm at 5:05
p.m. A second alarm was requested as backup, but the fire was put
out by the NIH Fire Department and the second alarm units were
placed back in service, said NIH Fire Chief Gary Hess. Other units
from Montgomery County and the National Naval Medical Center remained
on the scene to assist with salvage and overhaul operations, he
added. Some 80 firefighters swarmed the scene at the fire's height.
According to Bob McDonald, project officer for the decommissioning
of the building, Bldg. 6 was undergoing abatement and soft, interior
demolition in preparation for major renovation. This includes removal
of interior walls, old lab space — basically a gutting of
the inside. That process will continue in the wake of the accident.
New Innovations at NIEHS Day Care Center
 In
keeping with a tradition of staying on the cutting edge of early
childhood education, the new day care center that NIEHS shares
with EPA is taking shape as an innovative facility that promises
to entertain, coddle and educate youngsters. NIEHS Administrative
Officer Dona McNeill (r)
stands in the new center, which is nearing completion. The building
is designed so it is easy to monitor what is happening in the
classrooms. Frosted glass walls with circles of clear glass divide
the classrooms from the hallways. The clear circles allow parents
standing outside a room to see nearly everything happening inside
the room. Besides the bells and whistles modern child care centers
require — toy sterilizers, keypad front door access, state-of-the-art
security and fire monitoring systems and Internet connections — the
building was designed to incorporate many of the "green features" required
by EPA such as high ceilings, using as much natural lighting
as possible. The new $3.6 million First Environments Early Learning
Center is designed to stimulate a child physically, creatively
and intellectually. Each classroom will have a door to an outside
play area. The exterior walls facing the outdoor play areas feature
huge windows spanning nearly floor to ceiling. Instead of a playground,
the new facility will have an "outdoor learning environment" with
sensory paths, plants, water fountains and sculptures, seating
rocks, semi-secluded privacy areas that teachers can easily monitor
and sculptures. Construction began nearly 2 years ago. The center
has hired a cook from Whole Foods, a natural foods grocery story,
to prepare meals using more fresh foods. The day care center
will also have a greenhouse and a garden. The cook will work
with staff to plan the garden, making good use of the food produced
there, McNeill said..
Wednesday Afternoon
Lecture
The Wednesday Afternoon Lecture series — held on its namesake
day at 3 p.m. in Masur Auditorium, Bldg. 10 — resumes after
its summer break with a talk by Dr. Adrian R. Krainer on Sept.
7. He will address "Alternative Splicing in Health and Disease." Krainer
is professor, Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, Cold Spring Harbor,
N.Y.
For more information or for reasonable accommodation, call Hilda
Madine, (301) 594-5595.
Plain Language Nominations Due Sept. 16
All NIH employees are welcome to submit nominations for the 2005
NIH Plain Language Awards. Now in its sixth year, the awards program
honors NIH products that are exemplary in communicating information
clearly, concisely and to the point. A nomination packet for each
item must be received by Ann Brewer in Bldg. 1, Rm. B1-42, by Friday,
Sept. 16.
All types of communication products completed from Jan. 1, 2004,
through Sept. 16, 2005, are eligible, including letters, brochures,
web sites, press releases, scientific papers and reports as well
as internal memos, forms, newsletters and manuals. The Plain Language
guidelines and nomination form are available at http://execsec.od.nih.gov/plainlang/awards.
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