RANGER ACTIVITIES DIVISION
                           MORNING REPORT

Attention: Directorate
           Regional and Park Chief Rangers, USPP, BIFC, FLETC
           CC: RAD Information Net

Day/date:  Thursday, July 20, 1989

INCIDENTS

89-191 - Hawaii Volcanoes - Hurricane Delilia

Hurricane Delilia was to have struck the coast of Hawaii at 3 p.m. local (9
p.m. EOT) time yesterday. The storm was expected to bring winds in excess
of 70 m.p.h. at a time when the year's highest tides will be coming in,
thereby threatening the south coast of the island. The park has closed the
coastal back country and is monitoring the coastal roads. Closures will
depend on weather conditions. (Jim Martin, CR, HAVO, via CompuServe message
from Herb Gercke, RAD/WRO).

FIRE ACTIVITY

1) FIRE SITUATION

Planning Level III.

2) FIRE SUMMARY

State  Agency       Area                  Fire              Acres   Contain

AZ     State      -                      *Perilla           1,100     None

NM     NPS      El Malpais NP            *Outlaw              200     None
       BLM      Las Cruces               *Mulberry          2,000     None

TX     NPS      Big Bend NP              *South Adams         212     None
       NPS      Big Bend NP              *North Muerto        125     None
       NPS      Big Bend NP              *South Muerto        250     None
       NPS      Big Bend NP              *Heath               188     None

CO     NPS      Mesa Verde NP             Long Mesa - T2    3,075     7/19
       BLM      Craig                     Burnt Out         3,000     7/21

UT     USFS     Dixie NF                  Uinta Flat - T1   7,856     Yes
       USFS     Dixie NF                  Sandy Peak - T2     850     7/20
       BLM      Moab                      Rattlesnake - T2  2,530     None
       BLM      Cedar City               *Waterhollow         880     7/21

NV     BLM      Ely                       Delmue - T2       6,700     Yes

Canada Yukon       -                      Dawson Fire 20    6,500     None

3) SIGNIFICANT FIRES

a) NATIONAL PARK SERVICE

* Long Mesa Fire - Mesa Verde NP:

The fire is holding at 3,075 acres despite continuing high temperatures,
low humidities and winds of up to 40 mph. There are still hot spots along
the northern escarpment, but handline has been constructed along the
northern boundary of the fire. Heavy use of helicopters continues;
21,000 gallons of retardant were dropped on the fire on Tuesday alone.
Crews have finished the last segment of the 20 miles of line which have
been cut around the fire. Firefighters expected to have the fire
contained by 6 p.m. last night; it should be controlled by 6 p.m on
Saturday. Four crews and two helicopters will remain on the fire
today. The fire has been remapped, and it is now calculated that a
total of 2,405 acres of the park actually burned within the 3,075 acres
of the fire perimeter.

4) FIRE ACTIVITY - 183 fires for 7,114 acres in last 24 hours.

5) ANALYSIS - Isolated lightning activity throughout the West has led
to increased initial attack efforts. RED FLAG warnings have been
posted for dry lightning in eastern Idaho and western Wyoming.

6) PROGNOSIS - Activity is expected to increase due to low fuel moistures,
high temperatures and lightning activity. No resource shortages are
anticipated.

7) NOTES - The Service's Wildland Fire Situation Report has been
completed for the period from July 11 - July 18:

- Fire Danger:

ARO  Low-Mod   Very High: Yukon-Charlie,  Alaska
MAR  Low
MWR  Low-High  Very High: Scotts  Bluff,  Nebraska
NCR  Low
NAR  Low
PNR  Low-High
RMR  Low-High  Very High: Colorado, Dinosaur, Mesa Verde,
                          and Rocky Mountain, Colorado; Arches,
                          Canyonlands, and Natural Bridges, Utah;
                          Badlands, South Dakota; Fossil Butte,
                          Wyoming//Extreme: Bryce Canyon and Zion,
                          Utah; Black Canyon and Great Sand Dunes,
                          Colorado; Fort Laramie, Wyoming; Glen
                          Canyon, Arizona
SER  Low-Mod
SWR  Low-High  Very High: Aztec Ruins, Bandelier, Chaco
                          Culture, El Malpais, El Morro, and Salinas,
                          New Mexico; Fort Davis and Guadalupe
                          Mountains, Texas; Hubbel and Navajo,
                          Arizona//Extreme: Fort Union, New Mexico;
                          Canyon de Chelly, Sunset Crater and
                          Wupatki, Arizona
WRO Low-High   Very High: Hawaii, Hawaii; Pinnacles and
                          Yosemite, California; Saguaro, Arizona;
                          Great Basin, NevadaZ/Extreme: Chiricahua
                          and Grand Canyon, Arizona; Lava Beds and
                          Sequoia-Kings Canyon, California

- Wildfire Occurrence:

Region           Park                        # Fires           # Acres

Alaska       Kenai Fjords AK                 1                       1
             Yukon-Charlie AK                1                      50

Midwest      Indiana Dunes IN                1                       2

Pacific NW   North Cascades WA               2                       1

Rocky Mtn    Badlands SD                     1                      30
             Bryce Canyon UT                 2                       1
             Dinosaur CO                     1                       0.3
             Mesa Verde CO                   1 carry-over          475
             Yellowstone WY                  5                       1
             Zion UT                         2                       1

Southeast    Cape Hatteras NC                1                       0.1
             Cumberland Is GA                1                       3

Southwest    Big Bend TX                    10 + 4 carry-over    1,296
             Guadalupe Mtns TX               2                     350
             El Malpais NM                   2 + 1 carry-over       21

Western      Grand Canyon AZ                 9 carry-over           51
             Saguaro AZ                      1 + 1 carry-over        5
             Sequoia-Kings Can CA            3 + 3 carry-over        0.3
             Yosemite CA                     2                       0.2
                                           ---                   -----
Total                                       57                   2,288.9

- Prescribed Natural Fire Occurrence:

No prescribed natural fires are being conducted, pending revision and
approval of area fire management plans.

- Prescribed Burn Occurrence:

Southeast    Everglades FL                   3                   1,325

- National Situation:

The large fires that were burning in Big Bend, El Malpais, Saguaro,
Grand Canyon, and Mesa Verde were all controlled by July 11th.
Two of those fires, both of which had been managed by
interagency overhead teams, escaped on July 15th. The Muav Fire at
Grand Canyon flared up on the northeastern edge of the fire and burned
an additional 50 acres for a total fire size of 1,750 acres before
being contained a second time on July 17th. At Mesa Verde, the Long
Mesa Fire escaped control along the northern edge of the fire and began
to back down the steep escarpment that forms the park's northern
boundary. That fire was expected to be contained on the 19th at
3,075 acres, with 475 additional acres burned since the previous
"containment".

Big Bend has 10 uncontrolled backcountry fires, all burning in
extremely remote, rugged terrain. No facilities or non-park
lands are threatened. One crew and two helicopters have been ordered,
and the suppression efforts are expected to be dominated by helicopter
bucket work.

On the opposite end of the wildfire spectrum, Kenai Fjords
had its first reported fire since record-keeping began in the area.
Lightning is rare in the coastal area, and it is usually too wet for
fires to ignite, but a small, human-caused fire did ignite and carry in
white spruce in a popular area of the park.

The National Park Service commitment to interagency suppression efforts
peaked on July 11th, with 743 people reported to be involved. This
included 590 firefighters and 153 overhead.

The potential for widespread new fires continues in a broad area of the
Western United States.

- Fire Occurrence, Year-To-Date:

   Fire Type                    # Fires         # Acres

Wildfires                        350            194,000
Natural Outs                      38              1,349
Prescribed Natural Fires           0                ---
Prescribed Burns                  70             34,019
False Alarms                      35                ---
Mutual Aid by NPS                 69              7,960
Support Actions                  109                ---

TRANSMITTALS

Memorandum: "FY 1989 Uniform Allowance Closeout Procedures", signed by
Acting Associate Director, Operations, on July 19th, and sent today to all
regional director for distribution to superintendents. Establishes August
25th as the last day when uniform orders may be submitted to R & R Uniform
in this fiscal year and contains procedures for closing out old accounts and
establishing new accounts.

STAFF STATUS

Ringgold on AL, Dabney in Philadelphia at conference on recruitment and
retention problems.

Prepared by WASO Division of Ranger Activities

Telephone: FTS 343-4874/6039 or 202-343-4874/6039
Telefax: FTS 343-5977 or 202-343-5977
CompuServe: WASO-RANGER