RANGER ACTIVITIES DIVISION
                           MORNING REPORT

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

Day/date:  Thursday, September 21, 1989

INCIDENTS

89-281 - Virgin Islands/Christiansted (V.I.) - Follow-up on Hurricane Hugo

San Juan NHS superintendent "Ping" Crawford leased a plane yesterday, flew
to St. Croix, then hitched across the island to Christiansted to check on
park employees there. Although the park's housing had been leveled, he
found that everyone was okay and that the park's historic structures were
largely intact. He also learned that there was virtually no law on the
island and that looting and robbery were rampant. Crawford flew one ranger
and his family back to Puerto Rico. Shortly after he reported his findings
to region, Christiansted superintendent Bob Greer called via ham radio and
asked that the park be evacuated. Southeast Region worked through the
Southern Interagency Coordination Center to charter a Lear jet to fly to St.
Croix this morning to pick up the seven or eight non-resident employees
remaining at Christiansted. Phone reports were also received yesterday from
Virgin Islands NP which indicated that everyone was okay, that the quarters
at Cruz Bay are largely intact, and that there was some damage to facilities
there. (Telephone report from Steve Smith, RAD/SERO).

89-282 - Wind Cave (South Dakota) - Follow-up on Helicopter Crash

Park resource management specialist V.V., who was involved in
Tuesday's helicopter crash in the park, is in the Rapid City Regional
Hospital with a comminuted fracture of his upper left femur and a possible
mild compressed fracture of a vertebra. Pilot C.T. is okay and
will continue assisting with the bison roundup. The accident was caused by
engine failure, and the helicopter fell between 30 and 40 feet. GAS is on
scene and beginning an investigation into the incident. [Messages to Vic
can be sent to him at Rapid City Regional Hospital, 353 Fairmont Blvd.,
Rapid City, SD 57701] (Telephone report from John Chapman, RAD/RMRO).

89-284 - Organ Pipe Cactus (Arizona) - Follow-up on Park Closure

The drug raid on the ranch in Mexico adjacent to the park which caused
closure of a park road for safety reasons on the 19th resulted when drug
dealers guarding 300 kilos of cocaine exchanged fire with Mexican federal
police. Revised reports confirm the death of three police officers and a
Mexican national; two other officers may also have been killed. The
suspects defended themselves with AK-47 automatic rifles. Four suspects
escaped and are still being sought. (Eddie Lopez, CR, ORPI, via CompuServe
message from Herb Gercke, RAD/WRO).

89-285 - Gauley River (West Virginia) - Follow-up on Search

The body of J.D., 30, of Bryson City, North Carolina, was found
Tuesday afternoon. J.D. disappeared after his kayak overturned above
Coming Home Sweet Jesus Rapids on the Meadow River on the 17th. (UPI).

89-286 - Great Smokies (Tennessee) - Car Clouting Arrest

On the afternoon of September 8th, a passing ranger observed two suspicious
adult males in the Laurel Falls parking lot, the scene of a number of car
clouts (auto break-ins). He began a stakeout, and saw the two look into
several cars and loiter near the trailhead over the next 35 minutes. Their
actions convinced the ranger that a car clouting was imminent, so he called
for and received a backup. Shortly thereafter, one of the two men took a
position where he could watch the road while the other opened the rear
window of a mini-van and reached in with his arm. The two - later
identified as J.P.M. and S.C.B. - were then arrested.
Subsequent investigation revealed that they were using two vehicles, that
each of them contained items from a larceny committed in the same parking
area on August 23rd, and that one vehicle contained travelers checks stolen
from Indiana on August 27th. It was also learned that S.C.B. was out of
jail on bond for a similar offense committed in Florida. The vehicles
employed were a dark blue 1978 Chevy van (Florida GPW-14Y) and a green 1976
two-door Ford LTD (Kentucky ACT-474). (CompuServe message from Capt. Steve
Alscher, RAD/SERO).

89-287 - Great Smokies (Tennessee) - Successful Search

On the afternoon of the 16th, six-year-old S.J. of Waynesville,
North Carolina, disappeared from his home near Hempill Creek, just a mile
outside of the park. S.J. was apparently with his two dogs and was
reported to be barefoot and wearing only a T-shirt and jeans. Local
authorities began a search, which continued throughout the 17th. Park
rangers heard of the search indirectly, volunteered to assist, and put four
trackers and a dog on the boy's trail. They soon found footprints and found
S.J. around 5:30 p.m. at a point in the park about 300 yards from the
Cataloochee Divide trail - about 10 to 11 miles from the point last seen.
S.J. had spent the night sleeping in a hollow log; he'd used a covering
of leaves and his two dogs for warmth. (Telephone report from Steve Smith,
RAD/SERO).

89-288 - Blue Ridge Parkway (Virginia) - Suicide

On the morning of the 18th, the park received a call from a person employing
a car phone stating that there was a woman standing outside the railing of
the parkway's Roanoke River Bridge. Rangers arrived at the scene and found
a car registered to 36-year-old C.L.P. of Roanoke; there was a
suicide note on the windshield. The following afternoon, a fisherman on
Smith Mountain Lake, two miles downstream from the bridge, discovered
C.L.P.'s body. (Telephone report from Capt. Steve Alscher, RAD/SERO).

FIRE ACTIVITY

There is no NIFCC report this morning.

OFFICE NOTES

1) REMINDER: Letters stating notice of intent to file for 20-year retirement
must be received and stamped into your servicing personnel office no later
than midnight, September 30th. A September 30th postmark will not be
acceptable.

STAFF STATUS

All hands on board.

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
SEAdog:     1/650 (Phone:343-6014; BAUD:2400)