- Subject: NPS Morning Report - Wednesday, May 16, 1990
- Date: Wed, 16 May 1990
RANGER ACTIVITIES DIVISION
MORNING REPORT
Attention: Directorate
Regional and Park Chief Rangers, USPP, BIFC, FLETC
CC: RAD Information Net
Day/date: Wednesday, May 16, 1990
INCIDENTS
90-98 - Everglades (Florida) - Possible Fuel Spill
On the evening of the 14th, an Eastern Airlines International Lockheed L.
1011 bound from Miami to Peru dumped approximately 90,000 pounds of jet fuel
while over the park. The jet experienced a tire blow-out on takeoff and was
forced to lighten its load in order to make an emergency landing at Miami
International. The jet remained at an altitude of 5,000 to 6,000 feet
during the operation, and all the fuel apparently vaporized and dissipated
rather than settling to earth. (Mark Lewis, LES, EVER, via telefaxed
reports to RAD/SERO and RAD/WASO, 11 a.m., 5/14/90).
90-99 - Shenandoah and Prince William (Virginia) - Search for Plane
On May 10th, a Cessna 210 carrying six people was headed from Richmond to
Winchester, Virginia, when it disappeared. The Civil Air Patrol (CAP)
initiated a search, which centered in the Dumfrees area near Quantico Marine
Base. On the 13th, Prince William rangers joined about 50 members of the
Appalachian SAR conference in a search of the park, which abuts the Marine
base, but no sign of the plane was found. On the 14th, a weak FIT signal
was detected by an aircraft flying over the north district of Shenandoah,
and CAP began searching that area. About 20 people, including rangers and
members of Appalachian SAR, are centering their efforts on the Mount
Marshall area, site of several past plane crashes. They are using ELT
receivers along roads in trails in the district. (Lou Wesselhoft, CR, PRWI,
via telephone report from Tom Monroe, RAD/NCRO, 5/13/90; Greg Stiles, ACR,
SHEN, via CompuServe message from Kathy Jope, RAD/MARO, 10 a.m. EDT,
5/15/90).
FIRE ACTIVITY
1) FIRE SITUATION - Preparedness Level I
2) FIRE SUMMARY
Contain/
State Agency Area Fire Acres Control
NM USFS Lincoln NF *Big 1,027 CN 5/18
GA FWS Okefenokee NWR *Mother's Day 600 CN 5/19
FL State State *Unnamed 200 Yes
NPS Everglades NP *Gator Bay 35 CL 5/16
USFS Apalachicola NF *Johnson Juniper 150 CN 5/15
USFS Osceola NF *Rare 150 Yes
NOTES:
- Fires - Asterisk indicates newly reported fire.
- Contain - Containment/control dates are estimates; CN means
contain, CL means control; "none" means no estimate; "yes" means
the fire has been contained.
3) FIRE NARRATIVES
a) NATIONAL PARK SERVICE:
- Gator Bay (Everglades) - The fire is burning in mangroves and is
currently being monitored. It's expected to reach 500 acres. The
fire is contained within natural barriers.
b) OTHER AGENCIES:
- Big Fire (Lincoln NF) - Steep terrain, dry conditions and high winds
continue to hamper control efforts.
- Mother's Day (Okefenokee NWR) - The fire resulted from an escaped
prescribed burn. Limited access is hindering attempts to control
the fire.
4) FIRE ACTIVITY - 134 fires for 2,427 acres in past 24 hours.
5) FIRE DANGERS - The following parks are experiencing high to extreme fire
danger this morning:
High Very High Extreme
El Malpais Bryce Canyon Big Bend
Death Valley Guadalupe Mountains Carlsbad Caverns
Grand Canyon
6) ANALYSIS - Fire activity is continuing in the Southwest and Florida.
Carlsbad Caverns remains at MC 5. Guadalupe Mountains pre-staged a
six-person initial attack crew at Pine Springs yesterday.
7) PROGNOSIS - Continued activity is expected in the Southwest and Florida
as dry conditions continue.
(NIFCC Intelligence Section, 0530 MDT, 5/16/90; NPS National Wildland Fire
Summary, 0430 MDT, 5/16/90).
OFFICE NOTES
1) Bob Marriott, the law enforcement specialist at Great Smokies, has been
selected as Ranger Activities' new program manager for the Servicewide drug
enforcement and ARPA programs. He will EOD in early June. (Dick Martin,
RAD/WASO)
STAFF STATUS
- Division Chief: Dabney at BIFC for Center's 25th anniversary and for
meetings with FXRE staff (5/16-19).
- Branch of Resource & Visitor Protection: Halainen at volunteer programs
and public partnership plan working group meeting in WASO (5/15-16).
- Branch of Fire: Norum and Erskine in Washington for GAO close-out
meeting on fire policy review recommendations (5/15-16); Botti in
WRO to meet with FMO's from WRO, SEKI and YOSE (5/15-16).
Prepared by WASO Division of Ranger Activities
Telephone: FTS 268-4874/6039 or 202-208-4874/6039
Telefax: FTS 268-5977 or 202-208-5977
CompuServe: WASO-RANGER
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