- Subject: NPS Morning Report - Tuesday, June 26, 1990
- Date: Tues, 26 Jun 1990
RANGER ACTIVITIES DIVISION
MORNING REPORT
Attention: Directorate
Regional and Park Chief Rangers, USPP, BIFC, FLETC
CC: RAD Information Net
Day/date: Tuesday, June 26, 1990
INCIDENTS
90-155 - Saint Croix (Wisconsin) - Drowning
At 8:30 p.m. on the 23rd, P.M., 34, of Saint Croix Falls, Wisconsin,
was playing football with family members on a sandbar at Nevers Dam. He
went to retrieve the ball in the river, stepped into a hole that was 15 feet
deep, and drowned. His body was recovered two hours later. (Henry
Hughlett, CR, SACR, via CompuServe message from Capt. J.J. McLaughlin,
RAD/MWRO, 6/25).
90-156 - Great Smoky Mountains (North Carolina/Tennessee) - Lightning Victim
Around 10 p.m. on June 18th, a lightning bolt struck A.M. of Berea,
Kentucky, at his backcountry campsite on a ridgetop near the state line and
about three miles off the Appalachian Trail. Other campers at the site
hiked off the mountain and reported the incident to rangers at the Abrams
Creek ranger station a little after 1 a.m. Cades Cove rangers responded and
reached the victim at 5 a.m. He was coherent and had a strong pulse, but
had some localized burns and was experiencing same abdominal pain. He felt
able to ride out, so evacuation by horse was begun around 7 a.m. A.M.'s
companions drove him to a nearby hospital. A.M. told rangers that he was
lying on a foam sleeping pad and reading at the time of the strike. For 10
to 15 seconds, he felt "welded to the ground", and could not move for some
time thereafter, as he was paralyzed on his left side and right leg. He
observed smoke in his tent, saw bits of down floating around, and smelled
burned hair and flesh. It took about 20 minutes before others heard him
yelling for help through the noise of the storm, and by that time he had
begun regaining some feeling. Rangers found no signs of damage to the
sleeping pad, but the tent floor looked "shot full of holes", with several
quarter to half-dollar-sized burn holes. A tree about ten feet away had its
bark blown off. A.M. said that he'd been shocked by a 220 volt charge
before, but that this was much worse; he felt that any more would have
killed him. His lower back and leg muscles were extremely sore, and the
pain in his stomach was reported to be similar to that caused by a hernia.
(Jason Houck, CR, GRSM, via CompuServe messages to RAD/WASO and RAD/SERD,
6/25).
90-157 - Lake Mead (Nevada) - Drowning
E.H., 33, of Las Vegas, was swimming with his nine-year-old daughter
from an unanchored boat near Boulder Beach on the afternoon of the 24th when
the boat began drifting away from them. E.H.'s daughter, who was wearing
a FED (life preserver), was able to make it back to her mother and two
siblings on the boat, but E.H. went under. Since he drowned in 380 feet
of water, no attempt is being made to recover the body. (Dispatch, LAME,
via telephone report from Chris Cameron, RAD/WRO, 6/25).
90-158 - Everglades (Florida) - Illegal Fishing
Late on the afternoon of the 24th, Gulf Coast District Ranger Kevin
FitzGerald saw 40-year-old A.S., a resident of the Everglades City
area, readying his mullet skiff in preparation to go fishing. Fitzgerald
had previously obtained information leading him to believe that A.S. had
fished commercially in the park in the past. The park's contract aircraft
was used to track A.S., who was observed to be netting fish in the park.
When A.S. saw the circling plane, he fled the area but was apprehended.
A.S.'s boat, engine and 500 yards of gill net were confiscated. So far
this year, seven defendants have been found guilty of commercial fishing
within the park and have paid fines between $250 and $5,000. Several have
also forfeited their boats and nets following convictions. This was the
second case made in the course of a week through the use of an aircraft.
On the 22nd, J.F., 68, was spotted in his boat in a closed crocodile
sanctuary and was apprehended. J.F. had been caught fishing in the
sanctuary three weeks earlier. (Mark Lewis, LES, EVER, via telefaxed report
to RAD/SERO and RAD/WASO, 6/25).
FIRE ACTIVITY
1) FIRE SITUATTON - Preparedness Level II
One geographic area experiencing high fire danger. Numerous Class A, B,
and C fires occurring and a potential exists for escapes to larger
(project) fires. Minimal mobilization of resources from other
geographic areas occurring. The potential exists for mobilizing
additional resources from other geographic areas.
2) FIRE SUMMARY
State Agency Area Fire Acres Status
FL FL State Unnamed fire 36,000 MN
NM BLM Roswell Hagerman 1,700 CN 6/25
NPS Guadalupe Mts. No Rain 77 Yes
NM State Turkey 600 CL 6/25
State Corona 563 CL 6/30
TX NPS Lake Meredith Big Canyon 7,300 Yes
Plum 1,100 Yes
CA CA Ventura County Pole 250 Yes
USFS Cleveland NF Bedford 195 None
CDF - Highway 150 CN 6/25
NPS Channel Island *Julie Ann 500 CN 6/25
NOTES:
- Fires - Asterisk indicates newly reported fire. T1 and T2 indicate
assigned Type I and Type II Teams.
- Status - Containment/control dates are estimates; CN means
contain, CL means control, MN means the fire is being monitored; "none"
means no estimate; "yes" means the fire has been contained.
- Agencies - All BLM areas are districts; CDF is California
Department of Forestry.
3) FIRE NARRATIVES -
- Big Canyon Fire (Lake Meredith) - The fire was contained yesterday.
- Plum Fire (Lake Meredith) - The fire was contained yesterday.
- Julie Ann Fire (Channel Islands) - The fire was apparently started by a
parachute flare around midnight on the 24th. It's burning in mixed grass
and brush on land owned by the Nature Conservancy. Three crews, an
airtanker and a helo - all from Los Padres NF - have been committed.
Containment was expected yesterday.
4) FIRE ACTIVITY - Not available this morning.
5) FIRE DANGERS - The following parks are experiencing high to extreme fire
danger this morning:
High Very High Extreme
Cape Cod Mesa Verde Scotts Bluff
Indiana Dunes Cumberland Island Big Bend
Bandelier Guadalupe Mountains Carlsbad Caverns
Salinas Padre Island Death Valley
El Morro Grand Canyon Walnut Canyon
El Malpais Joshua Tree Tonto
Hawaii Volcanoes Lava Beds Chiricahua
Lassen Whiskeytown Coronado
Pinnacles Chaco Culture
Sequoia/Kings Aztec Ruins
Saguaro Casa Grande
Organ Pipe Cactus
6) ANALYSIS - National parks report the following this morning:
* Carlsbad Caverns - The CACA/GUMO Type 2 crew was to have been demobed
from the 25-acre Thayer Fire on BLM land just north of the park
yesterday. The CACA crew on the Hagerman Fire has been diverted to
the Frijole Fire at Guadalupe Mountains, which is presently under air
attack.
* Guadalupe Mountains - Crews were released from the No Rain Fire
yesterday. Thousand-hour fuels have been at nine percent for 19 days.
* Sequoia/Kings - The park was to conduct a five-acre prescribed fire
near headquarters yesterday.
7) PROGNOSIS - Not available this morning.
(NPS National Wildland Fire Summary, 0430 MDT, 6/26/90; NICC Intelligence
Section, Daily Situation Report, 1630 MDT, 6/25/90).
STAFF STATUS
- Division Chief: No travel scheduled.
- Branch of Resource & Visitor Protection: Loach on AL (6/18-7/9);
Farabee in Alaska for aviation program evaluation (6/24- 6/30); Halainen
in Nashville for meeting with R&R Uniforms (6/26-6/28); Henry on SL.
- Branch of Fire: Hurd in meetings with regional fire coordinators in RMR
(6/25), PNRO (6/26) and AR (6/29).
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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