- Subject: NPS Morning Report - Thursday, July 5, 1990
- Date: Thurs, 5 Jul 1990
RANGER ACTIVITIES DIVISION
MORNING REPORT
Attention: Directorate
Regional and Park Chief Rangers, USPP, BIFC, FLETC
CC: RAD Information Net
Day/date: Thursday, July 5, 1990
INCIDENTS
90-176 - Yellowstone (Wyoming) - Conviction
On the morning of May 10th, two visitors advised a ranger in Upper Geyser
Basin that they'd seen a man walk off the boardwalk, take a large white
object out of his backpack, and throw it into Giantess Geyser's vent. They
also said that the water in Giantess, a fountain geyser, had immediately
become agitated. The ranger confirmed that the geyser had became active.
its first eruption this year - and contacted the man, later identified as
R.P., 44, of Billings, Montana. R.P. was subsequently
arrested by another ranger and brought before the park's magistrate.
R.P., who'd been a volunteer "geyser gazer" in the park for almost ten
years, said in court that he was aware that foreign substances thrown into
same geysers could induce an abnormal eruption, but said that he didn't
think his actions would threaten Giantess or any other thermal feature to
which it was corrected. The park's geologist, however, testified that there
was a distinct possibility that the geyser was damaged and that an induced
eruption not only disturbed the geyser's natural cycle but also contaminated
historical records and behavioral patters of features throughout the basin.
The magistrate fined Paperiello $525, with $300 suspended on the condition
that he not enter the park for a year. (Extracted from "The Buffalo Chip",
Yellowstone's resource management newsletter, 6/90).
90-177 - Crater Lake (Oregon) - MVA with Fatalities
Late on the afternoon of the 4th, a car with five occupants crossed the
center line of the park road about a mile from the park's boundary and hit a
tree snag. P.A., 58, and a woman thought to be his wife were
killed; the three occupants - two adults and a ten-year-old - were taken to
a local hospital and are reported to be in good to serious condition.
(Telephone report from Mark Forbes, RAD/PNRO, via US Park Police, 7/5).
FIRE ACTIVITY
1) PREPAREDNESS LEVEL - III
Two or more geographic areas experiencing incidents requiring a major
commitment of national resources. High number of fires becoming Class D
and larger. Additional resources are being ordered and mobilized through
NICC. Type 1 teams are committed in two or more areas, or 300 crews are
committed nationally.
2) FIRE SUMMARY
State Agency Area Fire Acres Status
CO USFS Gunnison Alpine Plateau 180+ None
BLM Craig Hammond 250 CN 7/4
*Fairfield 100 CN 7/4
AZ USFS Tonto Dude - T1 (3) 28,480 CL 7/10
Coronado Maverick 800 CN 7/10
BIA Fort Apache Stago - T2 3,350 CN 7/8
B33 1,500 Yes
AZ State Wreck 250 Yes
NM USFS Cibola Apache 220 Yes
BLM Las Cruces Gillespie 800 CN 7/3
BIA San Carlos *Barlow 160 Yes
*Guard 150+ CN 7/4
NM State Long 920 CN 7/4
Corral 500 CN 7/4
Last Day 7,000 Yes
NV BLM Elko Crittenden 200 Yes
ID BLM Salmon Tower Creek 1,000 Yes
NE NE State Corkscrew 1,000 Yes
NPS Everglades Foot 150 CL 7/2
AK FWS Yukon Flats A121 - T2 23,000 None
AK State *A156 - T2 4,000 None
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) NARRATIVES -
Since June 25th, the Boise Interagency Fire Center has tracked
approximately 49 major fires that have burned more than 130,000 acres
in the West and Florida. There have been eight fire-related fatalities
and over 700 hemes and other structures have been destroyed. Estimated
damages on the Santa Barbara Fire alone range from $280 to $500 million.
A total damage estimate is unavailable. Over 14,000 firefighters
and support personnel were mobilized for the fire situation.
Year Year-To-Date Fires Year-To-Date Acres
1989 31,095 1,045,807
1990 34,287 791,801
4) FIRE ACTIVITY - Not available this morning.
5) NPS FIRE DANGERS - Not available this morning.
6) ANALYSIS - Not available this morning.
7) PROGNOSIS - Not available this morning.
(NICC Intelligence Section, Daily Situation Report, 1630 MDT, 7/4; Forest
Service Washington Office Morning Fire Report, 7/3).
STAFF STATUS
- Division Chief: Dabney on AL (7/2-6).
- Branch of Resource & Visitor Protection: Loach on AL (6/18-7/9);
Henry on SL; Halainen in Gettysburg (7-5).
- Branch of Fire: Kurd meeting with branch staff in Boise (7/2-7/5).
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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