- Subject: NPS Morning Report - Friday, August 3, 1990
- Date: Fri, 3 Aug 1990
RANGER ACTIVITIES DIVISION
MORNING REPORT
Attention: Directorate
Regional and Park Chief Rangers, USPP, BIFC, FLETC
CC: RAD Information Net
Day/date: Friday, August 3, 1990
INCIDENTS
90-212 - Glacier (Montana) - Follow-up on Mountain Lion Incident
On July 23rd, nine-year-old S.O. received lacerations and puncture
wounds to his head, face, neck and right arm when he was attached by a 40-
pound yearling mountain lion in the Apgar picnic area on Lake McDonald.
Park rangers subsequently brought in a mountain lion tracker and his dog.
The tracker found the cat within 100 yards of where the incident occurred,
and rangers killed the animal. The body was subsequently taken to a state
lab for a necropsy and rabies testing. The latter proved negative. The
stomach contents included a piece of fabric which was not from S.O.'s
clothes; it's source has not been determined. There have been no
observations of mountain lions in the area since the incident, and the
picnic area has been reopened. S.O. had minor surgery to a puncture wound
near his left eye, and will remain in the hospital in Missoula over the
weekend. (Telephone report from Amy Vanderbilt, Public Affairs, GLAC, 8/2).
90-220 - Glacier (Montana) - Follow-up on Bear Incident
The injuries that M.A. and D.M. received during the
confrontation with the bear have been characterized by doctors as being
relatively slight. Both are still in the hospital following minor surgery,
and are to be interviewed by rangers today or tomorrow. The Iceberg-
Ptarmigan Lake Trail is closed from the trailhead to Ptarmigan Tunnel - a
stretch of about ten miles - and will remain closed until it's been
determined that a repeat incident is unlikely. Rangers are still trying to
ascertain what species of bear attacked the pair. There have been no
further sightings of bears anywhere in the area. (Telephone report from Amy
Vanderbilt, Public Affairs, GLAC, 8/2).
90-226 - Grand Canyon (Arizona) - Drowning
At about 6:30 p.m. on July 26th, F.B., 18, was in the Diamond
Creek area of the park with a group of her friends when she suddenly stood
up after consuming about ten beers and jumped into the river. She was swept
down the river about a half mile before she disappeared under the surface.
Rangers at Lake Mead were notified of the incident and a boat search was
initiated. Attempts to locate F.B. proved fruitless. Further searches were
scheduled at the time of the report. (Dan McGinnis, GRCA, via telefax from
Mike O'Neal, RAD/WRO, 7/27).
90-227 - Great Smokies (North Carolina/Tennessee) - Weapons Arrest
On the evening of July 29th, Alan Householder, a backcountry volunteer whose
position is jointly funded by the Appalachian Trail Conference, a local
hiking club, and the park's cooperating association, was on routine patrol
along the Appalachian Trail at Icewater Springs when he saw a man with a .22
magnum rifle. Householder followed instructions he'd received in training
and took no immediate action; once alone, he reported his observation to
backcountry rangers by radio. Two rangers responded at dawn the next
morning and found 26-year-old R.D. of Eustis, Florida, camped
illegally along the trail about a mile and a half east of Newfound Gap.
R.D. said his intent was to camp for about two months in the park. He was
carrying a rifle, 200 rounds of ammunition, a samurai sword, two large
knives, two hatchets, a climbing rope, ten pounds of potatoes, a bag of
rice, a bag of garden seeds, and books on survival and edible plants. He
said he intended to kill small game, but would not kill bear or deer. He
was arrested, charged with hunting, and is now out on $1,000 bond.
(CompuServe message from Jason Houck, CR, GRSM, 8/2).
90-228 - Saint Croix (Minnesota) - Drowning
Three youths were swimming on the Wisconsin side of the river at Lower
Dalles on the afternoon of August 1st. After they returned to the Minnesota
side, where their vehicle was parked, two members of the trio realized that
the third was not with them. When they looked back, they saw J.O.,
18, of Roseville, Minnesota, going under in the middle of the river. They
called for help; park rangers and numerous rescue units from both states
responded and searched for J.O.. His body was found later that evening a
short distance from where he went under. (CR, SACN, via CompuServe message
from Capt. J.J. McLaughlin, RAD/MWRO, 8/2).
90-229 - Everglades (Florida) - "Operation Hardtail"; Multiple Citations
In response to the opening weekend of Florida lobster season, Everglades
rangers initiated a major three-day marine law enforcement operation on July
28th which was aimed at detecting and apprehending persons in violation of
resource and drug laws. Due to the tremendous number of boats in the water
during this popular weekend, rangers were joined by law enforcement
officials from Customs, DEA, the Coast Guard and local agencies in a
concerted effort to monitor and interdict suspicious boat activities.
"Operation Hardtail" began on Friday afternoon and ran almost non-stop until
late Sunday. Numerous cases were made by the various agencies. Everglades
rangers contacted 130 vessels and issued 26 violation notices for resource
violations. A stolen vessel was recovered by District Ranger Dave King and
a separate investigation by Ranger Kim Korthuis resulted in the seizure of a
vessel due to the illegal possession of 174 fish by two Miami residents.
(Telefaxed report from Mark Lewis, LES, EVER, 7/30).
90-230 - Sleeping Bear Dunes (Michigan) - Drowning
At about 5 p.m. on July 26th, L.P., 41, of Maple City, Michigan,
drowned off Dimick's Point on North Manitou Island in Lake Michigan. L.P.
had been boating and drinking with four friends when he dove into the water
to swim the 100 to 200 yards to shore. He called to his friends, saying
that he was having difficulty, then called again to say he was all right.
L.P. failed to make it to shore, however. There were a large number of
boats in the area, and a search was begun. L.P. was found a half hour
later in nine feet of water. CPR was administered and the victim was
airlifted to a hospital, where he was pronounced dead. (Al Haeker, CR,
SLBE, via CompuServe message from Tom Thompson, RAD/MWRO, 7/27).
FIRE ACTIVITY
1) 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
CO BLM Craig Villard 300 Yes
Lee Gulch 100+ CN 8/2
WA NPS North Cascades McCallister 270 CN 8/5
USFS Wenatchee Canoe Creek - T2 505 None
OR USFS Siskiyou Caves - T2 85 None
UT BLM Salt Lake City Chokecherry 2,500 Yes
Shoshone Crater Butte 1,800 Yes
BIA Ft. Uintah/Ouray Florence - T2 4,700 CN 8/8
USFS Wasatch/Cache Long Bench 650 CN 8/2
CA USFS Los Padres Ynez - T2 1,060 Yes
AZ NPS Grand Canyon Topeka 200 None
AK FWS Yukon Flats A-197 - T1 127,260 None
Galena Zone A-204 73,300 None
BLM Tok Area 013026 831 None
Tanana Zone A-270 23,600 None
A-421 9,500 None
Southwest Area 004069 1,240 None
004068 - T2 4,250 None
Galena Zone A-168 2,900 None
NPS Denali A-148 46,000 MN
A-374 1,800 MN
A-255 23,600 MN
A-406 5,000 MN
A-413 6,000 MN
A-327 1,900 MN
A-391 36,390 MN
Army - A-133 14,000 None
AK Tok Area 013021 - T1 91,700 None
013035 11,500 None
Tanana Zone A-414 14,850 None
Delta Area 012054 7,500 None
Native Upper Yukon A-412 36,370 None
Alaska also has 32 fires unstaffed under modified suppression
strategy for a total of 969,426 acres and 47 fires under limited
suppression strategy for 845,600 acres.
NOTES:
- Fires - Asterisk indicates newly reported fire (on this
report). 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; MS means the fire is being managed under a
modified suppression strategy; "none" means no estimate; "yes"
means the fire has been contained.
3) NPS NARRATIVES -
- Denali (Alaska) -
* Activity on all fires in the park remains moderate, as a cool air
mass remains over Alaska.
- North Cascades (Washington) -
* McCallister Fire - The change in acreage on the fire resulted from
infra-red mapping and a recent burnout. Five Type I crews and
one ten-man NPS crew are committed.
- Sequoia/Kings Canyon (California) -
* Avalanche 1 RX Fire - The 935-acre fire is less active than
previously reported. The fire is flanking to the south and continues
to burn within prescription.
* Topeka Fire - There's no new information on the fire today.
- Grand Canyon (Arizona) -
4) FIRE ACTIVITY - 247 fires for 14,289 acres in past 24 hours.
5) NPS FIRE DANGERS - The following parks are experiencing high to
extreme fire danger this morning:
High Very High Extreme
Padre Island Sequoia/Kings Death Valley
Redwoods Cape Cod
Isle Royale Bryce Canyon
Zion Lava Beds
Hawaii Volcanoes
Whiskeytown
Denali
Cumberland Island
Indiana Dunes
Scotts Bluff
Grand Canyon
Pinnacles
Santa Monica
Voyageurs
6) ANALYSIS - Moderate fire activity continues to be reported as well
as high to extreme indices throughout the West.
As of Thursday, the parks reporting to the NPS Branch of Fire Management
in Boise had 44 firefighters, 11 monitors, and 18 overhead
personnel committed to fires nationally. Three NPS helicopters
and six engines have also been committed.
7) PROGNOSIS - Potential exists for increased activity in the Northwest,
Nevada and Great Basin due to hotter and drier conditions, coupled with
possible holdover fires from recent lightning activity.
(CompuServe report from Hallie Locklear, Branch of Fire, Boise, 8/2; NICC
Intelligence Section, Fire Management Situation Report, 0530 MDT, 8/3).
OFFICE NOTES
1) Since the final decision was relayed to the field that regions will
continue to adjudicate requests for individual service credit for 20-year
retirement, most regions are now finalizing the preliminary review of their
requests. We anticipate that most of the regional committees will convene
within the next couple of weeks to being the final adjudication process. Of
the approximately 1,200 submissions for 20-year credit that will probably be
submitted government-wide, 719 will originate within the NPS. (Mario
Fraire).
2) Harpers Ferry is still looking for historical items pertaining to the
ranger profession (other than uniforms or firearms) for the exhibit in the
ranger museum at Norris Soldier Station in Yellowstone. If you think you've
got something that might be of interest, contact Jim Mount at Harpers Ferry
Center, Harpers Ferry, WV 25425 (FTS 925-6445; 304-535-6445).
STAFF STATUS
- Division Chief: No travel scheduled.
- Branch of Resource & Visitor Protection: Kreis on lieu day; Martin
on AL.
- Branch of Fire: Norum on AL (7/24-8/5); Gale on SL (7/25-8/5); Botti
on AL (7/30-8/10); Hallie Locklear from SWRO on detail to Branch of Fire
Management (7/23-8/4).
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 (Branch of R&VP); WASO-FIRE-WO (Branch of Fire)
SEAdog: 1/650