- Subject: NPS Morning Report - Thursday, August 16, 1990
- Date: Thurs, 16 Aug 1990
RANGER ACTIVITIES DIVISION
MORNING REPORT
Attention: Directorate
Regional and Park Chief Rangers, USPP, BIFC, FLETC
CC: RAD Information Net
Day/date: Thursday, August 16, 1990
INCIDENTS
90-256 - Lake Mead (Nevada/Arizona) - Drowning
At about 2:30 p.m. on the 13th, J.M., 22, of Bullhead City,
Arizona, was swimming in the area of Cabin Site Point near Katherine Landing
with four friends. As the group swam across a lagoon, J.M. suddenly
stopped and called to his friends, saying that he could not make it. He
disappeared under the surface as his companions returned to assist him. NPS
divers recovered the body around 3 p.m. (Dispatch, LAME, via CompuServe
message from Herb Gercke, RAD/WRO, 8/15).
90-257 - Independence (Pennsylvania) - Structural Fire
Park painters were removing paint with a torch when a fire broke out in the
attic of Chief Ranger Robert Byrne's historic park residence on Locust
Street yesterday. The Philadelphia Fire Department responded and
extinguished the fire. The building suffered from charring, smoke and water
damage, and structural damage to attic beams. The chief ranger and his
family were on vacation at the time of the fire. (Bobby Spears, Acting CR,
INDE, via CompuServe message from Ginny Paci, RAD/MARO, 8/15).
90-258 - Colorado (Colorado) - Suicide
Around 7 a.m. on the 15th, the park's chief of maintenance discovered the
body of J.A.W., 33, of Grand Junction, Colorado, in her car at
Independence Overlook. Indications are that J.A.W. died of carbon monoxide
poisoning. She had a history of prior suicide attempts, and was being
treated for substance abuse at the time of her death. (Telephone report
from RAD/RMRO, 8/15).
90-259 - Natchez Trace (Mississippi/Tennessee/Alabama) - Suicide
At about 1 p.m. on the 14th, S.M., 32, of Jackson, Mississippi, shot
and killed herself at Cypress Swamp. Investigation revealed that S.M. had
purchased a .38 revolver and box of ammunition earlier that morning. A
suicide note was found in her purse. (Pat Reed, CR, NATR, via telefax from
Capt. Steve Alscher, RAD/SERO, 8/15).
FIRE ACTIVITY
1) PREPAREDNESS LEVEL - V (HIGHEST LEVEL)
Several geographic areas are experiencing major incidents which have the
potential to exhaust all agency fire resources. At least 625 crews
committed nationally.
2) NATIONAL OVERVIEW
Four battalions of about 500 soldiers each have joined the 21,000
firefighters committed to Western fires. Substantial progress has been made
on containment of several fires due to low winds, higher humidities,
successful burnout operations and adequate resources. The number of new
starts has dropped throughout the West.
3) NATIONAL FIRE SUMMARY
State Agency Area Fire 8/15 8/16 Status
CA NPS Yosemite Arch Rock Comp. - T1:
A-Rock 17,000 17,876 CN 8/17
T-4 695 695 Yes
Steamboat - T1 4,400 5,200 CN 8/16
Whiskeytown Kanaka 2,896 3,069 Yes
Lava Beds *Ross - 385 Yes
Death Valley *Hunter Mountain - 60 CN 8/15
USFS Sequoia Stormy Comp. -
T1 24,200 24,200 CN 8/16
Lassen Finley lake 18,744 21,880 None
Mendocino Elkhorn Comp. -
T2: 470 535 Yes
Recer 3,182 ,182 CN 8/16
CA CDF Campbell 115,000 115,000 CN 8/16
Devil 510 515 Yes
Mattole Comp. 15,100 15,100 CN 8/27
ID USFS Payette Wilderness Comp. - T2 3,808 4,668 None
Boise *Badger - T2 - 800 None
WA USFS Wenatchee Leavenworth Comp. - T2: 500 540 CN 8/16
Okanogan Freeze Out 195 195 None
OR USFS Ochoco Buck Sp. Comp. - T2 21,640 21,640 CN 8/16
Malheur Sheep Mt. Comp. - T2 10,500 11,306 CN 8/20
Snowshoe - T1 11,285 12,457 CN 8/18
BLM Vale Thornton - T2 995 710 Yes
WY USFS Bridger-Teton Hot Foot - T2 127 127 Yes
MT BIA North. Cheyenne Joy Complex - T2 750+ 550 CN 8/17
AK NPS Denali A-148 46,050 46,050 MN
A-374 1,810 1,810 MN
A-255 23,800 23,800 MN
A-406 16,000 16,000 MN
A-413 6,010 6,010 MN
FWS Galena Zone A-204 150,000 150,000 None
BLM Southwest Area 004069 5,636 5,836 None
004068 - T2 11,509 11,709 None
004034 117,924 117,924 None
004056 126,316 127,373 None
Tanana Zone A-421 NR 19,580 None
AK Tok Area 013021 - T1 94,650 94,650 CN 8/20
Galena Zone A-467 17,000 17,000 None
A-468 3,000 3,000 None
Native Galena Zone A-469 550 550 None
Tanana Zone A-391 43,890 43,890 None
Alaska also has 27 fires unstaffed under modified suppression
strategy for a total of 1,104,807 acres and 46 fires under limited
suppression strategy for 899,047 acres.
NOTES:
- Fires - Asterisk indicates newly reported fire (on this
report). T1 and T2 indicate assigned Type I and Type II Teams.
- Status - The following abbreviations are employed:
* NR - No report received
* CN - Contained
* CL - Controlled
* MN - Being monitored
* None - No estimate of containment
* Yes - Fire has been contained
4) NPS NARRATIVES -
- Yosemite (California) - Superintendent Mike Finley announced yesterday
that the Tioga Road (State Route 120) will reopen on Friday at noon.
State Route 140 from Merced and State Route 41 from Fresno will reopen
into Yosemite Valley at noon on the 20th. All services along the Tioga
Road corridor will be available with the exception of the Tamarack Flat
(Tampground and some ranger programs. Some trails in fire areas will
remain closed. The Glacier Point Road will remain closed indefinitely.
Temperatures are forecast to be in the 70's and 80's today. A more stable
air mass will be moving into the area, which will decrease the chance of
afternoon thunderstorms. A slight warming trend may occur by the weekend.
* A-Rock - The fire is now 85 percent contained. About two-thirds of the
acreage is on Forest Service land, with the balance in the park. El
Portal is no longer threatened. Although threats continue to Crane
Flat and the Merced Grove, they are considered to be low and decreasing
with improving weather conditions. Containment is expected at 6 p.m. on
the 17th.
* T-4 - The fire is 100% contained.
* Steamboat - As of yesterday at 6 p.m., the fire was 85 percent contained
Burnout operations continued yesterday and were planned for last night.
Holding operations scheduled for today will require rotary and fixed
wing support to be successful. The fire should be fully contained by
6 p.m. this evening. A demobilization plan has been approved and is
being implemented. All hand crews are on a rest day rotation.
- Whiskeytown/Shasta/Trinity (California) -
* Kanaka Fire - The fire was contained at 5 p.m. PDT on Tuesday. The
staging area and heavy equipment are being demobilized.
- Death Valley (California) -
* Hunter Mountain Fire - The fire was started by a military plane crash
on the 14th. The pilot escaped injury. Containment was expected at
midnight last night. One engine, five firefighters and one overhead
person were committed.
- Lava Beds (California).
* Ross Fire - The fire started on the 14th. Three engines, seven Type II
crews, three helicopters, 15 firefighters and two air tankers have been
committed. Erratic winds of from 12 to 15 miles per hour with higher
gusts were impeding control efforts.
- Lassen Volcanic (California) -
* Finley Lake Fire - The fire jumped the direct line in the vicinity of
Bluff Springs on Tuesday, but was kept from going over the secondary
line. Two battalions of about 500 soldiers have joined firefighters
working to control the fire. The fire is now six miles east of
Lassen and burning west. Nine strike teams - 45 fire engines - and
four bulldozers have been staged and are immediately available for
structural protection of park and town buildings.
- Denali (Alaska) - There were no reported acreage increases on the park's
fires yesterday, but the FIRERRO helicopter was unable to fly due to low
visibility. The park received extremely heavy lightning on the 14th,
but also may have received some rain.
- Sequoia/Kings Canyon (California) -
* Avalanche 1 RX Fire - There's no change in the fire's acreage.
* Stag - Demobilization was to begin yesterday.
* Colony - Demobilization was to begin yesterday.
5) NATIONAL FIRE ACTIVITY - 211 fires for 4,412 acres in past 24 hours.
1989 1990
Year-to-date Fires 42,976 45,506
Year-to-date Acres 1,424,273 3,551,473
6) NPS FIRE DANGERS - The following parks reported high to extreme fire
danger yesterday:
High Very High Extreme
Grant-Kohrs Crater Lake Lava Beds
Golden Gate Craters of the Moon Badlands
Joshua Tree Whiskeytown John Day Fossil Beds
Dinosaur Lassen Volcanic Noatak
Yosemite Death Valley Yukon-Charlie
Redwoods Theodore Roosevelt Coulee Dam
Denali Cumberland Island
Indiana Dunes North Cascades
Point Reyes Sequoia/Kings
Gulf Islands
Olympic
Voyageurs
Wrangell-St. Elias
Hawaii Volcanoes
Everglades
Pinnacles
Zion
7) NPS MOBIIIZATION/DEMOBIIIZATION -
Resource August 14 August 15
Firefighters 640 933
Monitors 13 13
Overhead personnel 193 200
Type I crews 2 2
Engines 14 14
Helicopters 4 4
The breakdown by region of personnel committed as of yesterday is
as follows:
AR MAR MWR NAR NCR PNR RMR SER SWR WR
Firefighters 0 70 77 31 25 83 122 103 42 380
Overhead 2 12 7 0 2 24 58 37 31 35
The breakdown by region of personnel available for callout at their
home parks as of yesterday is as follows:
AR MAR MWR NAR NCR PNR RMR SER SWR WR
Firefighters 28 20 20 17 10 0 53 65 79 4
Overhead 0 9 5 0 2 0 21 14 32 0
8) ANALYSIS - New fire starts have diminished. Slightly cooler temperatures
and higher humidities are aiding firefighters on large fire complexes.
Fires in the West currently have adequate resources to meet containment
targets.
9) PROGNOSIS - Continued progress towards containment and control on
fires throughout the West is expected. Resources remain adequate.
(209 from Steamboat Fire, 1800, 8/15; CompuServe report from Diane Wisley
and Kristy MacMillan, Branch of Fire, Boise, 2030 MDT, 8/15; National Fire
Information Center's "National Fire News", 1200 MDT, 8/15; NICC Intelligence
Section, Fire Management Situation Report, 0530 MDT, 8/16).
STAFF STATUS
- Division Chief: No travel scheduled.
- Branch of Resource & Visitor Protection: Coffey on SL (8/13-8/17).
- Branch of Fire: Ten Dams and Sandy Rives from Shenandoah detailed to the
Branch (WASO) indefinitely; Diane Wisely detailed to the Branch (Boise)
from PNRO (8/6-8/24); Kristy MacMillan detailed to the Branch (Boise)
from Buffalo NSR (8/10-8/20).
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