RANGER ACTIVITIES DIVISION
MORNING REPORT
Attention: Directorate
Regional and Park Chief Rangers, USPP, BIFC, FLETC
CC: RAD Information Net
Day/date: Thursday, July 18, 1991
INCIDENTS
91-299 - New River Gorge (West Virginia) - Followup on Search in
Progress
Just before noon on the 16th, ranger Larry Anderson and two
local emergency service volunteers found the body of J.W.
just below the surface of the New River near an area
where to search and rescue dogs had previously alerted. The
area was about 100 yards downstream from the point where J.W.
had last been seen. The Army Corps of Engineers had closed all
16 gates in the Bluestone Dam at Hinton to provide searchers
with six hours of low river levels to aid search efforts. The
recovery came about 20 hours after the search began.
Approximately 60 people had been committed to the search at the
time J.W. 's body was found. [Telefax from Duncan Hollar,
Acting CR, NERI, 7/17]
91-301 - Grand Canyon (Arizona) - EMS Assistance to USFS
On July 6th, North Rim rangers responded to a report of a hang
gliding accident at Marble View in the Kaibab National Forest.
When park medical units arrived, they found Forest Service
personnel employing chain saws to cut a path through thick
overgrowth to gain access to the victim, D.M., 33, of
Phoenix, Arizona. D.M. was found about 30 yards down a steep
scree slope with only the branches of a bush preventing him from
falling another 100 feet down a sheer cliff. Witnesses reported
that D.M. flew a short distance after launching his hang
glider, but abruptly swung back in and crashed into the slope.
An initial medical assessment revealed severe hip and chest pain,
several missing teeth, and a deep puncture wound to his lower
right abdomen. Symptoms of volume shock and internal bleeding
also began to appear. D.M. was extricated from the slope and
carried to a large clearing, where an NPS helicopter responded
with a park medic on board. D.M. was flown to Flagstaff
Medical Center, where he was assessed and then flown to a level
one trauma center in Phoenix for emergency surgery. It was
later learned that D.M. had a torn and leaking aorta and
fractured pelvis. The attending surgeon stated that he had
never seen a person with such an injury survive before, and
added that D.M. was saved only through the quick response and
significant medical intervention of park personnel. [Kathy
Whitworth, GRCA, via CompuServe message from Herb Gercke,
RAD/WRO, 7/17]
91-302 - Bryce Canyon (Utah) - Attempted Fraud
A man who gained free entry to the park on July 8th by making a
fraudulent claim has been cited for giving false information.
The man claimed to be M.W.; he said that he had received
the Distinguished Service Award while working for the Bureau of
Mines and that this entitled him to free entry into parks and
monuments. Fee collection supervisor Sheree Garrett checked
into regulations in NPS-22, though, and found no such provisions.
Ranger Bob Nalwalker subsequently made contact with the man in
order to get him to pay his entrance fee. Nalwalker then
learned that the man was actually H.W., that his
father had actually earned the award, and that H.W. had used
the information to gain free entry at another park. Nalwalker
cited H.W. for giving false information. [SEAdog message
from John Morlock, BRCA, 7/15]
FIRE ACTIVITY
1) ACTIVITY LEVEL Planning Level II
2) FIRE SUMMARY
State Agency Area Fire 7/17 7/18 Status
AK BIA Southwest Area B544 4,600 4,600 NEC
Galena Zone B687 T2 7,500 7,500 CN
FWS Up. Yukon Zone B460 70,450 70,890 NEC
Tanana Zone B568 30,630 30,630 DM
Up. Yukon Zone B562 58,356 58,356 NEC
ID BLM Burley Dist. Hansel Mountain 9,390 9,390 CN
Salt Lake Dist. * Stateline 850
NEC
UT BLM Richfield Dist. Rockwell 2,200 2,300 CN
MT USFS Gallatin NF * Thompson Crk. T1 3,000 NEC
Alaska also has 13 fires under modified suppression strategy for
371,683 acres and 49 fires under limited suppression for 409,364 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 MS Modified suppression strategy
CN Contained MN Being monitored
CL Controlled NEC No estimate of containment
CS Confinement strategy DM Demobed
3) 1990/1991 COMPARATIVE ACTIVITY SUMMARY
Fires Acres
1990 (Year-to-date) 37,807 1,460,746
1991 (Year-to-date) 39,317 1,608,456
1990-1991 (% difference) + 4% + 10%
4) ANALYSIS - Major demobilization is continuing in Alaska,
where fire activity has decreased significantly. Several areas
in the Great Basin are reporting very high to extreme indices.
5) PROGNOSIS - Moderate fire activity is expected over the next
couple of days. No resource shortages are anticipated.
[Fire Management Situation Report, NIFCC Intelligence Section,
7/18]
OPERATIONAL NOTES
1) Chief rangers: Please get your nominations for the D.A.R.E.
training to your regional training officers this week. The
training will be held September 9 20 at Albright EDC. [Dale
Thompson, AEDC]
2) A memorandum entitled "Type I AllRisk Incident Management
Team" went out from the director to all regional directors in
May. The memo established a national Type I allrisk incident
management team (IMT) to "help superintendents and regional
directors resolve major nonfire incidents and manage complex
special events occurring in their parks in the most cost
effective, efficient and professional manner." It outlined ways
in which the IMT would be utilized and asked for applications to
the four general staff positions being recruited operations
section chief, planning section chief, logistics section chief,
and finance section chief. Application procedures were attached,
and applications are to be submitted to Ranger Activities no
later than August 1, 1991. If you haven't seen the memo, check
with your regional office. [Dick Martin, RAD/WASO]
STAFF STATUS
Division Chief: Dick Martin is the acting division chief.
Branch of Resource & Visitor Protection: Schamp on AL (7/19).
Branch of Fire & Aviation: Hurd at IFCC and branch meetings in
Boise, ID (7/15-7/19); Spruill at OAS and branch meetings in
Boise, ID (7/16-7/19); Broyles, Norum and Gale at joint USFS/NPS
meeting, Denver, CO (7/14-7/18); Botti on AL (7/15-7/26).
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