- Subject: NPS Morning Report - Thursday, April 22, 1993
- Date: Thurs, 22 Apr 1993
RANGER ACTIVITIES DIVISION
MORNING REPORT
Attention: Directorate
Regional and Park Chief Rangers, USPP, BIFC, FLETC
Ranger Activities Division Information Network
Day/Date: Thursday, April 22, 1993
Broadcast: By 0830 ET
INCIDENTS
93-186 - Lake Mead (Nevada) - Follow-up on Special Events
No significant incidents of civil unrest occurred in the park or surrounding
area following the announcement of the verdict in the Rodney King trial on
Saturday, and Western Region's special events team (SET) was accordingly
demobilized the following day. During the period from April 10th through
midnight on April 17th, 43 arrests, one drowning death, and 112 significant
law enforcement incidents were recorded in the park, including weapons
violations and seizures, drug possession, fugitive arrests, larcenies,
burglaries, OUI incidents, and gang activity investigations. By comparison,
the average is six arrests in a normal week. SET members assisted rangers
in the Katherine District during the "Hog Heaven II" motorcycle gang rally
on Saturday and assisted in 18 arrests within the park, nine of which were
felonies. Some of the gangs seen wearing colors within the Katherine area
were the Bar Hoppers, Iron Crossmen, Hell's Angels, and Vagos. All gangs
left the area at the end of the weekend. All equipment purchased for this
operation will be stored at Lake Mead as part of a national cache for use
throughout the National Park System. Anyone needing items from this cache
should contact WASO Ranger Activities for approval, and it will be shipped
from Lake Mead. [Capt. Mike O'Neal, RAD/WRO, 4/19]
93-191 - Hawaii Volcanoes (Hawaii) - Follow-up on Volcanic Explosion
Searchers are continuing their efforts to find Prem Nagar, who disappeared
in the ocean after Monday's explosion at Lae Apuki, but no sign of him has
been found. Efforts will continue at least one more day. An investigation
of the site was completed yesterday by rangers and a scientist from the
Geological Survey's Volcano Observatory. They concluded that the lava bench
could collapse again in some manner if lava continues to enter the ocean at
that point and the bench continues to grow. The explosive aftermath of a
bench collapse was observed by scientists several years ago when lava
entered the ocean several miles to the east at Kupapau Point. Park staff
met with a representative from the observatory yesterday morning and
reviewed options for visitor access to the eruption site. They considered
two options - restricting daytime viewing and completely closing the coastal
area at night, or leaving the site open after park staff leaves, but with
reorganization of safety signs and clearer definitions of viewing areas.
After careful deliberation, they decided to keep the site open 24 hours per
day and concentrate on establishing viewing areas that could be considered
reasonably safe, since visitors would ignore barricades and safety signing
after hours and continue to enter hazardous areas. They felt that the
irresponsible actions of a few should not result in unreasonable nighttime
restrictions on visitor use of this expansive and spectacular section of the
park. Lava flows are a vital but inherently dangerous part of the park,
just as seasonally high river flows are in other areas. It was felt that
the manner in which the park has managed visitor access to the lava flows
for the last ten years has been reasonable and has permitted superlative
visitor experiences to thousands of people with relatively few serious
accidents or injuries. The reorganization of safety signs and
barricades was completed yesterday and the site was reopened around noon.
[Jim Martin, CR, HAVO, 4/21]
93-200 - Golden Gate (California) - Rescue
Late on the morning of April 18th, ranger Steve Prokop spotted the 40-foot
fishing boat Lindy Su in distress off the north end of Baker Beach. The
boat was drifting dangerously close to the surfline; although it dropped
anchor, the boat was swept onto the rocks by six-foot-high shore breakers
and the crew and passengers abandoned ship and attempted to swim to shore.
All were wearing life preservers. Five made it to safely to the beach and
were pulled from the water, but the captain, D.D., had
difficulty staying upright. Prokop entered the heavy surf to assist him;
although both were severely buffeted, they were able to make it shore
without injury. Rangers Milestone and Strickfaden, who had been dispatched
to assist, initiated a high-angle cliff rescue with the help of Park Police
officers and local fire departments and retrieved two victims who were
stranded on offshore rocks. All seven victims were uninjured, but the boat
could not be salvaged and broke up on the rocks. The Coast Guard responded
to the minor fuel spill that followed. [James Milestone, GOGA, 4/20]
93-201 - Shenandoah (Virginia) - Poaching Arrest
While conducting a surveillance operation in the Little Creek area on April
17th, ranger Rusty Jensen observed a man in full camouflage carrying a long
gun inside the park. Jensen identified himself, but the man - later
identified as 31-year-old J.C. of Jollett Hollow - refused to drop
his weapon despite several commands to do so. J.C. suddenly turned and ran
away from Jensen, but Jensen chased and caught him and issued him a
mandatory appearance violation notice for hunting in the park. J.C.'s
loaded 12-gauge shotgun and five turkey calls were confiscated. J.C. will
also be charged with interfering with an agency function, possession of a
loaded weapon in the park, and hunting without a valid state hunting license
in his possession. Forfeiture of the weapon will be sought. April 17th was
the first day of the state's spring gobbler turkey season. [Larry Hakel,
CR, SHEN, 4/17]
93-202 - Lake Mead (Nevada) - Probable Drowning
H.K. and L.H. were boating on Lake Mead on April 4th when they
got into a heated argument. H.K., 54, reportedly jumped overboard during
the argument and swam away from the boat. L.H. did not immediately report
the incident because he believed she was a strong swimmer and was not in
danger. He did report her missing later that day, however, and a search was
begun. Initial efforts were unsuccessful, but visitors reported her body
floating in the lake on April 20th at a point several miles from where she'd
last been seen. The coroner is conducting an investigation, but no foul
play is thought to have occurred. Alcohol was reportedly a contributing
factor. [Terry Greene, LAME, 4/21]
93-203 - Great Smokies (North Carolina/Tennessee) - Visitor-Employee MVA
Seasonal ranger Paula Rakes was responding to a motor vehicle accident on
Highway 441 on the morning of April 20th when she lost control of her
cruiser and collided head-on with a visitor's vehicle a mile and a half
south of the Sugarlands Visitor Center. S.J., the driver of the
other vehicle, received a mild concussion, but her husband was not injured.
Rakes sustained a hairline fracture to her left tibia. The initial accident
was minor in nature. [Dave Panebaker, ACR, GRSM, 4/20]
RESOURCE MANAGEMENT
No field reports today.
FIRE ACTIVITY
1) FIRE SITUATION - Preparedness Level I
2) FIRE SUMMARY
State Agency Area Fire 4/21 4/22 Status
NM USFS Lincoln NF Burgett - T1 5,350 5,350 CND
AZ BLM Phoenix Dist. * Skyline 200 200 CND
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
CL - Controlled MN - Being monitored
CS - Confinement strategy NEC - No estimate of containment
CN (date) - Expected date CND - Contained
of containment
3) PARK FIRE REPORTS - No reports today.
4) ANALYSIS - Initial attack is continuing in the Southwest, South and East.
5) PROGNOSIS - No resource shortages are expected.
[NIFCC Intelligence Section, 0530, 4/22
STAFF STATUS
Division Chief: No leave or travel scheduled.
Branch of Resource and Visitor Protection: Marriott at law enforcement
refresher (4/19-4/23); Sisto instructing at MWR special park uses training
course (4/19-4/23); Henry at backcountry workshop (4/21-4/22).
Branch of Fire and Aviation: Hurd, Erskine and Botti at IFCC meeting (4/21-
4/22); Farrel at wildland/urban interface initiative meeting (4/19-4/22);
Clark at prescribed fire committee meeting (4/19-4/22); Cook on AL (4/19-
4/23).
Prepared by WASO Division of Ranger Activities
Telephone: Branch of R&VP - 202-208-4874
Branch of F&A (WASO) - 202-208-5572
Telefax: Branch of R&VP - 202-208-6756
Branch of F&A (WASO) - 202-208-5977
cc:Mail: Branch of R&VP - WASO Ranger Activities
Branch of F&A (WASO) - WASO Fire and Aviation
SkyPager: Emergencies ONLY (numeric message) - 1-800-759-7243, PIN 2404843
SkyTalk: Emergencies ONLY (voice message) - 1-800-759-8255, PIN 2404843