RANGER ACTIVITIES DIVISION
                           MORNING REPORT

Attention: Directorate
           Regional and Park Chief Rangers, USPP, BIFC, FLETC
           Ranger Activities Division Information Network

Day/Date:  Wednesday, July 28, 1993

Broadcast: By 0900 EDT

INCIDENTS

93-477 - Yosemite (California) - Follow-up on Shooting of Ranger

The investigation into the shooting of ranger Kim Aufhauser continues.  As
of this time, the original list of 25 suspects has been reduced to nine or
ten.  Physical evidence is being processed and evaluated in the hope that it
will reveal more information regarding the shooting.  The investigative team
is attempting to employ the services of a hypnotist to help Aufhauser recall
details of the incident that may not readily come to mind.  Investigators
estimate that they may need another one to two weeks to check out all leads
and information in the case.  [RAD/WRO, 7/27]

93-528 - Great Smokies (Tennessee/North Carolina) - MVA; Four Fatalities

Four people were killed and several more injured in a multiple car accident
on U.S. 441 near Towstring Road at 5:30 p.m. on July 25th.  Each of the
three vehicles involved in the incident carried families of four comprised
of two parents and two children.  D.B., 35, of Chandler, North
Carolina, who was driving a 1990 Thunderbird, was heading southbound on the
highway when he failed to negotiate a right-hand curve, crossed the double
center line and struck a northbound Ford Escort driven by C.H.,
36, of Morehead, Kentucky.  A white Suburu sedan driven by
N.N., 46, of Honaker, Virginia, also northbound, then struck the
right side of the Thunderbird after it had come to a stop.  D.B. was
transported by Lifestar to the University of Tennessee Hospital, where he is
in critical condition in the intensive care unit.  His wife, L.J.G.B.,
37, who was the front seat passenger, and his daughter,
S.L., seven, were pronounced dead upon arrival at Cherokee Indian
Health Service Hospital.  The D.B.'s other daughter, A., 10, is in
critical condition at Memorial Mission Hospital in Asheville.  Both C.H.
and her husband, G., 36, were pronounced dead at the scene. 
Their two children, T., 12, and S., 14, were taken to C.J. Harris
Hospital in Sylva, where they are in stable condtion and being treated for
various injuries.  None of the occupants of the third vehicle were seriously
injured.  They were treated at Swain County Hospital and released.  There is
no indication that alcohol was a factor in the incident.  [Jason Houck, CR,
GRSM, 7/27]

93-529 - Glen Canyon (Arizona/Utah) - Helicopter Crash

On the morning of July 26th, a Bell Jet Ranger owned by Arizona Helicopter
Adventures which was being used to film a Polaris personal watercraft
commercial lost power and crash-landed in the lake near Gunsight Butte about
12 miles north of Page, Arizona.  The pilot and his two passengers were able
to escape before the helicopter sank and suffered only minor injuries.  The
pilot, D.D., 46, told investigators that they were flying between
100 and 200 feet above the surface of the lake and were beginning to turn
around when the engine lost power and the helicopter auto-rotated to the
lake surface.  Before hitting the surface, the helicopter rolled onto its
right side, thereby causing the rotor blades to strike the water and popping
the windshield out.  The two passengers, producer A.A., 25, and
cameraman J.J., 37, both employed by Media Loft Productions of
Minneapolis, Minnesota, were able to escape through the spot where the
windshield had been, but not without difficulties.  J.J., who was seated in
the right rear seat, could not get his seatbelt to release.  A.A. swam
down to him twice to help release the belt, and was able to do so just
before the helicopter sank.  J.J., a non-swimmer, was kept afloat by using
the pilot's briefcase as a flotation device.  A.A. also helped him tread
water until they were picked up by members of the Polaris group.  The
helicopter was valued at $275,000 and the on-board camera system was valued
at $200,000.  The helicopter has not yet been located.  There was a large
sheen of fuel on the water when it went down, but it has since dissipated. 
[Larry Clark, CR, GLCA, 7/27]

            [More pending incident reports tomorrow...]

FIRE ACTIVITY

1) FIRE SITUATION - Preparedness Level II

2) FIRE SUMMARY

State  Agency     Area            Fire              7/26      7/27   Status

 AK    State   SW Area           304632 - T2      10,810    11,550   CN 7/30
       NPS     Yukon-Charley   * Unnamed          35,200    55,200   NEC

 AZ    State   -               * Barn                  -       400   CL
       State   -               * Sandario              -       320   CL

 TX    State   -               * Garford               -     2,700   CL

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
  CND - Contained              CN (date) - Expected date of containment

3) PARK FIRE REPORTS - 

* Alaska Region - Twelve fires in NPS units in Alaska had burned about
  56,000 acres through Monday, with the largest at Yukon-Charley Rivers
  (below).  Most of the park fires are under surveillance but not being
  fought.  Some of the larger fires include a 9,000-acre fire at Denali
  which was last reported to be moving across a mile-wide front in spruce
  and tundra and a second fire at Yukon-Charley Rivers which had burned just
  over 6,000 acres on Monday.  There have been 682 fires in Alaska to date,
  about 85 of which are now burning.  The total acreage burned is about
  400,000 - a modest fire year for the state.  

* Yukon-Charlie Rivers - A fire burning in and near the park made a 20,000
  -acre run Monday, bringing its size to 55,200 acres.  A Type 3 team with a
  total of 39 people has been committed to the fire.  A burnout will likely
  be conducted around a park repeater site if the fire threatens the
  facility, but no other suppression activities will be undertaken on park
  lands.  The fire has produced heavy smoke and haze across the park.  Smoke
  kept the NPS FIREPRO helicopter from observing the fire on Monday.  This
  fire is the largest of six on or adjacent to the park.  The weather
  forecast is for thunderstorms; the Canadian drought index indicates high
  to extreme drought.

4) ANALYSIS - Initial attack activity increased in the Southwest, Nevada and
the South on Monday, but there was little activity throughout most of the
West.

5) PROGNOSIS - Initial attack and large fire potential were considered most
probable in Alaska, the Southwest and the South yesterday because of
continuing warm and dry conditions.  Much of the West was expected to have
warm temperatures and isolated thunderstorms, but initial attack activity
was expected to remain low.

[NIFCC Intelligence Section, 7/27; Steve Holder, FMO, RAD/ARO, and John
Quinley, PAO/ARO, 7/26]

RESOURCE MANAGEMENT

No field reports today.

STAFF STATUS

Division Chief: No leave or travel scheduled.

Branch of Resource and Visitor Protection: Sisto at meetings in Alaska
Region (7/26-8/6); Halainen at management grid training course (7/26-7/30).

Branch of Fire and Aviation: Farrel at Presidio transition meeting (7/26-
7/30); Gale instructing management grid training course (7/26-7/30).

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