- Subject: NPS Morning Report - Tuesday, August 3, 1993
- Date: Tues, 3 Aug 1993
RANGER ACTIVITIES DIVISION
MORNING REPORT
Attention: Directorate
Regional and Park Chief Rangers, USPP, BIFC, FLETC
Ranger Activities Division Information Network
Day/Date: Tuesday, August 3, 1993
Broadcast: By 0900 EDT
INCIDENTS
93-472 - Midwest Parks - Follow-up on Flood Impacts
* Jefferson National Expansion (Missouri) - Floodwaters reached 49.4 feet -
19.4 feet over flood stage - around noon on Sunday, August 1st. The number
of flood watchers visiting the park increased accordingly; approximately
27,000 came to the park Sunday, augmenting the 24,000 who came to see the
Arch itself. Several flood-related incidents occurred during the weekend:
o Lightning struck the north area of the park grounds Saturday evening. Two
family members were injured and taken to a local hospital. Both are
reported to be in stable condition and were to be released yesterday. One
SET member was 15 yards from the impact point, but was not injured. The
lightning blew a large chunk of concrete out of the sidewalk.
o A 67-year-old woman from St. Louis suffered a fatal heart attack while on
park grounds to view the flood. Park EMTs performed CPR for about 15
minutes before city EMS personnel arrived. The woman was pronounced dead
on arrival at a local hospital.
o Further information has been provided regarding the restaurant barge which
broke loose on the park waterfront late Sunday night. The front section
of the barge sank almost immediately after its mooring lines broke. The
stern section, a helicopter landing pad barge, and a WW II minesweeper
tied alongside all broke free and slammed into three other barges and a
cruise boat in front of the Arch; the mooring lines of these boats then
broke as well, whereupon they drifted into a row of half submerged trees
on park property and became lodged in their branches. The restaurant
barge, helicopter landing barge and minesweeper floated free until they
struck the support columns if the Interstate 70 bridge. The top deck of
the restaurant barge, now on fire, was ripped off as it passed under the
bridge. Coast Guard and city fire boats responded and put out the fire.
All three boats were corralled about two miles downstream. Fifteen city
fire and rescue vehicles gathered on Arch grounds, where a unified command
center was established. The park was closed to all but emergency
personnel until 6 a.m. on Monday, at which time all but the area above the
Grand Staircase was reopened to the public. The remaining section will be
reopened when the boats have been cleared.
[Deryl Stone, CR, JEFF, 8/2]
93-554 - Yosemite (California) - Serious Employee Injury
Dispatcher Pat Teague was bitten in the ankle while visiting the Lake
Eleanor area of the Mather District on July 28th. He was treated by a park
medic, then evacuated by emergency air transport to a hospital in Modesto,
California, where he was admitted to the intensive care unit. Teague is now
out of the hospital and recovering at home. Get well wishes can be sent to
him care of P.O. Box 577, Yosemite, CA 95389. [Leslie Crossland, YOSE, 8/2]
93-555 - Wrangell-St. Elias (Alaska) - Downed Aircraft; Two Fatalities
Park personnel were notified of a missing airplane on the afternoon of July
31st. Investigation revealed that two commercial fishermen had left the
park the previous morning to fly to Yakutat for supplies and that they'd
last been seen by other fisherman leaving the East River at treetop level in
zero visibility weather. No flight plan had been filed. A search was begun
using private aircraft, commercial air taxis and Coast Guard aircraft.
Parts of an airplane were found floating in the ocean about five miles
offshore of the Alsek River around 7 p.m. The wreckage was identified as
the missing plane. Preliminary investigation indicates that the plane
probably went down due to extremely bad weather. [CRO, WRST, 7/30]
93-556 - Biscayne (Florida) - Boating Accident; Fatality
Early on the afternoon of July 31st, the park received word that a 15-foot
vessel had capsized in Biscayne Bay off Boca Chita Island and that one of
the six people who were dumped into the ocean was missing. Rangers located
five members of the D. family on a private vessel; shortly thereafter, a
private salvage vessel located the body of G.D., 58, of Miami,
floating face down in about 12 feet of water. His body was entangled in 80-
pound test fishing line that tethered him to the overturned vessel. Initial
reports indicate that the vessel was struck in the bow by a large wave which
had been produced by a thunder squall. The wave pushed the bow down,
causing all six occupants to be thrown into the bow area and capsizing the
vessel. The five survivors were wearing life jackets and were in the water
for about 45 minutes before being picked up. G.D. had given his life jacket
to one of his children just moments before the mishap. Rangers and Florida
Marine Patrol officers are conducting a joint investigation into the
incident. [Wayne Elliott, Acting CR, BISC, 8/1]
93-557 - Blue Ridge (North Carolina/Virginia) - MVA; Fatality
Sometime late on the night of July 31st or early on the morning of August
1st, a 1993 Chevrolet pickup truck being driven by T.U. of
Greensboro, North Carolina, went off the parkway near milepost 275 and
struck a tree. The accident was not discovered until a maintenance worker
came upon it around 10:30 a.m. Sunday morning. T.U. was pronounced
dead at the scene. An investigation is underway. [CRO, BLRI, 8/2]
93-558 - Blue Ridge (North Carolina/Virginia) - MVA; Fatality
G.M. of Fairfield, Pennsylvania, suffered critical injuries
when the recreational vehicle being driven by his wife, V., left the
parkway, went over an embankment and struck a large tree on the afternoon of
August 1st. Both M.S were airlifted to a hospital in Roanoke.
G.M. died of massive internal injuries during emergency
surgery. An investigation is underway. [CRO, BLRI, 8/2]
93-559 - Yellowstone (Wyoming) - Rescue
R.H., 21, of Ammon, Idaho, received serious head injuries when
he fell over 100 feet while climbing off-trail in a hazardous area near
Tower Fall at 6 p.m. on July 31st. Park personnel evacuated him by ground
to the Tower Fall parking lot, where he was picked up by Air Idaho Life
Flight and transported to a hospital in Idaho Falls. R.H. is listed in
critical condition in the hospital's intensive care unit. [CRO, YELL, 8/2]
93-560 - Prince William (Virginia) - Assault
On August 1st, rangers received a report of an assault which had occurred in
one of the park's cabin camps. A camp director for Family and Child
Services showed up at a park residence to report the assault, which had
occurred at about 10 p.m. The director had been beaten by three other men,
one of whom as also a camp counselor. The trio assaulted the director with
hands, feet and plastic bread racks in the camp dining hall and removed the
hall's phone so that the victim could not call anyone. Before they left,
one of the assailants, who was not known to the director, told him that he'd
return to "nine him" - street slang for shooting someone with a nine
millimeter handgun. The trio then fled the area. During the preliminary
investigation, rangers learned that another camp director was also a target
of a planned assault. The investigation is continuing. [Ken Kelley,
RAD/NCRO, 8/2]
FIRE ACTIVITY
1) FIRE SITUATION - Preparedness Level II
2) FIRE SUMMARY
State Agency Area Fire 8/2 8/3 Status
AK State SW Area 304632 - T2 11,550 11,550 DM
Tanana Zone * B248 - 36,000 NEC
NPS Yukon-Charley * Webber Creek - 12,600 NEC
* B557 - 80,000 CS
* Edwards Creek #2 - 695 CS
* B411 - 90 CS
* Rock Creek - 450 CS
* Trout Creek - 21 CS
CA State San Benito-
Monterey Rancho 1,100 5,000 CN 8/3
USFS Inyo * Bald Mtn. - 350 CN 8/3
UT BLM Cedar City * Bulldog - 1,000 CND
AZ State - Bug - T2 2,300 5,676 CN 8/3
* Black Mtn. - 700 CND
USFS Tonto Edwards - T2 1,500 2,000 NEC
* Alder - 115 CND
BLM Safford * Javalina - 167 CND
* Bonita Creek - 160 CND
CO BLM Montrose * Roatcap - T2 - 150 CN 8/3
FL USFS Ocala Juniper 1,150 1,150 CN 8/5
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
DM - Demobilized
3) PARK FIRE REPORTS -
* Yukon-Charlie Rivers - Six significant fires are currently burning within
the park and are being managed by the Alaska Fire Service and NPS. Most
have been burning for some time. Limited action is being taken to protect
structures in the area. A Type III team with 39 people is working the
Webber Creek fire:
o Webber Creek (B357) - This fire, which is the most active of the group,
made a three mile run to the northeast Sunday and is now within four miles
of Woodchopper Creek. Rates of spread were as high as 60 chains per hour.
Afternoon winds were blowing steadily and gusting up to 25 mph. If these
winds and dry conditions continue, the fire will reach the creek and/or
Yukon River this week. Plans are currently underway to protect structures
on mining claims in the Woodchopper drainage.
o B557 - This 80,000-acre fire located near Circle City has crossed over
into the park. On July 29th, AFS successfully completed a burn to protect
the park's repeater and has since been monitoring the fire for the park.
Rates of spread on all perimeters were high on Sunday because of high
winds. The eastern perimeter was not flown because of strong winds and
heavy smoke. No estimate of acreage burned within the park is yet
available.
o Edwards Creek #2 (B371) - The fire is burning north of the Yukon River.
It continues to smolder down slope on an eastern aspect with sparse fuels.
About 80 of the 695 acres are on park land.
o B411 - This fire is the "little brother" of the Edwards Creek fire.
About two-thirds of it is smoldering in the 1986 Eureka Burn. About 20
of the total of 90 acres is on NPS land.
o Rock Creek - The fire has not grown much over the last few days because of
cool temperatures and precipitation. Isolated smokes were seen over the
weekend. About 220 of the total 450 acres are within the park.
o Trout Creek - Rain fell on the fire on July 29th. Only 21 of its 80 acres
are in the park.
4) ANALYSIS - Fire activity increased in Arizona, California and Colorado
due to persisting hot and dry weather conditions and thunderstorms. Twelve
Type I crews, eight airtankers, a lead plane and three Type II helicopters
have been mobilized to the Southwest, mainly in support of the fires on the
Tonto NF.
5) PROGNOSIS - A red flag watch has been issued for dry thunderstorms and
low relative humidity for west-central Nevada, Lake Tahoe and eastern Sierra
slopes. The potential for increased initial and extended attack fires
exists because of continued high temperatures and scattered thunderstorms in
the Southwest, Great Basin, southern California, and the Rockies.
[NIFCC Intelligence Section, 8/3; Bill Gabbert, YUCH, 8/2]
RESOURCE MANAGEMENT
No field reports today.
UPCOMING IN CONGRESS
The following activities will be taking place in Congress during coming
weeks on matters pertaining to the National Park Service. If you would like
further information on any of these hearings or bills, please contact Dottie
in WASO Legislation at 202-208-3636.
8/5
House Natural Resources' Subcommittee on National Parks, Forests and
Public Lands [Vento]: Hearing on H.R. 2478, land conveyance for
Colonial NHP; H.R. 2650, to designate the Maurice River as a wild and
scenic river. Witness: John Reynolds, Regional Director, MARO. x
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).
Branch of Fire and Aviation: Spruill at interagency aviation meeting (8/18/8) and aviation management council work group meeting (8/8-8/13); Botti
(8/1-8/6), Gale (8/3-8/5), Broyles (8/6-8/16), Clark (8/2-8/13) and Swain
(8/2-8/6) on AL.
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