RANGER ACTIVITIES DIVISION
                           MORNING REPORT

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

Day/Date:  Thursday, September 2, 1993

Broadcast: By 0900 EDT

INCIDENTS

90-344 - Sunset Crater (Arizona) - Follow-up on Fee Collector Arrest

Former seasonal fee collector S.I., 59, pleaded guilty to theft of
public money (a misdemeanor) in federal district court in Phoenix on July
13th.  He was placed on unsupervised probation for one year and fined
$6,000, a sum equivalent to the amount that investigators believe S.I.
stole from entrance fees he collected while working in the park during the
summer of 1990.  The U.S. attorney's office credits regional and park
staff - particularly district ranger Dennis Vasquez - for their
investigation and the actions they took in this incident.  [Kim Watson, CR,
FLAG, 8/30]

93-632 - East Coast Areas - Follow-up on Hurricane Emily

Assessments of the damages inflicted on Cape Hatteras and Cape Lookout are
still underway.  A summary will appear in tomorrow's morning report.  The
Southeast Area Coordination Center is rapidly scaling back operations, as
are other emergency response organizations.  [Steve Smith, RAD/SERO, 9/2]

93-650 - El Malpais (New Mexico) - Hantavirus Case

On August 20th, the Center for Disease Control (CDC) in Atlanta notified the
park that a blood sample taken from a seasonal fire control aid had tested
positive for hantavirus, the disease which recently killed a number of
Navajos on tribal lands to the northwest of the park.  Infected individuals
experience flu-like symptoms until rapid infection of lung tissue occurs and
the patient essentially drowns in body fluids.  Infection occurs by
breathing dust contaminated by rodent waste excretions.  Although the
disease has a 70% mortality rate, the infected employee is recovering and
left the area to return to college on August 27th.  Doctors at the CDC
anticipate a complete recovery.  While the exact cause of the infection is
unknown, the CDC suspects that the employee contracted the disease while
living in the district bunkhouse - a ranch house which was acquired when the
monument was established and subsequently converted to seasonal quarters and
a district office.  The house/office was heavily infested with mice at the
time of the incident and the population was increasing rapidly.  Up to a
dozen were being trapped each night.  The regional office and park have
begun a review of all park operations to assess risks to park employees and
their families.  The district ranger station has been closed to all use, and
the district ranger and his spouse may be relocated.  Region will soon
release a directive advising all employees of the serious nature of the
disease and the need to take prudent and practical precautions when dealing
with rodents, especially the white-footed deer mouse.  It will also require
an inventory of park structures and other work areas - including
archeological and historic projects - where employees might be in danger of
infection, and will advise employees and their families to use the
recommended CDC methods for dealing with rodents and their wastes.  [Jim
Walters, RAD/SWRO, 9/1]

93-651 - Denali (Alaska) - Special Event

As part of an extensive trip through Alaska, Secretary Babbitt spent two
nights and three days in the Denali area.  On August 16th, Governor Hickel
joined him for a trip through Denali on the much-contested park road.  The
radical faction of the Alaska Independence Party which demonstrated in the
park on July 4th promised to return to Denali, so appropriate security
measures were put in place.  An incident command structure was established
and assistance was provided by a Western Region special events team.  No
major incidents marred the visit.  [Ken Kehrer, DENA, 8/22]

93-652 - Indiana Dunes (Indiana) - Drowning

On the afternoon of Friday, August 20th, J.G., 39, of Barboo,
Wisconsin, who was visiting the park with his wife and two children, was
swimming in Lake Michigan off Mt. Baldy when he appeared to experience
difficulty and disappeared from sight.  A multi-agency search was begun, but
had to be called off after two hours due to rough water conditions.  On
August 21, J.G.'s body was found by a swimmer about ten miles west of the
point where he was last seen.  Although there's no evidence of drug or
alcohol use, a toxicology scan was to be conducted to rule out their
involvement.  There was a rip current in effect at the time J.G.
disappeared, and warning signs were posted; it is not known, however,
whether the current caused J.G.'s drowning.  [RAD/MWRO, 8/23]

93-653 - Golden Gate/Point Reyes (California) - Marijuana Eradication

On the afternoon of August 19th, a series of marijuana-detection helicopter
flights over Golden Gate, Point Reyes and adjacent state and county park
lands was completed by pilots from the Army's 168th Combat Aviation Group. 
During the three-day operation, NPS and state rangers and Marin County
detectives spotted a total of 14 marijuana plantations containing
approximately 260 plants.  Observers found one each in Point Reyes and
Golden Gate, but many others were discovered near Golden Gate's boundaries. 
The total estimated street value of the plants was placed at $540,000. 
[Herb Gercke, RAD/WRO, 8/23]

93-654 - Death Valley (California) - MVA with Fatality

At 7:30 a.m. on the morning of August 23rd, a park interpreter discovered
the body of C.L., 28, in the middle of the roadway on the road
to Scotty's Castle.  C.L. had apparently been involved in a single car
accident earlier in the morning and had been ejected from his vehicle.  The
car was found about 70 feet off the roadway.  C.L. was visiting from
England and was operating a rental vehicle.  The exact cause of death was
not known at the time of the report.  [Mark Maciha, DEVA, 8/29]

93-655 - Blue Ridge (North Carolina/Virginia) - MVA with Fatality

Members of a park maintenance crew smelled smoke while traveling south on
the parkway on the afternoon of August 19th and subsequently discovered a
burned motor vehicle down a very steep embankment.  Members of the crew
climbed down to the vehicle and found a body in the driver's seat.  Rangers
were called to the scene, and they determined that the victim was C.C.
of Norfolk, Virginia.  An investigation into the cause of the accident
was underway at the time of the report.  [Larry Freeman, BLRI, 8/20]

63-656 - Blue Ridge (North Carolina/Virginia) - MVA with Fatality

P.W., 27, of Asheville, North Carolina, was heading north on the
parkway on the evening of August 21st when he lost control of his
motorcycle, left the roadway, traveled about 70 feet, and hit a tree. 
P.W. was pronounced dead at the scene.  Speed was a major factor in the
accident.  [Larry Freeman, BLRI, 8/24]

93-657 - Big Thicket (Texas) - DWI Arrest

Although DWI arrests are not normally reportable under the incident
reporting system, the following is significant enough to warrant inclusion
on the morning report.  On August 14th, rangers arrested M.L.C.,
36, of Vidor, Texas, on DWI charges after M.L.C. backed his van into another
van at the Lakeview day use area in the park's South District.  A hospital
administered blood test showed an alcohol level of .344.  This was M.L.C.'s
fifth DWI arrest.  He has a lengthy history of public intoxication, DWI
convictions and domestic violence with the state of Texas; because of the
state's inability to deter him from drinking while driving, his case went to
a federal grand jury for federal DWI charges.  The U.S. magistrate said that
he'd never seen an individual with a blood alcohol level that high come
through his court in his 32 years on the bench.  [Kim Coast, Acting CR,
BITH, 8/17]

               [More pending incident reports tomorrow...]

FIRE ACTIVITY

1) FIRE SITUATION - Preparedness Level I

2) FIRE SUMMARY

State  Agency     Area            Fire               9/1       9/2   Status

 WY    USFS    Medicine Bow      Rawlings            191       191   CL 

 TX    FWS     McFaddin          ICWW              1,200     2,500   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
  CND - Contained              CN (date) - Expected date of containment

3) ANALYSIS - Initial attack activity was minimal across the nation
yesterday.  Progress was made on the few large fires because of fair
weather.  Incident management resources mobilized for Hurricane Emily are
being released.

4) PROGNOSIS - High pressure will build over California and the Great Basin
and will bring sunny weather and higher temperatures to those areas.  These
conditions should increase the potential for human-caused fires.  A cold
front will move into western Texas, and partly cloudy weather with scattered
thunderstorms will dominate central Texas.  This weather should help
moderate fire activity in central Texas.

[NIFCC Intelligence Section, 9/2]

STAFF STATUS

Division Chief: No leave or travel scheduled.

Branch of Resource and Visitor Protection: Smith and Dickerhoof at VRAP
meeting (8/30-9/3); Marriott on AL (8/25-9/5); Halainen on AL (9/2-9/8). 

Branch of Fire and Aviation: Spruill on MWR/PNR aviation evaluations (8/24-
9/3); Gale at USFWS Region 4 emergency response planning meeting (8/30-9/3);
Farrel at International Association of Fire Chiefs annual meeting (8/28-
9/3); Hurd on AL (8/30-9/3).

Prepared by WASO Division of Ranger Activities

Prepared by WASO Division of Ranger Activities

Telephone: Branch of R&VP - 202-208-4874
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