- Subject: NPS Morning Report - Monday, July 5, 1994
- Date: Mon, 5 Jul 1994
NATIONAL PARK SERVICE
MORNING REPORT
To: All National Park Service Areas and Offices
From: Division of Ranger Activities, Washington Office
Day/Date: Monday, July 5, 1994
Broadcast: By 0930 ET
INCIDENTS
94-350 - Yellowstone (Wyoming) - Ranger Fatality
Seasonal park ranger R.W., 23, of Andover, Minnesota, apparently
drowned while on patrol on Shoshone Lake on Sunday, July 3rd. R.W., who
had worked previously in the park's backcountry permit office, was in his
first season as a ranger and had been assigned to the lake, where he'd
headed out on patrol in a kayak on Sunday morning. When R.W. failed to
make two scheduled radio check-ins, one that evening and the other the
following morning, rangers were dispatched to determine his whereabouts. A
visitor in the Shoshone Lake area reported that he'd seen an overturned
kayak on the lake, and a helicopter was summoned to search the lake's waters
for R.W.. His body was found offshore shortly thereafter. No further
details are available at present. [Dan Sholly, CR, YELL, 7/4]
94-351 - Gulf Islands (Mississippi/Florida) - Tropical Storm Alberto
Tropical Storm Alberto came ashore near Gulf Islands on July 3rd, but had
little impact on the park. Fort Pickens and its nearby campground were
evacuated on Saturday afternoon as a precautionary measure because of the
possibility of overwash of Fort Pickens Road. Park islands in Mississippi
were also evacuated, and boats were trailered to a safe area. There was
some slight overwash of the Fort Pickens Road, but no damage was inflicted.
Campers were accordingly allowed back into the campground on Sunday morning.
Surf remains hazardous, however, and red flags have been posted. [CRO,
GUIS, 7/4]
94-352 - National Capital Parks (D.C.) - Fatal Stabbing
A fisherman on the Outlet Bridge near Jefferson Memorial got into an
argument over fishing gear with two homeless people around 9 a.m. on July
3rd. An altercation soon erupted in which the fisherman was cut in the face
and he in turn stabbed and killed one of his assailants. An investigation
is underway into the circumstances surrounding the fatality. [Dispatch, US
Park Police, 7/3]
94-353 - Mammoth Cave (Kentucky) - Marijuana Eradication
On June 30th, rangers found and destroyed 93 marijuana plants that had been
discovered in two separate plots in the northern district of the park.
Evidence indicates that the plants were grown from seed and that the plots
had not been tended for some time. Despite competition from other
vegetation, the plants were healthy and ranged in size from two and a half
to eight feet in height. The plots were found near the spot where two park
visitors were stalked by a suspected marijuana grower last year. The street
value of the marijuana has been estimated at $184,000. [Phil Veluzat, CR,
MACA, 7/1]
94-354 - Olympic (Washington) - MVA with Fatality
Park employees discovered a pickup about 500 feet over a highway embankment
about six miles up the Obstruction Point Road on the afternoon of June 30th.
The lone male occupant of the vehicle was subsequently identified as Thomas
Shipkey of Starkville, Mississippi. Evidence at the scene indicates that
the accident probably occurred the previous day. [CRO, OLYM, 7/1]^,
94-355 - Ozark (Missouri) - Bomb Threat
On the morning of June 29th, a bomb threat was phoned in to the Southern
Missouri Savings Bank in Van Buren, Missouri. The bank building also houses
the park's headquarters offices. NPS employees evacuated the building while
a search was conducted. No bomb was found, but the county sheriff requested
that the park offices close for the remainder of the day. When NPS
employees returned to work on June 30th, they discovered that their phone
lines had been cut. Both incidents remain under investigation by local and
state authorities. [Charles Putnam, ACR, OZAR, 7/1]
FIRE ACTIVITY
1) PREPAREDNESS LEVEL - III
2) LARGE FIRE SUMMARY
State Agency Area Fire 7/1 7/5 Status
MT USFS Lolo NF * Robertson - T2 - 765 CN 7/5
BLM Miles City Dis. * Chezum - 520 CND
CO USFS Roosevelt NF * Hour Glass - T1 - 1,200 NEC
BLM Montrose Dis. * Wake - T2 - 1,400 NEC
Craig Dis. * Elk - 1,200 NEC
Grand Jct. Dis. * Little Horse Thief - 600 NEC
* Spud Patch - 400 NEC
WY USFS Bighorn NF * Sheep Mtn. - T2 - 242 CN 7/8
BLM Casper Dis. Squaw Mtn. - T2 200 3,852 CN 7/7
AZ USFS Prescott NF Catclaw Comp. - T2 5,492 9,592 CND
* Juniper - 1,800 CN 7/7
Coronado NF Rattlesnake - T1 600 3,017 NEC
BIA Truxton Canyon
Agency * Tower Comp. - T2 - 10,400 CN 7/6
State - * Redington Comp. - T2 - 9,800 NEC
- * Sasabe - 310 NEC
NM USFS Cibola NF Big Rocks 200 5,100 CN 7/6
* Pima - 450 CND
Lincoln NF * Dark Comp. - 1,154 CN 7/6
BLM Las Cruces Dis. San Andreas 1,000 8,000 CN 7/4
* Hat - 9,000 NEC
* Birthday - 4,000 NEC
* Prather - 3,000 NEC
Roswell Dis. * South Comp. - 5,930 CND
* House - 800 NEC
* Lucky - 1,420 CN 7/4
* Shearing Comp. - 6,500 CND
* Draper - 800 NEC
State - * Luera - 600 CN 7/5
* Cloverdale - 9,200 NEC
* Baboquivori - 1,100 CND
* Adams II - 500 CND
FWS Bitter Lk. NWR * Crosby - 2,000 NEC
BIA San Carlos * Sneaky - 7,992 CN 7/1
ID USFS Boise NF * Poen - 500 NEC
UT BLM SLC Dis. * Terra - 2,300 CND
* Post Hollow - 13,240 CN 7/4
Cedar City Dis. * Motoqua - 2,000 CND
NV BLM Las Vegas Dis. * Gregerson Comp. - T2 - 40,000 CN 7/7
Elko Dis. * Milk Ranch - 1,500 CN 7/6
TX State - * Armstrong - 3,600 CND
- * Memphis - 1,700 CND
* Poverty Canyon - 4,979 CND
* Culbertson - 800 CND
* Puett Too - 750 CND
CA USFS San Bern. NF * Palm - T1 - 19,200 NEC
* Devil's - T1 - 10,000 NEC
WA State - * Williams Canyon - 335 CN 7/4
OR BLM - * Pike Creek - 1,000 NEC
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 - Containment strategy NEC - No estimate of containment
CND - Contained CN/CS (date) - Expected date of containment
3) FIRES YESTERDAY -
NPS BIA BLM FWS States USFS Total
Number 17 17 25 1 76 98 234
Acres Burned 1,801 7,991 10,122 1,000 5,628 19,212 45,754
4) COMMITTED RESOURCES -
Crews Engines Helicopters Airtankers Overhead
Federal 208 128 36 22 1,031
Non-federal 125 114 14 13 449
5) CURRENT SITUATION - Good progress was reported yesterday on fires in the
eastern Great Basin. Activity increased in the Rockies due to new
ignitions. Competition for initial attack resources persists. Adverse
weather conditions continue to pose control problems on several large fires.
Many areas in the Southwest, Great Basin, Rockies and California are
reporting very high to extreme indices.
6) OUTLOOK - Red flag watches have been posted for the northern half of
Arizona for strong winds and low relative humidities and in central Wyoming
and all of Nevada for strong winds. Activity in New Mexico is expected to
decrease.
[NIFCC Incident Management Situation Report, 7/5]
RESOURCE MANAGEMENT
No field reports today.
OPERATIONAL NOTES
No notes.
MEMORANDA
No memoranda.
IN CONGRESS
The following activities have occurred recently or will be taking place in
Congress during coming weeks on matters of interest or consequence to the
National Park Service. If you would like further information on any of
these hearings or bills, please contact Mary in WASO Legislation at 202-208-
3636.
Upcoming Hearings
7/8 -- Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee (Johnston): Field
hearing on the Interior Department's proposed regulations
concerning livestock grazing fees, College of Southern Idaho,
Twin Falls, ID.
7/20 -- House Public Works and Transportation's Subcommittee on Aviation
(Oberstar): Hearing on legislation and regulations affecting
scenic overflights above national parks.
Prepared by WASO Division of Ranger Activities
Telephone: 202-208-4874
Telefax: 202-208-6756
cc:Mail: WASO Ranger Activities
SkyPager: Emergencies ONLY: 1-800-759-7243, PIN 2404843