- Subject: NPS Morning Report - Thursday, July 7, 1994
- Date: Thurs, 7 Jul 1994
NATIONAL PARK SERVICE
MORNING REPORT
To: All National Park Service Areas and Offices
From: Division of Ranger Activities, Washington Office
Day/Date: Thursday, July 7, 1994
Broadcast: By 0930 ET
INCIDENTS
94-356 - Yosemite (California) - MVA with Three Fatalities
On the afternoon of the Fourth of July, rangers responding to a report of a
single vehicle accident on Highway 120 above Crane Flat found a heavily
damaged 1993 Lexus sedan about 60 feet down an embankment. The driver and
rear passenger were dead, but the front passenger was alive and unconscious
and apparently suffering from major chest injuries and internal trauma.
Access to the vehicle and patient were extremely difficult and required
considerable effort. Despite the best efforts of park EMTs and a paramedic,
the patient expired before he could be removed from the vehicle. The three
victims were subsequently identified as S.E., 63, W.W.,
68, and E.W., 76, all of Sunnyvale, California. Preliminary
investigation indicates that the vehicle was traveling at least 60 mph
downhill in a posted 35 mph zone when it left the roadway on a curve. No
skid marks or evidence of braking was found. Park investigators estimate
that the car was completely airborne for over 140 feet before it struck some
large trees and came to rest. The impact with two of the 60 foot pine trees
was substantial enough to snap off their tops. Both airbags in the vehicle
deployed and the driver and front passenger were wearing lap and shoulder
belts. The cause of the accident has not yet been absolutely determined and
the investigation continues. [Brian Smith, CI, YOSE, 7/6]
94-357 - Grand Canyon (Arizona) - MVA with Fatality
V.G, 39, and his wife M.G., 34, of Marino Valley,
California, were driving at a high rate of speed past the Desert View
entrance station at 1:30 a.m. on July 5th when the vehicle struck the
station's metal railing. V.G. was killed; he was not wearing a
seatbelt. M.G. suffered possible head injuries and a fractured ankle.
Alcohol is believed to have been a contributing factor. [Terrill Petter,
GRCA, 7/5]
94-358 - Glen Canyon (Utah/Arizona) - Drowning
On the evening of July 3rd, I.I., 50, a doctor from Milpitas,
California, was swimming in the Hobie Cat beach area near Bullfrog when he
began having trouble. I.I.'s eight-year-old son was swimming nearby and
saw his father go under. NPS maintenance mechanic Chris Thompson and
bystanders pulled I.I. from the water and immediately began CPR. Park
medics transported I.I. to the park clinic, where advanced life support
measures were administered for an hour until I.I. was finally pronounced
dead. [Tomie Lee, CR, GLCA, 7/5]
94-359 - Grand Teton (Wyoming) - Vehicle Fire
The Moose fire brigade responded to a recreational vehicle fire at the Gros
Ventre campground on July 2nd. Upon arrival, they found smoke issuing from
the vehicle, a 1994, 32-foot Fleetwood Corona motor home. The owners were
not there at the time. A smoldering fire was extinguished, and
investigators determined that it had been started by a match discarded in a
waste basket. The vehicle sustained about $5,000 in damage. No injuries
were reported. The campground was near capacity at the time of the fire.
[Len Dems, GRTE, 7/2]
94-360 - Lake Mead (Nevada) - Special Event; Multiple Incidents
A Grateful Dead concert in Las Vegas led to a dramatic increase in
visitation - a total of almost 80,000 people - to the Boulder Basin area of
the park over the period from Thursday, June 24th, to Sunday, June 27th.
Rangers from Organ Pipe, Death Valley, Santa Monica Mountains, Grand Canyon
and Hubble Trading Post were called in to assist; also involved were Boulder
City police and Nevada highway patrol officers. Checkpoints were
established in the Boulder District, which made it possible for rangers to
control the situation. An undercover investigative team worked the camping
areas and made 16 narcotics cases, including eight for felony possession of
hashish, valium, mushrooms and marijuana. A 1991 Dodge truck, a 1992
Lincoln Continental and over $1200 were seized. Cases were also made on
sales of t-shirts, possession of paraphernalia, driving under the influence,
resisting arrest, vandalism and numerous traffic offenses. Due to the high
weekend temperatures, which reached 122 degrees, there were numerous cases
of heat exhaustion and heat stroke. One jet ski accident occurred in which
a male rider received multiple injuries. There was a structural fire
involving highly flammable explosive materials in a boat repair area on
Friday. Two engines with their crews were dispatched and suppressed the
mid-afternoon blaze. The cause of the fire is under investigation;
spontaneous combustion seems likely. A boat explosion occurred at
Katherine's Landing during the weekend. Bullhead city units responded.
Only two of the five people on board were injured. Investigation revealed
that a flame arrestor on the carburetor was loose and that the blower motor
was inoperable. Rounding out the weekends events were two lightning-caused
wildfires, two boat fires, three burglaries, a stolen vehicle, and 19
medical calls - three requiring advanced life support. [Dale Antonich, CR,
LAME, 7/5]
FIRE ACTIVITY
1) PREPAREDNESS LEVEL - III
2) LARGE FIRE SUMMARY
State Agency Area Fire 7/5 7/7 Status
MT USFS Lolo NF Robertson - T2 765 765 CND
BIA N. Cheyenne * Buffalo Jump - 550 CN 7/7
CO USFS Roosevelt NF Hour Glass - T1 1,200 1,275 CND
San Juan NF * Mitchell Lake - T2 - 150 NEC
BLM Montrose Dis. Wake - T2 1,400 3,000 NEC
Craig Dis. Elk 1,200 950 CND
* Rabbit - 600 CN 7/8
Grand Jct. Dis. Little Horse Thief 600 600 NEC
Spud Patch 400 800 CN 7/7
* Pyramid Rock - 980 CND
* South Canyon - T1 - 2,200 NEC
WY USFS Bighorn NF Sheep Mtn. - T2 242 242 CND
BLM Casper Dis. Squaw Mtn. - T2 3,852 3,630 CN 7/5
AZ USFS Prescott NF Juniper 1,800 1,800 CN 7/7
Coronado NF Rattlesnake - T1 3,017 5,534 NEC
Tonto NF * East - 120 CN 7/9
BIA Truxton Canyon
Agency Tower Comp. - T2 10,400 13,300 CND
San Carlos * Leo - 1,455 CN 7/7
Pima * Beltline - 450 CN 7/5
BLM - * York - 300 CN 7/10
* Trestle - 100 CN 7/7
* Swisshelm - 3,297 CN 7/7
State - Redington
Comp. - T2 9,800 8,861 CN 7/12
- Sasabe 310 310 CND
Baboquivari - 1,300 CN 7/7
NM USFS Cibola NF Big Rocks 5,100 6,490 NEC
Lincoln NF Dark Comp. 1,154 1,204 CN 7/6
BLM Las Cruces Dis. San Andreas 8,000 8,000 CND
Hat 9,000 9,000 CND
Birthday 4,000 600 CND
Roswell Dis. Lucky 1,420 1,420 CND
State - * Von - 162 NEC
* Bremmer - 210 NEC
* Chimney - 271 NEC
* Tee - 578 NEC
FWS Bitter Lk. NWR Crosby 2,000 2,000 NEC
BIA San Carlos Sneaky 7,992 7,993 CND
ID BLM Idaho Fall Dis. * Buckskin - 7,000 CND
* Juniper - 100 CND
* Hammer - 500 CND
UT BLM SLC Dis. Skull Valley
Comp. - T2 13,240 28,400 CN 7/7
State - * Fort Ranch - 15,000 CN 7/7
* Bulls Pass - 6,200 CN 7/7
NV BLM Las Vegas Dis. Gregerson
Comp. - T2 40,000 40,000 CN 7/7
* Two Kiln - 1,290 CND
Elko Dis. Milk Ranch 1,500 1,700 CN 7/8
CA USFS San Bern. NF Palm - T1 19,200 21,522 CN 7/7
Devil's - T1 10.000 11,000 CN 7/9
WA State - Williams Canyon 335 335 CND
OR BLM - Pike Creek 1,000 1,000 CND
Medford Dis. * South Mtn. - 150 CN 7/7
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 2 4 17 2 63 32 120
Acres Burned 2,567 4,167 9,577 100 22,377 23,771 62,559
4) COMMITTED RESOURCES -
Crews Engines Helicopters Airtankers Overhead
Federal 173 121 37 23 928
Non-federal 84 118 18 2 303
5) CURRENT SITUATION - A fire shelter deployment occurred yesterday on the
South Canyon Fire; a dozen firefighters were killed and two are at present
unaccounted for. Other injuries were also reported. Initial attack
activity continued at a moderate pace in most of the Western states. High
winds in western Colorado and Arizona produced extreme behavior on large
fires. NICC reassigned crews, helicopters, and other resources from the
Southwest to the Great Basin and Rockies. Airtankers were reassigned from
the eastern Great Basin to Colorado and from California to Arizona.
6) OUTLOOK - A red flag warning has been posted in northern California for
strong north winds. Warmer temperatures will return to the intermountain
West. Hot and dry weather will continue in the desert Southwest. Afternoon
showers and thundershowers will continue across Wyoming and northern
Colorado. Interior sections of the Pacific Northwest will be sunny and much
warmer.
[NIFCC Incident Management Situation Report, 7/7]
RESOURCE MANAGEMENT
No field reports today.
OPERATIONAL NOTES
1) Native American Plant Gathering Regulations - Reminder: Comments are due
on July 18th on the draft language for the rulemaking that would amend 36
CFR 2.1 to allow the gathering of plants and plant parts for traditional
religious practices by American Indians whose tribes traditionally gathered
similar plants for similar purposes on lands now within park areas. For a
copy of the draft language, see the June 17th edition of CLEAR TEXT, the
Ranger Activities Division's newsletter. Comments should be sent via
cc:Mail to Bonnie Winslow in SWRO or Russ Wilson at WASO RAD Regs.
2) Scanners Needed - Scanning is the rapid review of a wide variety of
information sources to look for signs of change and to assess their
implications for the organization. Proponents liken scanning to "a kind of
radar, spotting emerging issues when they are but weak signals of change and
tracking them as they evolve and become more clearly defined." Scanning
cultivates a broad view of issues and events affecting an organization,
improving the whole organization's ability to learn and adapt quickly.
As part of the strategic planning function, the Office of Strategic Planning
is developing a scanning network for the National Park Service. Individuals
are needed who will be willing to look for signs of emerging change in
print, broadcast media, conferences, and daily life and work, and to
summarize their observations in brief (one-page) reports, preferably via
cc:Mail. Experience in other organizations suggests that the average scanner
will spend about 8 hours per month in reading and reporting. Your
supervisor's approval will be solicited, and you may be asked to read some
particular periodical related to your background or interests, or to write
or review a short newsletter article on changes you have identified. If you
are interested in being part of the scanning network, please contact that
office by cc:Mail at WASO Strategic Planning, by phone at (303) 969-7012, or
by mail at P.O. Box 25287 WASO-STP, Denver, CO 80225. Please reference "NPS
scanning network" in your response. You will be sent a training guide and
the necessary forms.
MEMORANDA
No memoranda.
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