- Subject: NPS Morning Report - Friday, July 8, 1994
- Date: Fri, 8 Jul 1994
NATIONAL PARK SERVICE
MORNING REPORT
To: All National Park Service Areas and Offices
From: Division of Ranger Activities, Washington Office
Day/Date: Friday, July 8, 1994
Broadcast: By 0930 ET
INCIDENTS
94-361 - Southeast Region Parks - Tropical Storm Alberto
Over the past several days, the remains of tropical storm Alberto dumped as
much as 21 inches of rain on an area in central Georgia in and around the
towns of Macon and Americus. Fortunately, none of the four NPS sites in the
area - Ocmulgee, Tuskeegee, Jimmy Carter and Andersonville - sustained any
major storm nor water damage. Some water accumulated in the basement of park
headquarters at Andersonville and most personnel can not get to work because
of high water and bridge outages. The maintenance area at Jimmy Carter was
flooded, and water may have caused minor damage in the school building. The
superintendent at Ocmulgee reports some flooding of the visitor center
basement; the water has since subsided, however, and they are mopping up the
area. Some water accumulated in the basement of the administration building
at Tuskegee. All sites report that all personnel are safe and well. [Bill
Sturgeon, RAD/SERO, 7/7]
94-362 - Coulee Dam (Washington) - Two Drownings
Late on the afternoon of Tuesday, July 5th, three young men on an innertube
were being pulled by a ski boat on Lake Roosevelt. The boat's operator
brought the trio close to shore, then released them, apparently in the
belief that the wind would carry them to shore. The three were pushed out
into the lake near Keller's Ferry, however, then either decided to swim for
shore or were knocked off the tube. One of the men reached a temporary
buoy, where he was seen by a lifeguard who swam out to him and brought him
to shore. The guard then swam back out in an effort to locate the other
two; despite repeated dives in the area, however, he was unable to locate
them. Rangers joined in the effort, but were equally unsuccessful. The
guard was taken to shore, treated for hypothermia and exhaustion, then
released. The search for the two men continues. It is thought that the
three are concession employees and tribal members. Rangers have not yet
been able to interview the one survivor. The names have not been released
to the media. [CRO, Coulee Dam, 7/6]
94-363 - Lake Mead (Nevada) - Drowning
J.L.M., 22, of Las Vegas, was swimming about 40 yards offshore near
Hemenway fishing point on the evening of June 12th when he began calling for
help. Another park visitor, M.M., swam to J.L.M.'s assistance, but
was unable to hold him above water. Park rangers and divers responded to
the scene but were unable to quickly locate J.L.M.. His body was found later
that evening. While the exact cause of the incident is still under
investigation, it's believed that Meija became tired while swimming. This
is the fourth drowning at Lake Mead this year. [Dale Antonich, CR, LAME,
7/5]
94-364 - Cape Cod (Massachusetts) - Explosives
On the afternoon of July 2nd, South District rangers evacuated and guarded a
protected beach after a visitor discovered a live bazooka round. The round
was defused on-site by U.S. Air Force emergency ordnance disposal personnel
the following morning. [CRO, CACO, 7/7]
FIRE ACTIVITY
1) PREPAREDNESS LEVEL - III
2) LARGE FIRE SUMMARY
State Agency Area Fire 7/7 7/8 Status
MT BIA N. Cheyenne Buffalo Jump 550 550 CND
CO USFS San Juan NF Mitchell Lake - T2 150 150 CN 7/9
BLM Montrose Dis. Wake - T2 3,000 3,460 CN 7/8
Craig Dis. Rabbit 600 630 CN 7/9
Grand Jct. Dis. South Canyon - T1 2,200 2,430 NEC
AZ USFS Prescott NF Juniper 1,800 1,800 CN 7/7
Coronado NF Rattlesnake - T1 5,534 6,057 NEC
Tonto NF East 120 120 CN 7/9
BIA San Carlos Leo 1,455 1,455 CN 7/7
Pima Beltline 450 450 CND
BLM - York 300 320 CND
Trestle 100 120 CND
Swisshelm 3,297 3,297 CND
State - Redington
Comp. - T2 8,861 9,431 CN 7/12
Baboquivari 1,300 1,300 CN 7/7
NM USFS Cibola NF Big Rocks 6,490 6,740 NEC
Lincoln NF Dark Comp. 1,204 1,204 CND
State - Von 162 241 NEC
Bremmer 210 339 NEC
Chimney 271 472 NEC
Tee 578 720 CND
FWS Bitter Lk. NWR Crosby 2,000 1,367 NEC
UT BLM SLC Dis. Skull Valley
Comp. - T2 28,400 28,581 CND
State - Fort Ranch 15,000 9,000 CND
NV BLM Las Vegas Dis. Gregerson
Comp. - T2 40,000 43,000 CND
Elko Dis. Milk Ranch 1,700 2,300 CN 7/8
CA USFS San Bern. NF Palm - T1 21,522 21,522 CND
Devil's - T1 11,000 12,238 CND
OR BLM Medford Dis. Eight $ Mtn. 150 150 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 - Containment strategy NEC - No estimate of containment
CND - Contained CN/CS (date) - Expected date of containment
3) FIRE NOTES - There have been fourteen confirmed fatalities from the South
Canyon fire in Colorado. They are as follows:
* Don Mackey, Forest Service, Smokejumper, Missoula, MT
* Roger Roth, Forest Service, Smokejumper, McCall, ID
* James Thrash, Forest Service, Smokejumper, McCall, ID
* Richard Tyler, BLM, Helitack, Grand Junction, CO
* Robert Browning, Forest Service, Helitack, Grand Junction, CO
* Jon Kelso, Forest Service, Hot Shot Squad Leader, Prineville, OR
* Kathi Beck, Hot Shot Crew, Prineville, OR
* Scott Blegha, Hot Shot Crew, Prineville, OR
* Levi Brinkley, Hot Shot Crew, Prineville, OR
* Bonnie Holtby, Hot Shot Crew, Prineville, OR
* Rob Johnson, Hot Shot Crew, Prineville, OR
* Tami Bickett, Hot Shot Crew, Prineville, OR
* Doug Dunbar, Hot Shot Crew, Prineville, OR
* Terri Hagen, Hot Shot Crew, Prineville, OR
The entire fire community from all agencies extends its sympathy to the
family, friends and coworkers of these firefighters. Flags will be flown at
half mast in memory of these firefighters today.
4) FIRES YESTERDAY -
NPS BIA BLM FWS States USFS Total
Number 0 7 15 0 11 25 58
Acres Burned 0 3 2,001 1 8 1,524 3,537
5) COMMITTED RESOURCES -
Crews Engines Helicopters Airtankers Overhead
Federal 138 63 27 20 862
Non-federal 53 67 5 0 239
6) CURRENT SITUATION - Initial attack activity decreased in most of the
Western states yesterday due to decreased lightning, lighter winds and
slightly higher humidities.
7) OUTLOOK - A high pressure system creating warmer and drier conditions
with less wind will build over the next couple of days and be the dominant
weather pattern in the West. Isolated thunderstorms will be limited to
eastern Wyoming, eastern Colorado, eastern New Mexico and the Sierra
Nevadas. Initial attack activity is expected to moderate.
[NIFCC Incident Management Situation Report, 7/8]
RESOURCE MANAGEMENT
Cape Cod (Massachusetts) - Piping Plovers
Of the eight and a half miles of beach open to oversand vehicles via special
regulation, all but two small sections totalling one mile were closed over
the Fourth of July weekend to protect nesting piping plovers. Extra
protection rangers and four Fish and Wildlife special agents were on hand
for possible protests of these closures, but no organized actions took
place. There are 78 pairs of the threatened shorebird successfully nesting
on seashore beaches at present. [CRO, CACO]
OPERATIONAL NOTES
1) Operation Opportunity - Here are some numbers of interest regarding the
status of Operation Opportunity. As of July 1st, the incident management
team overseeing the operation had:
* received notification from 684 central office staff indicating their
desire to be considered for park positions;
* announced 116 park position openings;
* placed 52 people in park positions;
* restored 20 FTEs to parks;
* restored $878,000 in funds to parks;
* moved $9,000 in central office funding to parks; and
* saved the NPS $2,100,000 through Operation Opportunity.
MEMORANDA
No memoranda.
Prepared by WASO Division of Ranger Activities