- Subject: NPS Morning Report - Tuesday, July 19, 1994
- Date: Tues, 19 Jul 1994
NATIONAL PARK SERVICE
MORNING REPORT
To: All National Park Service Areas and Offices
From: Division of Ranger Activities, Washington Office
Day/Date: Tuesday, July 19, 1994
Broadcast: By 0930 ET
INCIDENTS
94-380 - New River Gorge (West Virginia) - Follow-up on Employee Injury
Ranger Regina Carrico, who received a head injury last week which lead to
amnesia, was released from the hospital on the morning of July 13th.
Carrico will be recuperating from her injury before returning to work in the
near future. The prognosis for full recovery is very good. [Duncan Hollar,
Acting CR, NERI, 7/14]
94-390 - Saguaro (Arizona) - Kidnapping; Assault
J.T. of Tucson was returning from a hike on the Douglas Springs trail
on the evening of July 13th when he was confronted by two men at the
trailhead. The pair made small talk about J.T.'s new '94 Toyota pickup,
then one drew an automatic weapon and told J.T. that they were going for a
ride. J.T. was taken to Redington Pass, located on Forest Service land
adjacent to the park, then forced to take the two men on a joy ride. At one
point, J.T. was forced to change a flat tire on the truck. He was
subsequently pistol-whipped on his head and thrown from the truck. Pima
County deputies are taking the lead in the investigation of the kidnapping.
The two suspects remain at large. [Paula Rooney, CR, SAGU, 7/15]
94-391 - Yellowstone (Wyoming) - Bear Mauling
R.O., 32, and Brian Moore, 31, were riding mules off-trail in
the Sulphur Mountain area in Hayden Valley on July 17th. Following a short
break, R.O. opted to walk and lead his mule, while Moore remained
mounted. As they were moving up the side of a hill away from some grazing
bison, Moore heard R.O. yell "Bear, bear!" just before he was struck,
knocked down and mauled by a bear. Moore charged twice with his mule before
the bear finally discontinued its attack and moved off. R.O. received
lacerations to the back of his head, hands and legs, but was able to remount
his mule and ride out to a road. He was picked up by park visitors and
taken to Lake Hospital, where he was treated before being taken to Wyoming
Medical Center in Cody for additional care. R.O. is currently listed
in stable condition. All areas on the south side of Hayden Valley are
temporarily closed to all hiking. The closure includes the Mary Mountain
Trail, Trout Creek, and the area above Nez Perce Creek. This is the third
bear mauling in Yellowstone this season. [Marsha Karle, PIO, YELL, 7/19]
94-392 - Mount Rushmore (South Dakota) - Weapons Incident
On the evening of July 9th, a visitor reported that a man was shooting a
handgun in the park about a mile west of the main parking lot. Rangers
subsequently located and contacted 33-year-old M.B. and his
companion, 30-year-old S.L. M.B. initially denied possessing
or shooting a weapon, but rangers found an AMT .380 handgun in his vest
pocket while searching him. The weapon had a loaded magazine, but no round
in the chamber; there was another loaded magazine in his vest pocket.
M.B. finally admitted to shooting several rounds off into the forest
from the roadside. Mushrooms that appeared to be of a hallucinogenic
species were found in S.L.'s purse. Both were arrested and their
motorcycle was confiscated. State charges are pending. [Mike Pflaum, CR,
MORU, 7/14]
94-393 - Glen Canyon (Utah/Arizona) - SAR; Fatality
On July 15th, rangers in the Uplake District received sketchy, third-hand
information about a six-year-old boy who had reportedly been missing from
his camp in the vicinity of Halls Crossing for over an hour and a half. The
rangers soon arrived at the point the child had last been seen and initiated
a search which utilized protection and interpretive rangers and maintenance
staff. Within 45 minutes, four patrol boats, several park and local
aircraft and a state ranger were brought into the search effort. The
child's body was found on a mesa about a mile and a half above his family's
campsite approximately 90 minutes after the original report was received.
The child had followed other children to the mesa and had told them he was
going to return to camp. He was wearing only swimming shorts and sandals
and had no water. The air temperature at the time was 107 degrees, but
ground temperatures were much higher. Indications are that he became
disoriented and hyperthermic. A CISD team from Zion conducted a critical
stress debriefing later that day. [Tomie Lee, CR, GLCA, 7/15]
94-394 - Statue of Liberty (New York) - Demonstration
J.T., 20, and A.L., 35, both of Argentina, were arrested
on the evening of July 6th while attempting to drape a banner from the
observation deck on the pedestal of the Statue of Liberty. The banner,
which measured 10 by 30 feet, contained a political statement in Spanish
regarding the 1995 election of Carlos Hurst. The banner was seized and both
individuals were cited for disorderly conduct and unlawful public assembly,
then released. [Scott Pfeninger, CR, STLI, 7/15]
94-395 - Virgin Islands (Virgin Islands) - Possible Drowning
On the morning of July 7th, visitor G.F. advised Cruz Bay rangers
that his friend, J.D.B., of Austin, Texas, was missing. G.F.
said that J.D.B. was staying on a chartered 42-foot sailboat which was
anchored just off Caneel Bay in the park's Northshore District. The two men
had dined together the previous evening, after which G.F. had dropped
J.D.B. off at his boat. When G.F. approached J.D.B.'s boat on the morning
of the 7th, he found the lights still on and the boat's dinghy missing. A
search of the area was immediately begun, and the dinghy was found washed up
on rocks near Lovango Cay just outside the park's boundary. A search by
rangers and employees of the Caneel Bay Shipyard was conducted through the
early morning hours of the 8th, but suspended when no sign of J.D.B. was
found. A Coast Guard search that day also proved fruitless. [Paul Thomas,
MA, VIIS, 7/14]
94-396 - Delaware Water Gap (Pennsylvania/New Jersey) - Drowning
E.G., 24, of Jersey City, New Jersey, drowned while swimming in
the Delaware River near the Depew recreation area just before 1 p.m. on July
16th. According to reports made by his companions and several witnesses,
E.G. waded out in the water to a depth of about five feet, remained
there for several minutes, then appeared to have a seizure and disappeared
under the river's surface. E.G. was pulled from the water by a
companion. He was treated by park and local EMS personnel, then airlifted
to Lehigh Valley Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead. E.G. was
under medication for epilepsy and had had a seizure about two hours prior to
the incident. [Doyle Nelson, CR, DEWA, 7/18]
FIRE ACTIVITY
1) PREPAREDNESS LEVEL - III
2) LARGE FIRE SUMMARY
State Agency Area Fire 7/15 7/19 Status
CO USFS White River NF Ute Creek - T1 2,300 2,735 CN 7/20
BIA Southern Ute
Agency Black Ridge - T2 1,200 12,000 CN 7/19
BLM Craig Dis. * Simsberry - 550 CND
AZ USFS Prescott NF Juniper 1,800 1,800 CND
Coronado NF Rattlesnake - T1 19,812 25,525 NEC
State - Redington
Complex - T2 20,262 20,725 CN 7/20
Sunset 212 274 NEC
NM USFS Cibola NF Big Rocks
Complex - T2 7,015 7,015 NEC
Gila NF Pigeon 6,250 6,250 CN 7/22
UT BLM Moab Dis. * Garvey Gulch - 120 CN 7/18
USFS Fishlake NF * Shingle Creek - 465 CN 8/10
ID BLM Boise Dis. * Middle Butte - 800 CND
* Crawfish - 800 NEC
NV BLM Elko Dis. * Lone Mtn. - T2 - 12,000 CN 7/19
* Bull Run - 2,500 CN 7/19
* Mahogany - 9,200 NEC
Winnemucca Dis. * French Boy - 400 CND
* Cottonwood Complex - 1,400 CN 7/19
Battle Mtn Dis. * Simpson - T2 - 700 CN 7/19
CA State - * Dorsey - 100 CND
- * Catnip - 300 CND
* Badger - 3,000 NEC
OR USFS Umatilla NF * Big Creek - T2 - 80 CND
FL State - * Lake Lou - 225 CN 7/25
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 12 8 8 3 88 79 198
Acres Burned 1 421 6,666 113 4,212 1,026 12,439
4) COMMITTED RESOURCES -
Crews Engines Helicopters Airtankers Overhead
Federal 178 110 51 23 1,429
Non-federal 37 76 7 0 167
5) CURRENT SITUATION - Initial attack activity continued throughout most of
the West yesterday. Significant progress was made on most large fires in
the Southwest and Rockies; major fires in those areas had no acreage gains.
Crews, overhead, equipment and aircraft being mobilized through NICC are
generally going to the western Great Basin. Demobilization is continuing
from the Southwest.
6) OUTLOOK - A red flag watch has been posted for dry lightning in southwest
Oregon this evening. Initial attack activity is expected to continue in
most areas, and should increase in the Northwest due to predicted dry
lightning.
[NIFCC Incident Management Situation Report, 7/19]
RESOURCE MANAGEMENT
No field reports today.
OPERATIONAL NOTES
1) Vail Partnership Awards - The Director has announced the creation of Vail
Partnership Awards "to recognize the outstanding park manager and program
manager in the National Park Service who have developed, maintained and
nurtured partnerships, and who have promoted and exemplified a partnership
philosophy in all aspects of park and program management." Winners will
receive certificates and $2,500 cash awards. Cash awards of $1,500 will
also be given to the respective partner(s) of the park manager and program
manger who are selected. The awards will be presented at the NPS
anniversary dinner in Washington on August 25th. Nominations should be send
to the Vail Office in WASO by close of business on July 29th. Nominations
must contain a full narrative justification, not to exceed three double
spaced typed pages, and should concisely illustrate specific partnership and
cooperative arrangements that have contributed to the benefit of both the
park or program and the partner. Applications may be submitted by
individuals for themselves or for others. Contact the Vail Office for
further details.
MEMORANDA
"1994 Fire Season", signed by the Acting Associate Director, Operations, and
sent to all Regional Directors. Because of its partial focus on significant
fire safety concerns and the need to disseminate it as broadly as possible,
the full text is being transmitted below:
"The 1994 fire season is off to a tragically severe start. It appears that
this season will continue to be as long and difficult as any we have
experienced to date.
"Two very important items need to be addressed immediately. The first item
is safety of firefighting personnel. In addition to the conditions which
resulted in the fatalities in Colorado, and shelter deployments and
entrapment situations elsewhere, extreme firefighter fatigue is also
occurring. We strongly encourage you to ensure that all personnel who may
go on a wildfire assignment have received a review of 'Standards for
Survival,' especially those sections pertaining to the Fire Orders, 18 Watch
Out Situations and shelter deployment. A review of information presented in
Lookouts, Communications, Escape Routes and Safety Zones (L.C.E.S.) is an
excellent follow-up umbrella to the safety refresher. The use of the
(L.C.E.S.) Incident Safety Analysis (ICS-215A) must be a part of all
operational period planning meetings.
"The second item concerns firefighter training and qualifications. The
National Park Service has the need to provide its employees with training
and experience in wildfire suppression. This is valuable for in-park
wildfire assignments and prescribed fire applications. We have also
committed assistance to our interagency partners to provide support in the
suppression of wildfires. Employees who are qualified to serve on fireline
assignments should be made available to assist in wildfire suppression
efforts.
"The new National Wildfire Coordination Group performance-based
qualification system requires that fireline personnel be evaluated in a
position performance evaluation assignment prior to agency certification in
the next higher position. Opportunities to have trainees evaluated should
be available for the next 6-8 weeks. We encourage you to take advantage of
them to the fullest extent.
"As wildfires occur in parks, management is encouraged to task the incident
management team to use trainees as much as possible. Only through these
training assignments will we get our people qualified in incident
management. A special effort should be made to get those individuals
identified in our Fire Overhead Development Program into these assignments.
"Please remember the following concerning training assignments:
(1) An individual may only be designated a trainee after all required
courses are completed.
(2) Trainee designation occurs when the agency identifies the
individual as a trainee on the red card, and/or issues the appropriate
position task book.
(3) Following the evaluation assignment, and assuming that all
required job tasks are successfully completed and signed by the
evaluator, the agency may make the determination as to trainee
qualification in a position. Please use best judgement as you certify
an individual as qualified. If for any reason you are uncertain about
an individual's ability to perform satisfactorily in a given position,
request another training assignment in a different situation (change
of fuel type, etc.) before certification."
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 information on any of these
hearings or bills, please contact Mary in WASO Legislation at 202-208-3636.
7/19 -- House Natural Resources' Subcommittee on National Parks, Forests
and Public Lands (Vento): Hearing on H.R. 4213, to amend LWCF
Act to authorize the Secretary of the Interior to establish a
national registry of rivers and watersheds to be protected and
restored.
7/20 -- Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee (Johnston): Markup
of S. 855, to authorize the Secretary of the Interior to
consolidate the surface substance estates of certain lands
within three conservation system units on the Alaska peninsula;
H.R. 240, to provide for the protection of the Bodie Bowl area
of the state of California; S. 721, to amend the Land and Water
Conservation Fund Act of 1965.
7/21 -- House Natural Resources' Subcommittee on National Parks, Forests
and Public Lands (Vento): Markup of H.R. 1562 and S. 310, to
amend title V of Public Law 95-550, designating the Chaco
Culture Archeological Protection sites; H.R. 4533, to promote
entrepreneurial management of the National Park Service; S. 1703
and H.R. 3973, to expand the boundaries of Piscataway National
Park.
7/25 -- House Natural Resources' Subcommittee on National Parks, Forests
and Public Lands (Vento): Hearing on H.R. 746 and S. 1033, to
establish the Shenandoah Valley National Battlefields and
Commission; H.R. 3714 and S. 986, to provide for an interpretive
center at the Civil War Battlefield of Corinth; oversight
hearing on Civil War Sites Advisory Commission.
7/27 -- House Public Works and Transportation's Subcommittee on Aviation
(Oberstar): Hearing on legislation and regulations affecting
scenic overflights above national parks.
7/28 -- House Natural Resources' Subcommittee on National Parks, Forests
and Public Lands (Vento): Markup of H.R. 3408 and S. 1586, to
establish the New Orleans Jazz National Historical Park, LA;
H.R. 4642, to provide for the restoration of Washington Square
in Philadelphia and for its inclusion within Independence
National Historical Park.
-- Senate Energy and Natural Resources' Subcommittee on Public
Lands, National Parks and Forests (Bumpers): Hearing on S. 2121,
to promote entrepreneurial management of the National Park
Service.
-- House Natural Resources' Subcommittee on National Parks, Forests
and Public Lands (Vento): Hearing on H.R. 793, Bramwell National
Historical Park Act of 1993; H.R. 4720, Hudson River Valley
American Heritage Area; H.R. 4692, Appalachian Coal Heritage
Area; and S. 1980, Cane River Creole National Historical Park
and Cane River National Heritage Area.
8/9 -- Senate Environment and Public Works' Subcommittee on Clean
Water, Fisheries and Wildlife (Graham): Hearing on endangered
species conservation on public lands.
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