- Subject: NPS Morning Report - Thursday, July 21, 1994
- Date: Thurs, 21 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 21, 1994
Broadcast: By 0930 ET
INCIDENTS
94-405 - Hawaii Volcanoes (Hawaii) - Hurricane Emilia
For the last few days, Hawaii County Civil Defense has been monitoring the
path of Hurricane Emilia. Although the storm is still over 400 miles from
the island of Hawaii, it is moving in a northwesterly direction and is
already having some effects on the south coast of the island, including park
coastal areas. Surf is building and was expected to reach 15 feet last
night. This unexpected high surf will present a serious hazard to
uninformed visitors who are camping on backcountry beaches, to motor
vehicles driving the coastal section of the Chain of Craters road, and to
visitors viewing lava at points where it is entering the sea. As a
precaution, no further backcountry permits are being issued for the coastal
area until the storm passes. The coastal road and eruption site were closed
yesterday at 3 p.m., and backcountry rangers flew to coastal camp areas to
give warning to visitors already in the area. At this time winds are not
expected to be at a level which would present any hazards to the park.
[Gail Minami, Operations Supervisor, HAVO, 7/20]
94-406 - Cape Lookout (North Carolina) - Oil Spill
About 300 gallons of jet fuel was accidently discharged overboard
from the aircraft carrier USS Wasp late on the afternoon on July 17th. The
oil slick is being monitored by the Coast Guard, North Carolina's Division
of Coastal Management, and the National Park Service. Fortunately, the
JP-5 jet fuel is a light distillate that readily dissipates when exposed to
the elements. Monitoring continues, but there had been no impacts to park
wildlife nor any accumulation on park beaches at the time of the report.
(Chuck Harris, Chief of Ops, CALO, 7/20]
94-407 - Blue Ridge (North Carolina/Virginia) - Attempted Assault on Ranger
On the afternoon of July 16th, seasonal ranger Bob Milliron saw a car being
driven very erratically on the parkway near Roanoke, Virginia. When
Milliron attempted to stop the vehicle, the operator, later identified as
D.G., 30, sped up and left the parkway at the first intersection.
Milliron followed and called local city and county units for assistance.
Following a 30 minute pursuit through back roads and city streets, during
which D.G. went through two road blocks, Milliron was able to block the
vehicle in a cul-de-sac within the city. D.G. got out of his vehicle at
the same time as Milliron exited his patrol vehicle. When Milliron told him
to move away from his vehicle, D.G. instead jumped back in and drove
directly at Milliron, missing him by only inches as he hugged the side of
his patrol vehicle. All units were advised, and the chase resumed. D.G.
was eventually able to jump from his vehicle and run into the woods and was
still at large at the time of the report. Arrest warrants have been issued
by all involved agencies. [CRO, BLRI, 7/18]
94-408 - Lake Mead (Arizona/Nevada) - Drowning
Sixteen-year-old A.S.G. of Puerto Rico drowned while
playing ball with his family and friends in Lake Mead on the afternoon of
July 13th. A.S.G. and other young people were playing with a ball in
shallow water on a point of land at 8.0 Wash just south of Northshore Road.
The wind caught the ball and blew it into deeper water and A.S.G. went
after it. He stepped off a steep underwater embankment which is covered
with very soft sand, lost his footing, and sank into deep water. Family
members were not able to reach him before he sank out of sight. Park divers
recovered his body later that afternoon. [Karen Whitney, LAME, 7/20]
94-409 - Wupatki (Arizona) - Public Health Alert
On July 19th, the park was advised of a case of bubonic plague near Hank's
Trading Post, just outside the park's boundaries. The person, who had
extensive contact with prairie dogs and had numerous flea bites, apparently
contracted the plague from a flea. He is being treated and is expected to
recover. A large-scale die-off is apparently occurring in the prairie dog
colony in that area, which also extends into the park in the area around the
north entrance. The die-off is believed to have been caused by the plague
infestation. Fleas from dead animals will seek other hosts, so employees
have been counselled on appropriate prevention measures to discourage
exposure. Information is also being posted at the entrance road exhibits in
both Wupatki and Sunset Crater. [Kim Watson, CR, FLAG, 7/19]
FIRE ACTIVITY
1) PREPAREDNESS LEVEL - III
2) LARGE FIRE SUMMARY
State Agency Area Fire 7/19 7/20 Status
CO USFS White River NF Ute Creek - T1 2,735 2,800 CN 7/20
BIA Southern Ute
Agency Black Ridge - T2 12,000 12,000 CND
BLM Craig Dis. * Cabin Gulch - 200 NEC
AZ USFS Coronado NF Rattlesnake - T1 25,525 25,525 NEC
Apache/Sit. NF Sunset 274 274 NEC
State - Redington
Complex - T2 20,725 20,725 CN 7/20
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 120 120 CND
USFS Fishlake NF Shingle Creek 465 465 CN 8/10
ID BLM Boise Dis. Crawfish 800 1,400 CND
NV BLM Elko Dis. Lone Mtn. - T2 12,000 10,950 CND
Bull Run 2,500 2,500 CND
Mahogany 9,200 9,800 CN 7/21
Winnemucca Dis. Cottonwood Complex 1,400 1,400 CND
Battle Mtn Dis. Simpson - T2 700 1,250 CN 7/21
CA State - Badger 3,000 7,520 CN 7/20
OR BLM Burns Dis. * Crane Butte - 300 CND
FL State - Lake Lou 225 225 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 (TUESDAY) -
NPS BIA BLM FWS States USFS Total
Number 16 17 44 2 114 46 239
Acres Burned 1 120 1,922 405 1,077 334 3,859
4) COMMITTED RESOURCES (TUESDAY) -
Crews Engines Helicopters Airtankers Overhead
Federal 189 159 55 24 1,331
Non-federal 34 60 5 2 162
5) SITUATION - Initial attack activity continued throughout most of the West
on Tuesday, but only a couple of fires escaped. Substantial progress was
made on most large fires, and all Type I incident management teams were
released on either Tuesday or Wednesday. Resource mobilization throughout
NICC moderated significantly. Demobilization was underway in the Southwest,
western Great Basin and Rockies.
6) OUTLOOK - A red flag watch was posted yesterday for low humidity and dry
lightning in northwest Oregon. Initial attack activity was expected to
continue.
[NIFCC Incident Management Situation Report, 7/20]
RESOURCE MANAGEMENT
No field reports today.
OPERATIONAL NOTES
No notes.
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