- Subject: NPS Morning Report - Monday, August 1, 1994
- Date: Mon, 1 Aug 1994
NATIONAL PARK SERVICE
MORNING REPORT
To: All National Park Service Areas and Offices
From: Division of Ranger Activities, Washington Office
Day/Date: Monday, August 1, 1994
Broadcast: By 0930 ET
INCIDENTS
93-566 - Jefferson National Expansion (Missouri) - Follow-up on Homicide
On July 8th, R.C. of St. Louis was found guilty of murder in the
first degree in the killing of Alice Knop during a robbery in the Arch
parking garage last August; he is to be sentenced on September 23rd. On
July 29th, R.C.'s accomplices, H.C. and M.S., both of whom
had previously pled guilty to second degree murder, were sentenced in
federal district court. H.C. received nine years and two months
incarceration, three years supervised release, and mandatory commitment to a
substance abuse program; M.S. was sentenced to twelve years and five
months in prison, three years supervised release, and mandatory commitment
to a substance abuse program. Both men cooperated in the government's
prosecution of R.C.. [J.L. Weddle, CI, JEFF, 7/29]
94-435 - Point Reyes (California) - Poaching Arrest
On the afternoon of July 2nd, E.A., 48, was seen standing with a
butterfly net behind his car on Limantour Road. Rangers obtained a consent
search for the vehicle and found over 100 butterfly specimens within.
E.A. said that he'd been on a collection trip and visited national parks
only to take photographs. A log book was also recovered form the vehicle
which listed over 50 parks and contained references to possible specimen
collecting in them. Seven of the specimens found in the car can be found in
Point Reyes. E.A. eventually admitted that his sole reason for visiting
Point Reyes was to collect the Myrtle's silverspot (Speyeria zerene
myrtleae), which is listed as a federally endangered species. He said that
he was unable to find the silverspot and was in the process of leaving the
park when contacted. Following a joint investigation by rangers and Fish
and Wildlife agents, E.A. was cited on seven counts of possession of
wildlife and a net. Fish and Wildlife will be filing charges for attempting
to take an endangered species. [Paige Ritterbusch, PORE, 7/11]
94-436 - Statue of Liberty/Ellis Island (New York) - Weapons Arrests
Over a two-week period in mid-July, rangers arrested three men in separate
incidents for carrying concealed firearms in the park. R.E., 45, of
Torrance, California, was arrested on the morning of July 6th on the dock at
Ellis Island for carrying a loaded FEG 9 millimeter semi-automatic pistol
with three loaded magazines in a gunny sack. The ammunition, which cannot
be identified as coming from a commercial vendor, is being investigated by
ATF. M.D., 58, of Manhattan, Kansas, was arrested inside the
statue's lobby on July 15th for carrying a loaded AMT 9 millimeter semi-
automatic, also in a gunny sack. A knife with a four-and-a-half inch blade
was seized along with the gun. M.D. claimed to have transported the pistol
through a local airport in his suitcase. And S.S., 43, of
Beaverton, Oregon, was arrested for carrying a loaded Para-Ordnance .45
caliber semi-automatic pistol in a fanny pack while on Liberty Island on
July 14th. None of the men had permits; all were charged with possession of
loaded weapons, a Class D felony. Ranger Mary Ann Greco made the first two
arrests; rangers Glenn Van Neil and Jeffrey Hancock made the third. [Scott
Pfeninger, CR, STLI, 7/29]
94-437 - Buffalo (Arkansas) - Suicide
On the morning of Tuesday, July 26th, G.S., 39, of Pettigrew,
Arkansas, travelled to Cave Mountain cave in the park's upper district with
his 14-year-old son and a teenage friend. G.S. told the youths to go into
the cave and said he would join them as soon as another friend arrived.
After an hour, the teenagers returned to the car and found G.S. sitting in
the seat of his car. They heard him snoring and thought he was asleep or
playing a joke on them; when he failed to respond, they checked him more
closely and found blood coming from him and a pistol on his lap. They
reported the incident at a nearby farmhouse, and rangers and county officers
responded. G.S. was taken by ambulance to a local hospital, then flown to
St. John's Hospital in Springfield, Missouri, where he was pronounced dead.
G.S. had a history of depression and previous suicide attempts. [Bob
Howard, BUFF, 7/29]
FIRE ACTIVITY
1) PREPAREDNESS LEVEL - V
2) LARGE FIRE SUMMARY
State Agency Area Fire 7/29 8/1 Status
WA USFS Wenatchee NF Tyee Comp. - T1 54,000 90,900 CN 8/6
Hatchery
Comp. - T1 4,775 17,200 NEC
* Round Mountain
Comp. - T1 - 3,300 NEC
* Lemah/Escondito - 320 NEC
Okanogan NF Okanogan Comp. -
T1 and T2 3,043 7,444 NEC
Colville NF Olson Comp. - T2 280 280 CND
BIA Yakima Agency Klickitat
Comp. - T1 NR 4,100 CN 8/4
Lakebeds - T2 NR 4,400 CN 8/1
State - Highlands Comp. 1,400 1,703 CND
Murray Comp. 304 304 CND
OR USFS Siskiyou NF Mendenhall
Comp. - T1 4,403 7,761 CND
Umatilla NF Bracken Point - T2 1,685 2,540 CND
Wallowa-
Whitman NF Baldy Comp. - T2 168 166 CND
Mt. Hood NF * Grasshopper - 200 CND
NPS Crater Lake NP * Desert Ridge - 155 CND
BLM Prineville Dis. Little Ferry 7,050 7,050 CND
Fossil Beds 2,000 2,000 NEC
State - Parrish Creek 2,150 1,740 CND
- * Potlach - 400 CN 8/1
UT BLM Cedar City Dis. Cave Canyon 700 700 CN 7/31
Richfield Dis. Antelope Mt. 15,000 8,600 CN 8/2
S.L. City Dis. * Spring Canyon - 250 CND
* Castle Rock - 3,200 CND
State - * Trapper LP2 - 600 CND
USFS Was.-Cache NF * Bennion Creek - 1,500 CND
MT BIA Flathead Agency Nirada 1 - T2 4,310
State - Henry Peak - T2 2,000 7,950 CN 8/3
* Elk River
Comp. - T2 - 110 CN 8/4
* Black Mt. - T2 - 120 CN 8/1
USFS Lolo NF * Ninemile
Comp. - T2 - 950 CN 8/15
* Ambrose Saddle - 150 NEC
ID USFS Payette NF Ruby - T1 944 944 CND
Boise NF Idaho City
Comp. - T2 1,000 3,400 NEC
BLM Burley Dis. Elevator - T2 15,000 31,360 CN 8/1
Hawley 13,300 13,300 CND
Boise Dis. * Devil Creek - 4,683 CND
WY USFS Bridger-Tet. NF * Dutch Joe - T2 - 330 CN 8/1
CA USFS Klamath NF Dillon Comp. - T1 9,650 12,482 NEC
Six Rivers NF Blue/Salmon - T2 708 708 CND
NV BLM Carson City Dis. Stillwater 150 155 CN 7/30
Elko Dis. * Woodruff - 180 CND
Winemucca Dis. * Moore - 16,000 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 NEC - No estimate of containment
CND - Contained CN/CS (date) - Expected date of containment
3) FIRE HIGHLIGHTS -
* Tyee Complex, Wenatchee NF - The 11th Battalion, 11th Marine Regiment has
been committed. Extreme fire behavior was experienced in some areas, while
the inversion in other areas limited fire behavior to isolated flare-ups.
The inversion restricted air operations to the east end of the fire.
Aggressive fire suppression efforts saved about 700 homes in the Chelan
Butte and South Shore areas.
* Hatchery Complex, Wenatchee NF - Brender, Brisky, Mission Creek and Yaksum
Canyons have all been evacuated.
* Elk River Complex, Idaho State - The complex consists of 50 lightning-
caused fires encompassing about 300 square miles.
* Dillon Complex, Klamath NF - The complex consists of 23 fires, 16 of which
have been contained. An estimated 1,174 chains of line are yet to be
constructed, much of it on broken and rocky terrain.
4) FIRES YESTERDAY -
NPS BIA BLM FWS States USFS Total
Number 5 15 37 0 71 192 320
Acres Burned 0 4 16,094 0 2,086 4,499 22,683
5) COMMITTED RESOURCES -
Crews Engines Helicopters Airtankers Overhead
Federal 445 216 76 25 2,545
Non-federal 80 433 28 0 1,249
6) COMPARATIVE SUMMARY -
CY 1994 Five Year Average
Year-to-Date Year-to-Date
Number of Fires 48,915 46,583
Acres Burned 1,978,563 1,626,821
7) SITUATION - Fire activity moderated yesterday on several large fires, and
containment targets were met on some of the smaller ones. Many resources
continue to be in short supply. A P2V airtanker working the Butler Creek
Fire crashed in the Ninemile Valley - Squaw Peak area on Friday afternoon.
Both the pilot and copilot were killed. An investigation team is currently
on site looking into the causes of the accident. Training of the two
battalions of Marines from Camp Pendleton began this weekend; two additional
battalions have been requested and will be sent from Fort Hood, Texas. The
military is also providing a helicopter unit for the Idaho City Complex.
8) OUTLOOK - A red flag warning has been posted for hot, dry weather and dry
lightning in northern Idaho and western Montana. Strong high pressure aloft
will remain over western states; moist and unstable air covers most of the
interior west and is producing mostly wet, scattered afternoon and evening
thunderstorms. Fire activity is expected to continue and probably increase
in the northern Rockies. Competition for resources will continue, but
military resources will help alleviate crew demands.
[NIFCC Incident Management Situation Report, 8/1]
RESOURCE MANAGEMENT
No field reports today.
OPERATIONAL NOTES
1) Branch of Fire and Aviation Leadership Change - Elmer Hurd, chief of the
Branch of Fire and Aviation within the Ranger Activities Division, is
leaving the NPS to become chief of the Office of Aircraft Safety (OAS) in
Boise. From today through August 10th, Rick Gale will be acting chief.
Communications for the branch chief during that period should therefore be
sent to Rick Gale, who is on cc:Mail by name.
MEMORANDA
"Streamlining - Organizing the Task", signed on Friday, July 29th, by Deputy
Reynolds and sent to all employees. The full text follows:
"Planning to implement streamlining is proceeding, with a number of key
decisions now made to organize the task.
"I have designated Associate Director Joe Gorrell as Agency Administrator
responsible for implementation, and through Joe, I have delegated authority
to Incident Commander Rick Gale to identify specific managerial decisions
and operational actions required to execute the plan. I have also set up a
Reorganization Steering Committee to advise me and the Director on all
aspects of reorganization and to provide strategic guidance to the tactical,
implementation process coordinated by Joe through Rick. Members of the
Steering Committee are Maria Burks, Cal Cooper, Maureen Finnerty, John
Gingles (committee coordinator), Mary Martin, and Kate Stevenson, with Anne
Badgley participating as an ex officio member. All except Anne worked on
drafting the reorganization plan.
"Rick Gale is charged to develop an operations strategy which will get us
from 'here' to 'there,' from the current organization to the future
organization. He is to identify logistics, responsible individuals, and
timelines for implementation, to provide an analysis of costs and cost
alternatives, to coordinate implementation activities with Operation
Opportunity, and to develop an internal and external communications plan.
He is to assemble an appropriate incident management team to coordinate and
expedite this process.
"The Reorganization Steering Committee is to provide continuity with, and
interpretations of, the original streamlining proposal developed by the Work
Group on Reorganization, and to compile and incorporate into the final
approved streamlining plan those modifications made as a result of on-going
consultations with the Department, on the Hill, and inside the organization.
"We are beginning to move from the Park Service of today to the Park Service
of tomorrow. It will be a complicated change and will require communicating
back and forth with each other, redesigning systems, and delegating nearly
countless authorities. It will mean that many of us, especially those in
leadership and supervisory positions will have to do our jobs better and
often differently. It will mean lots of training. If we are successful,
which we will be, in the end we will protect resources and provide for
enjoyment better than we do today.
"This will also take a great deal of patience by all of us. I ask that of
you, and also politeness. We all need to ask when we don't know, rather
than make up answers and pass them along. We need to respect each other
and, over and over again, 'cut each other a break' instead of giving
sarcastic responses or assuming the worst. That will be tough to do, but if
each of you do it once, it is 17,000 strengthening comments instead of
17,000 weakening ones. I hope that each of you can find the patience and
energy to help create the future. Thank you."
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