- Subject: NPS Morning Report - Tuesday, August 9, 1994
- Date: Tues, 9 Aug 1994
NATIONAL PARK SERVICE
MORNING REPORT
To: All National Park Service Areas and Offices
From: Division of Ranger Activities, Washington Office
Day/Date: Tuesday, August 9, 1994
Broadcast: By 0930 ET
INCIDENTS
94-265 - Jefferson National Expansion (Missouri) - Follow-up on Car Clouting
F.A. and F.M. were arrested by rangers on June
1st for breaking into a car in the Old Cathedral parking lot two days
previously. On August 5th, a federal district court magistrate judge
sentenced Acosta and Malberde to, respectively, four months' and three
months' incarceration. The judge said that she rendered the sentence
because both were destitute and could not pay fines. The plea agreement to
a misdemeanor permitted a speedy disposal of the case. Both men will be
deported upon release from prison. [J.L. Weddle, LES, JEFF, 8/8]
94-432 - Mount Rainier (Washington) - Follow-up on Search
On the afternoon of August 4th, campers discovered the body of W.O.,
41, who was reported missing from his campsite at Ipsut Creek on July
26th. A fruitless two-day search followed. The body was found a half mile
downstream from the campground. Circumstances surrounding the death are
uncertain and are being investigated by rangers and the county coroner's
office. [Comm Center, MORA, 8/8]
94-448 - Great Smokies (North Carolina/Tennessee) - Falling Fatality
S.B., 16, was killed on August 5th when he tumbled over 300 feet
from an unmaintained trail leading to Chimney Tops. S.B., who was part of
a larger group of adults and teens from the Park Avenue Baptist Church of
Titusville, Florida, apparently lost his footing; he also dislodged a rock
which injured another member of the party. S.B. was reached by a park
medic within two hours of the fall but was obviously beyond treatment and
was pronounced dead at the scene by the park medical director. A 25-person
extrication team was required to remove his body. The most recent edition
of the park's compendium closed this "manway" to public use, but signs had
not yet been erected and no public notice had been made. This incident is
the eleventh such on that trail in the last three years and the only
fatality. [CRO, BLRI, 8/8]
94-449 - National Capital Region (Virginia) - Shooting Incident
Late on the morning of August 6th, an off-duty uniformed Park Police officer
was in the Belle View shopping center in Fairfax when a citizen advised him
that a man who'd just stolen merchandise from a CVS pharmacy was sitting in
a vehicle in the shopping center lot. The officer found a basket of stolen
goods inside the vehicle in the suspect's possession. A confrontation
ensued, during which the officer shot the suspect once in the chest. He was
medevaced by a Park Police helicopter to the county's trauma center, where
he remains in critical condition. The officer was not injured. The victim
had not yet been identified at the time of the report, nor had a suspect
weapon been located. Fairfax County and Park Police officers are
investigating. [Capt. Marvin Ellison, RLES, RAD/NCRO, 8/8]
94-450 - Glacier Bay (Alaska) - MVA with Fatality
An off-duty Army Corps of Engineers employee was killed in a single car
motor vehicle accident in Bartlett Cove on August 6th when the four-wheel-
drive pickup truck he was driving overturned. R.P.P., 49, of
Palmer, Alaska, died instantly when he was crushed by his vehicle after
being partially ejected from the driver's seat. R.P.P., who was working as
the government overseer of a hazardous waste remediation project outside the
park, was returning from the park concession bar when the accident occurred.
A passenger, W.L.S.P., of Chugiak, Alaska, suffered only minor
injuries. W.L.S.P. was wearing a seatbelt; R.P.P. was not. Alcohol is
strongly suspected as a contributing factor in this accident. This is
believed to be the first fatality ever to occur on area roads due to a
traffic accident. [Chuck Young, DR, GLBA, 8/6]
94-451 - Blue Ridge (Virginia/North Carolina) - MVA with Fatality
On August 5th, D.S., 27, of Ontario, Canada, was heading northbound
on his motorcycle when he entered a long, sharp, right-handed curve near
mile post 19, crossed the center line, and struck the right front end of a
southbound Ford Crown Victoria pulling a pop-up camper trailer. D.S. was
thrown about 50 feet down an embankment. Two rangers were on scene within
five minutes and local rescue units soon arrived. Due to the severity of
D.S.'s injuries, attempts were made to fly him to the University of
Virginia Trauma Center, but local storms and patchy fog in the area
prevented the helicopter from landing. D.S. was therefore transported by
ambulance to the hospital, where he was later pronounced dead. There were
no injuries in the Crown Victoria. [CRO, BLRI, 8/8]
94-452 - Haleakala (Hawaii) - Search in Progress
Search efforts are underway for a 38-year-old Kihei man was reported lost on
August 6th. The man had been playing in the pools in the heavily used
section of the 'Ohe'o Stream near the ocean; he was last seen walking up the
stream bed toward the second pool from the ocean. About 200 people were in
the area at the time. A towel identified as his was located nearby, and
cash he could have accessed in the group's van was left undisturbed. A
report materialized of a man matching his description walking along a road
in the area, but a cross check of that description with a video the group
had made which showed the victim revealed that the person on the road was
not the missing man. The search continued on Sunday, but no sign of him was
found. Plans are to have divers check underwater caves in the area.
Intelligence gathering is also continuing. [Karen Ardoin, CR, HALE, 8/8]
FIRE ACTIVITY
1) PREPAREDNESS LEVEL - V
2) LARGE FIRE SUMMARY
State Agency Area Fire 8/8 8/9 Status
WA USFS Wenatchee NF Tyee Comp. - T1 121,400 121,400 CN 8/10
Hatchery
Comp. - T1 31,410 31,410 CN 8/12
Okanogan NF Okanogan Comp. -
T1 and two T2 16,045 16,045 CN 8/8
Colville NF Copper Butte - T1 10,550 10,650 CN 8/12
BIA Yakima Agency Klickitat
Comp. - T1 5,000 5,000 CN 8/9
Lakebeds - T2 6,600 6,600 CN 8/8
State - Palmer Comp. 11,360 9,665 CND
OR BLM Vale Dis. Swamp Creek 44,000 44,140 CND
USFS Wall.-Whit. NF Snake River Comp. 2,168 3,826 CN 8/14
Malheur NF Indian Rocks 1,280 1,420 CN 8/11
Ochoco NF Bridge Creek - T2 280 300 CND
Okanogan NF Methow Comp. - T2 4,000 4,200 NEC
MT State - Chamberlin - T2 1,177 1,323 CN 8/11
USFS Bitterroot NF Trail Comp. - T2 371 360 NEC
Clearwater NF Sam Group 155 350 CN 8/14
BIA Blackfeet Ag. Livermore - T2 1,080 1,080 CND
Crow Ag. Beavais Creek NR NR NEC
FWS CM Russell NWR CK Creek 9,600 10,223 CN 8/11
UT BLM SLC Dis. East Harker 14,000 12,456 CN 8/10
USFS Fishlake NF Black Willow 4,000 12,000 NEC
Was.-Cache NF Edgar - T2 3,400 3,400 CN 8/11
ID USFS Boise NF Idaho City Comp. -
T1 and T2 6,400 8,460 NEC
Payette NF Blackwell 6,000 10,400 NEC
Corral Creek - T2 9,075 32,000 NEC
Clearwater NF Freezeout 300 400 NEC
Idaho Pan. NF * St Joe Fires - T2 NR 420 NEC
State - Abandon Point 100 100 NEC
BLM Idaho Fall Dis. * Big Grassy - 800 CN 8/9
WY NPS Yellowstone NP * Yellowstone - 487 NEC
CA USFS Klamath NF Dillon Comp. - T1 17,672 17,812 CN 8/14
Tahoe NF Crystal - T1 7,220 7,310 CND
State - Trauner - T1(CDF) 700 500 CND
- Kelsey 800 800 CN 8/9
- Grapevine 1,000 1,000 NEC
NV BLM Ely Dis. Kern 1,200 2,000 CN 8/11
Elko Dis. Woodhills 4,000 4,000 CND
Carson City Dis.* Holbrook - 7,000 NEC
Las Vegas Dis. * Browncrest - 750 CN 8/10
AZ USFS Coconino NF Lost Comp. - T2 2,005 2,005 CN 8/12
Tonto NF Bee 1,000 1,000 CN 8/8
BIA San Carlos Ag. Hooker Gap 428 428 CN 8/8
State - Bozarth 1,000 1,200 CN 8/9
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) FIRES YESTERDAY -
NPS BIA BLM FWS States USFS Total
Number 9 10 24 1 114 127 285
Acres Burned 591 88 8,797 320 3,559 8,660 22,015
4) COMMITTED RESOURCES -
Crews Engines Helicopters Airtankers Overhead
Federal 549 264 95 21 3,473
Non-federal 197 411 31 7 1,506
5) COMPARATIVE SUMMARY -
CY 1994 Five Year Average
Year-to-Date Year-to-Date
Number of Fires 52,390 49,008
Acres Burned 2,198,180 1,840,349
6) SITUATION - Fire activity increased in the Great Basin yesterday, but
moderated in northern Washington, northern Idaho and northern Montana.
Resource mobilization through NICC has stabilized. NICC has requested 100
portable pumps from Canada, and they have agreed to furnish them. A fifth
battalion of military personnel has been requested; it will be employed on
the Coral Creek fire.
The Grand Canyon, Lake Mead and Yellowstone, all of which continue to report
high fire dangers, had fires during the weekend. Grand Canyon's was less
than an acre; Lake Mead's was about 30 acres; and Yellowstone had three of
six, two and 20 acres. Extreme fire danger persists at Zion, Great Basin,
Lava Beds and Sequoia/Kings Canyon.
7) OUTLOOK - Fire activity is expected to moderate as cool, moist air moves
in over a large area of the West today.
[NIFCC Incident Management Situation Report, 8/9; Jeanie Harris, NPS fire
situation coordinator, Branch of Fire and Aviation Management, 8/8]
RESOURCE MANAGEMENT
Yellowstone (Wyoming) - Bear Relocation
A two-year-old male grizzly bear has been removed from the Yellowstone
ecosystem bear population and transferred to the John Ball Zoological Park
in Grand Rapids, Michigan. The action was taken as a result of growing
concern for human safety associated with the bear's repeated attempts to
obtain human food. Bear No. 223 is one of four yearlings orphaned in
October, 1993, when its mother was shot and killed by a hunter in self
defense in the Gallatin National Forest. The bear was trapped on May 19th
of this year by the Montana Department of Fish, Wildlife, and Parks after it
had become habituated to human dwellings and unnatural foods on private
property near Big Sky, Montana. The bear was translocated to a remote area
in the southwest corner of the park, but left shortly thereafter and again
obtained unnatural food from unsecured garbage near Henry's Fork, Idaho.
The bear was trapped by the Idaho Department of Fish and Game on May 31st
and relocated to a remote backcountry area in the southeast portion of the
park. Early on August 1st, Bear No. 223 broke into storage containers (a
plastic cartop carrier and a wooden storage box) at two campsites in the
Grant Village campground and obtained human food. Park rangers trapped the
bear later in the day. Wildlife managers from the states of Montana,
Wyoming, and Idaho, the park, the Interagency Grizzly Bear Study Team, and
the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service were consulted and concurred with the
decision to remove the bear from the ecosystem. The park staff transported
the bear to the zoo in Michigan. [Mike Murray, ACR, YELL]
OPERATIONAL NOTES
No notes.
MEMORANDA
No memoranda.
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 further information on any of
these hearings or bills, please contact Mary in WASO Legislation at 202-208-
3636.
Upcoming Hearings
8/9 -- Senate Environment and Public Works' Subcommittee on Clean
Water, Fisheries and Wildlife (Graham): POSTPONED - Hearing on
endangered species conservation on public lands.
Recent Actions
House -- The House has passed H.R. 518, which designates certain lands in
the California Desert as wilderness, to establish the Death
Valley and Joshua Tree National Parks and the Mojave National
Monument. An amendment was rejected that sought to delay the
effective date of the Act until the backlog of lands to be
acquired by the National Park Service has been reduced by 50
percent.
Senate -- S. 21, a similar Senate-passed bill, was passed in lieu after
being amended to contain the language of the House bill as
passed.
Prepared by the Division of Ranger Activities, WASO, with the cooperation
and support of Delaware Water Gap NRA.
Telephone: 202-208-4874
Telefax: 202-208-6756
cc:Mail: WASO Ranger Activities
SkyPager: Emergencies ONLY: 1-800-759-7243, PIN 2404843