- Subject: NPS Morning Report - Monday, August 15, 1994
- Date: Mon, 15 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 15, 1994
Broadcast: By 0930 ET
INCIDENTS
94-455 - Canyon de Chelly (Arizona) - Follow-up on Assault on Ranger
Ranger William Yazzie was flown to Flagstaff on August 11th for further
medical tests. The tests revealed that surgery will be needed to repair
broken bones that near one of his eyes. Yazzie is continuing to improve,
however, and his spirits are good. Cards may be sent to him via the park.
[Dale Thompson, AS, CACH, 8/12]
94-458 - Mount Rushmore (South Dakota) - Special Event
During the annual Sturgis Motorcycle Rally, which was held from August 8th
to the 14th, over 39,300 bikers on about 27,200 motorcycles visited the park
- an increase of about 25% from the same period last year. Members of 31
different outlaw motorcycle gangs were observed in the park during the
period. Traffic was chaotic at peak times; although there were numerous
minor incidents, no significant problems were observed. Officials estimate
that about 175,000 people attended the event, which is held in the town of
Sturgis, about 50 miles northeast of the park. Badlands, Devils Tower, Wind
Cave and Jewel Cave also felt some rally impacts. [Mike Pflaum, MORU, 8/14]
FIRE ACTIVITY
1) PREPAREDNESS LEVEL - V
2) LARGE FIRE SUMMARY
State Agency Area Fire 8/12 8/15 Status
WA USFS Wenatchee NF Tyee Comp. - T1 121,900 123,970 CN 8/22
Hatchery
Comp. - T1 41,273 41,895 CN 8/15
OR USFS Wall.-Whit. NF Snake River
Comp. - T2 7,945 5,802 CN 8/16
Boundary - T2 400+ 2,600 NEC
Malheur NF Indian Rocks 1,420 1,420 NEC
Okanogan NF Methow Comp. - T2 4,200 16,634 CN 8/16
Okanogan Comp. - T1 - 4,631 NEC
MT State - Chamberlin - T2 1,380 1,220 CND
* Lost Trail - T2 - 1,400 CN 8/15
USFS Bitterroot NF Bitter-Nez - T2 320 625 CN 8/17
Kootenai NF * 17 Mile - T1 - 500 NEC
ID USFS Boise NF Idaho City
Comp. - T1 15,290 19,600 CN 8/28
Thunderbolt - T2 640 920 CN 8/16
Payette NF Blackwell Comp. -
T1 19,000 24,715 NEC
Corral Creek - T2 30,000 32,340 NEC
Clearwater NF Sam Group - T2 430 465 CN 8/16
Freezeout - 5,550 CN 9/15
Idaho Pan. NF St Joe Fires - T2 540 600 NEC
* Priest Lake
Comp. - T2 - 500 CN 8/21
Salmon NF Powerline 967 1,090 CND
BLM Boise Dis. Deer Creek 569 569 CND
CA NPS Yosemite NP Horizon 1,700 2,850 CN 8/15
USFS Klamath NF Dillon Comp. - T2 17,962 20,162 CN 8/16
Tahoe NF Hirschdale - T1 1,400 1,300 CND
San Bern. NF * Deep Creek Comp. - 1,800 NEC
State - Creek 1,500 1,400 NEC
* 41 - 300 NEC
* Cactus - 480 NEC
BLM Cal. Des. Dis. * Opal 2 - 4,000 CND
NV BLM Las Vegas Dis. * Mormon 2 - 500 CND
* Tulie - 500 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 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 7 7 13 0 28 99 154
Acres Burned 4 5 3,842 0 36 876 4,763
4) COMMITTED RESOURCES -
Crews Engines Helicopters Airtankers Overhead
Federal 553 261 79 10 2,806
Non-federal 102 179 54 14 1,697
5) COMPARATIVE SUMMARY -
CY 1994 Five Year Average
Year-to-Date Year-to-Date
Number of Fires 54,085 50,764
Acres Burned 2,473,294 1,920,920
6) OVERALL SITUATION - Fire activity increased on several large fires in the
Northwest, Great Basin, northern Rockies and California yesterday. A Type I
team was committed to the northern Rockies.
At approximately 1:30 p.m. on Saturday afternoon, a C-130 tanker crashed on
the Angeles National Forest while en route to a Kern County fire. Three
crew members were killed. A shelter deployment occurred the same day on the
Pioneer fire in the Challis NF in the eastern Great Basin. Only one
individual was involved; only minor injuries were reported.
7) NPS SITUATION - The National Park Service has committed 960 employees to
the national fire suppression effort. Predicted fire dangers in several key
locations are still a matter of concern during this summer's fire season.
Lassen Volcanic and Sequoia-Kings Canyon in California reported extreme fire
dangers over the weekend, while Whiskeytown, Yosemite and Rocky Mountain all
reported very high fire dangers.
* Glacier - The size of the Howling prescribed natural fire is currently
estimated at 95 acres and activity over the weekend within the perimeter was
moderate. The fire spread has mainly been by a small spot fire that
occurred outside the perimeter and then burned into the main fire. Fire
activity is mostly in the duff and some larger fuels. There has been very
little consumption of green vegetation. Three new lightning ignitions that
occurred on Friday and Saturday are reportedly controlled.
* Yosemite - A Type II Incident Management Team (Sherwood) has been given
control of the Horizon fire. The fire is currently 2,850 acres, and is 90%
contained. Full containment is expected by 6:00 p.m. today. The northeast
corner of the fire remains a "hot spot". Fuels in the area are heavy down
lodgepole and red fir. Upslope gusting winds continue to move the fire up
natural chimneys created by the combination terrain and wind flow. Spotting
is occurring, and is being aggressively managed with aircraft and ground
crews. This incident has the potential to run up the Red Creek and Clark
Fork drainages, adding potentially 2,000 more acres.
* Sequoia/Kings Canyon - A total of nine prescribed natural fires (PNF's)
are being managed, with fires running from 01. to 21.5 acres in size. Only
three of these are truly active fires. The PNF's were natural ignitions
occurring as lightning passed through the area between July 18th and 22nd.
* Olympic - The park's 22 small wildfires (averaging about 0.1 acre each)
continue to be managed under confinement strategy due to their locations in
remote, dangerous terrain, and the lack of available firefighting resources
already assigned to more significant wildfires in the western states.
* North Cascades - The park currently has eight uncontrolled wildfires
ranging in size from less than an acre to 2,700 acres. The larger fires
have been included within complexes managed by interagency incident
management teams. Smaller fires within the park are being managed under
confine and contain strategies. All of these fires resulted from lightning
activity occurring in the area July 24th.
* Yellowstone - The park's Pelican fire has been declared contained at 81
acres and crews are involved in mop up and rehab. The Tern fire is being
managed under confinement strategy and is reportedly 472 acres in size. Two
new small fires were discovered over the weekend - both are being managed
under control strategy.
* Everglades - The park reported a new fire occurring on Saturday. Fire 232
AVE #2 was started by a stolen vehicle that had been set on fire. The
vehicle fire spread to the surrounding vegetation and burned approximately
150 acres before being contained that evening.
8) OUTLOOK - A red flag warning has been posted for strong, gusty westerly
winds in eastern Washington, eastern Oregon, Idaho and western Montana; a
red flag watch for strong winds has been posted in central Montana. These
high winds are expected to lead to erratic fire behavior and increased
acreages on several large fires.
[NIFCC Incident Management Situation Report, 8/15; Dean Berg, NPS fire
situation coordinator, Branch of Fire and Aviation Management, 8/14]
RESOURCE MANAGEMENT
No field reports today.
OPERATIONAL NOTES
1) Wireless cc:Mail - WASO's Information and Telecommunications Division and
Channel Islands have successfully implemented wireless cc:Mail transmissions
to and from a remote island at the park. The site is San Miguel Island,
which is 32 miles across the channel from RAM Mobile Data's cell-site on
Gibraltar Peak behind Santa Barbara, California. The wind-swept
northernmost island in the Channel Island chain is known for its Chumash
Indian archeological remains and its unique plants and animals (some found
nowhere else), and is home to thousands of seals, sea lions, and shorebirds.
Ranger Ian Williams lives on the island in a small ranger station near the
top of a canyon. To use cc:Mail, he hikes with his laptop, wireless modem,
and antenna to a cliff overlooking the channel and finds a place out of the
wind to fire up his gear and get connected. Williams, in his first
message, noted that "Sixty years ago the age of aviation reached San Miguel
as George Hammond began delivering airmail out here...Now, three score years
later, the Information Airway has reached the Island." The project team,
headed by Jonathan Lewis, the Service's national cc:Mail coordinator (a
WASO-ITD employee duty-stationed at Channel Islands) worked off and on for
several months ironing out the bumps in the technology, but are now planning
to implement it on all the park's islands. The cost is variable, but no
more than $140/month for unlimited data transmission per wireless unit, far
cheaper than doing data transmission over cellular telephone, which was the
only alternative to "not at all". Contact Jonathan Lewis for more
information (on cc:Mail by name, or at 805-658-5763). [Betsy Chittenden,
WASO-ITD]
MEMORANDA
No memoranda.
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