- Subject: NPS Morning Report - Thursday, August 18, 1994
- Date: Thurs, 18 Aug 1994
NATIONAL PARK SERVICE
MORNING REPORT
To: All National Park Service Areas and Offices
From: Division of Ranger Activities, Washington Office
Day/Date: Thursday, August 18, 1994
Broadcast: By 0930 ET
INCIDENTS
94-475 - Yellowstone (Wyoming) - Bomb Threat
Just before 4 p.m. on August 16th, J.P., 46, walked into the Mammoth
Family Clinic, a park concession, placed a two-foot-long cardboard cylinder
on the receptionist's counter, and said "I have a bomb and I'm gonna blow
the place up." J.P., who appeared to be intoxicated, is an ex-Yellowstone
concession employee who is currently residing in Gardiner, Montana. After
making his threat, he left the area on a bicycle. A clinic employee moved
the package away from the counter and notified the park dispatcher.
Responding rangers evacuated and secured the building. The package was
inspected; it appeared to be a cardboard mailing tube with some rolled up
paper in it. X-rays revealed that it was not a bomb. J.P. was found just
inside the park's boundary near Gardiner and arrested by a ranger and a Park
County deputy. Under Wyoming law, representing an object to be an explosive
device and using it to threaten or intimidate another person is a felony.
The exact nature of criminal charge(s) to be filed, however, is pending
consultation with the U.S. Attorney's Office. [Mike Murray, ACR, YELL,
8/17]
94-476 - Olympic (Washington) - Rescue
The park received a report on August 17th of a hiker with a severely broken
leg a mile above Hoh Lake. Two volunteer park backcountry personnel were
dispatched to hike into the area. Upon arrival, they found that E.C.,
57, had suffered a severely closed angulated fracture of the tibia
and fibula of the left leg and that he was beginning to show signs of shock.
While hiking down the trail, E.C. had fallen off at a steep portion and
landed on his leg. A helicopter medivac was requested at 7 p.m. Weather was
deteriorating quickly, so a helicopter that had just completed the day's
fire missions on the other side of the park was sent to Hoh Lake with a park
EMT on board. Since weather was marginal and nightfall was coming on
quickly by the time the helicopter arrived, the EMT was dropped off, ran
uptrail a mile, stabilized the leg, then, with the help of volunteers on
scene, carried E.C. quickly down to a helispot along the trail that was
steep, rocky and slick from a recent rain shower. E.C. was flown out and
taken to a hospital, where he underwent surgery to reset the leg. (Larry
Nickey, Emergency Operations, OLYM, 8/17]
94-477 - Delaware Water Gap (Pennsylvania) - Fatality; Probable Suicide
On the morning of August 16th, the body of 24-year-old D.R. was
found in a wooded area in the park near the Delaware River. D.R., who
was found by his father and a police officer from Middlesex, New Jersey, was
reported to be despondent about personal matters. As a youth, D.R. spent
his summers in the park and stayed with his grandfather, a former park
inholder. D.R.'s grandfather died about seven years ago while fishing in
the same area where his grandson was found. The death is being investigated
jointly by rangers and the Pennsylvania State Police. Preliminary
investigation indicates that D.R. died as the result of a self-inflicted
gunshot wound. [Dan Kirschner, Supervisory Park Ranger, DEWA, 8/16]
94-478 - Lake Mead (Nevada/Arizona) - Body Found; Possible Homicide Victim
Early on the morning of August 16th, a fisherman near Las Vegas Wash found a
body floating in the lake. Rangers recovered the body of an unidentified
man; preliminary examination indicates that the death occurred under
suspicious circumstances. The body was removed by the coroner's office and
an autopsy is scheduled. Park investigators and Las Vegas Metro homicide
investigators are working the case. [Dispatch, LAME, 8/16]
94-479 - Natchez Trace (Mississippi/Alabama/Tenn.) - Marijuana Eradication
During the week of August 8th, over 8,000 marijuana plants between five and
15 feet tall were seized from 24 plots in and around the park by rangers,
Tennessee National Guard soldiers, and Tennessee Bureau of Investigation and
Wayne County officers. Over 1,000 of the plants came from within the park.
Two arrests were made along with the seizures. [Gordon Wissinger, CR, NATR,
8/17]
94-480 - New River Gorge (West Virginia) - Marijuana Eradication
On July 7th, rangers and officers from the Regional Unified Drug Enforcement
(RUDE) task force served a search warrant on a residence in Terry, West
Virginia, within the park's boundaries. Although the residents were found
to be out of the state at the time, marijuana was found drying inside the
house. A field in the woods on NPS property was also searched; five plants
were confiscated and evidence of 60 more was found. The raid resulted from
a year's undercover work by park investigators in other areas. During this
investigation, which continues, an informant reported the growing and drying
operation in this residence, which is the same residence raided a year ago
by the RUDE and NPS task force. Over 30 pounds of processed marijuana were
seized at that time during a warrant search. Both state and federal charges
are pending. [Chris Schrader, CI, NERI, 8/17]
FIRE ACTIVITY
1) PREPAREDNESS LEVEL - V
2) LARGE FIRE SUMMARY
State Agency Area Fire 8/17 8/18 Status
WA USFS Wenatchee NF Tyee Comp. - T1 125,620 126,500 CN 8/22
Hatchery
Comp. - T1 43,148 43,148 NEC
OR USFS Wall.-Whit. NF Snake River
Comp. - T2 6,574 6,574 CN 8/19
Boundary - T2 3,300 5,919 CN 8/20
Okanogan NF Methow Comp. - T2 16,634 16,634 CN 8/19
Okanogan Comp. - T1 4,631 4,631 CN 9/30
MT NPS Glacier NP Starvation
Creek - T2 200 325 NEC
State - Wolf Mountain II
Comp. - T2 310 645 NEC
USFS Bitterroot NF Bitter-Nez - T2 1,390 1,450 CN 8/24
Kootenai NF 17 Mile - T1 NR
Yaak - Red Dragon
Comp. - T1 1,350 3,000 NEC
Koocanusa
Comp. - T1 NR 750 NEC
Cabinet Comp. - T2 NR NR NEC
Flathead NF Little Wolf - T2 6,000 8,500 NEC
McDonald - T2 8,000 8,000 CN 8/18
ID USFS Boise NF Idaho City
Comp. - T1 28,600 29,100 CN 8/28
Thunderbolt - T2 1,470 2,000 NEC
Payette NF Blackwell Comp. -
T1 31,340 35,395 NEC
Corral Creek - T2 49,200 52,600 NEC
Clearwater NF Freezeout 5,650 5,650 NEC
Fisher Peak 100 65 NEC
Idaho Pan. NF St Joe Fires - T2 700 700 NEC
Priest Lake
Comp. - T2 681 681 CN 8/29
Challis NF Pioneer Creek - T2 4,480 4,650 NEC
Caribou NF Tin Cup - T2 150 150 NEC
UT USFS Was.-Cache NF E. Deweyville NR 450 CND
* Beaver Mtn. - T2 - 1,000 NEC
CA USFS Klamath NF Dillon Comp. - T2 20,362 20,682 CN 8/18
Tahoe NF Cottonwood - T1 2,500 8,500 NEC
Angeles NF Heaton - T2 1,200 600 CN 8/19
State - 41 45,400 48,531 CN 8/22
- Fish 635 635 CN 8/18
Lassen-Modoc RU * Widow - 300 CN 8/18
CO BLM Grand Jct. Dis. * New Garvey
Comp. - T2 - 147 NEC
Craig Dis. * Big Gulch - 510 CND
WY BLM Rawlins Dis. * Bigelow Bench - 2,500 NEC
State - * Muddy Mtn. - 350 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) FIRES YESTERDAY -
NPS BIA BLM FWS States USFS Total
Number 1 7 29 0 25 63 125
Acres Burned 20 7 1,093 0 707 1,642 3,471
4) COMMITTED RESOURCES -
Crews Engines Helicopters Airtankers Overhead
Federal 459 312 100 18 3,385
Non-federal 164 351 34 18 1,529
5) COMPARATIVE SUMMARY -
CY 1994 Five Year Average
Year-to-Date Year-to-Date
Number of Fires 54,819 51,243
Acres Burned 2,526,710 1,940,407
6) OVERALL SITUATION - Fire activity increased throughout the Rocky
Mountains yesterday. Firefighters continue to have problems with large
fires in the northern Rockies, eastern Great Basin and California;
mobilization of resources through NICC to these areas continued. Army and
Marine battalions continue to assist on the Tyee, West Koocanusa, Corral
Creek and 17 Mile fires.
Note: On Monday, August 22nd, the Forest Service and BLM will hold a news
conference at the Stouffer Hotel in Denver to disclose the results of the
joint inquiry into the deaths of the 14 firefighters lost on the South
Canyon fire in July.
7) NPS SITUATION - Predicted fire dangers in several key NPS locations are
still a matter of concern during this summer's fire season. Zion, Lava
Beds, Sequoia-Kings Canyon, and Great Basin all reported extreme fire
dangers on Tuesday, while Yosemite, Whiskeytown, Hawaii Volcanoes, Death
Valley, Big Bend and Rocky Mountain reported very high fire dangers.
* Glacier - Fire activity on the Howling prescribed natural fire continues
to be subdued; the fire is generally creeping in ground fuels with
occasional flare ups, and is currently estimated to be 120 acres in size.
As a safety measure, the Logging, Anaconda, and Dutch Creek drainages are
temporarily closed until further notice. The Starvation Creek wildfire is
currently 325 acres in size. Danforth's Type II Team is managing the
incident. Some spotting has occurred on the fire, which is burning in heavy
dead and down lodgepole, spruce and fir. The fire is threatening to cross
the park boundary into Canada to the north and onto the Flathead National
Forest to the west. The Canadians have already reportedly constructed a
dozer containment line on their side of the international boundary to keep
the fire from getting into valuable timber and a provincial park should it
reach their location. Three of four crews ordered have arrived in the park
and were used to replace the 40 NPS firefighters who were on the fire
yesterday. The Adair II wildfire, estimated at 10 acres, is being managed
under confinement strategy and will be turned over to Danforth's team as
part of a complex.
* Yosemite - The Horizon fire is 100% contained at 3,750 acres. The
increased acreage is a result of improved mapping of the fire. Containment
lines are holding and crews continue to mop up. Problems are not expected.
Demobilization of crews and overhead is underway.
* Yellowstone - The Tern fire is currently at 472 acres and is being managed
in a confinement strategy. Approximately 217 acres have been blackened
within the 472 acre perimeter. The park is keeping an eye on the 50-acre
Fish fire, located about a half mile south of the park in a wilderness area
on the Targhee National Forest. Forest Service officials felt that they
have a pretty good handle on the fire and are aggressively managing it to
avoid spread to the park.
* Zion - The Detour fire is 6 acres in size and being managed in a
containment strategy.
8) OUTLOOK - Demobilization is expected to continue from the Northwest for
crews who have met their 21-day commitments. Mobilization to fires in
California, the northern Rockies and the eastern Great Basin is expected to
continue. New fire activity should decrease, however, as lightning-
producing storms move to the east. No red flag conditions are predicted.
Burning conditions on large fires will remain conducive to active burning.
[NIFCC Incident Management Situation Report, 8/18; NPS Situation Report,
Dean Berg, Branch of Fire and Aviation Management, 8/17]
RESOURCE MANAGEMENT
No field reports today.
OPERATIONAL NOTES
1) Environmental Technology Alert - The Environmental Protection Agency
(EPA) has distributed a request for proposals for its FY 1995 Environmental
Technology Initiative (ETI) program. Proposals for submittal to EPA are due
into the Department of Interior by September 2nd. The selection process
includes evaluation in six topic areas that meet certain objectives,
including the development and commercialization of promising new
environmental monitoring, control and remediation technologies, and the
development of promising new pollution prevention technologies. Nearly $80
million has been requested in the President's budget to fund ETI in FY95.
If you have questions or would like to receive a program solicitation
package please contact Jim Stewart, Assistant Director Planning, WASO, via
cc:Mail.
MEMORANDA
"Voluntary Separation Incentive Payments", signed August 5th by Acting
Director John Reynolds and distributed to Directorate and Field Directorate.
Contains information on the additional voluntary separation incentive
program for FY 1995, under which the NPS has an allocation of 150 positions.
The memorandum is to be distributed to employees in central offices and
those eligible employees in park areas. The buyout applies primarily to
employees between GS-12 and GS-15 in central offices and field supervisors
at the GS-14 and GS-15 levels.
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