NATIONAL PARK SERVICE
                           MORNING REPORT

To:        All National Park Service Areas and Offices

From:      Division of Ranger Activities, Washington Office

Day/Date: Wednesday, May 31, 1995 

Broadcast: By 1000 ET

INCIDENTS

95-230 - Denali (Alaska) - Mountaineering Fatalities and Serious Injuries

Three Washington state mountaineers were found dead on the West Buttress route
on Mt. McKinley on the morning of Friday, May 26th.  The three men - T.D.,
52, S.H., 34, and J.H., 52 - were ascending the West
Buttress from a camp at 11,000 feet when the snow bridge they were on collapsed
into a crevasse.  Although they fell only five to ten feet, blocks of snow and
ice fell on top of them.  The bodies have been recovered and flown off the
mountain.  In a separate incident, two climbers were treated for serious
frostbite to their hands at the ranger camp at 14,200 feet.  Both elected to
descend the mountain with other climbers.  A third person, P.R., 55, of
Switzerland, was treated for a heart problem made more serious by altitude and
evacuated by helicopter to Talkeetna.  Weather on the mountain was generally
bad all last week.  Up to eight feet of snow fell at the base camp at Kahiltna
Glacier, and winds blew at speeds over 60 mph.  There were over 400 climbers on
the mountain during the week.  [John Quinley, PAO, ARO, 5/27]

95-231 - Denali (Alaska) - Aircraft Accidents

A Doug Geeting Aviation C-185 flipped over on the evening of May 25th while
attempting to take off from the Kahiltna base camp.  A Hudson Air aircraft
flipped onto its nose at the upper end of the turnaround at Kahiltna the
following night.  There were no injuries in either accident.  The National
Transportation Safety Board is investigating the accidents.  [Ken Kehrer, CR,
DENA, 5/27]

95-232 - Canyonlands (Utah) - Concessioner Fatality

On the afternoon of May 17th, D.T., 41, an employee of Navtec
Expeditions, a commercial river trip operator, died as a result of a rafting
accident on the Colorado River.  A raft containing D.T., guide Charles Every
and two passengers hit a rock in the Middle Big Drop rapid.  D.T. was thrown
against Every, lost his balance, and fell from the raft; as he did so, he
grabbed Every's life jacket and pulled him into the river as well.  Every
immediately began swimming with the current, but later reported that D.T. just
bobbed through the rapids, making no attempt to swim.  D.T. was found two
miles downriver by occupants of the second raft in the group.  A doctor on
board pronounced D.T. dead.  River patrol rangers subsequently came upon the
party, shuttled the passengers to Hite ranger station at Glen Canyon, and
recovered D.T.'s body.  [Larry Van Slyke, CR, CANY, 5/18]

95-233 - Christiansted (Virgin Islands) - Bomb on Concession Boat

On the morning of May 24th, an incendiary bomb with a timer was found by a crew
member of the Renegade, a concession-operated catamaran scheduled to go to Buck
Island.  The boat and all buildings within a mile of the dock area were
evacuated and a Navy bomb unit was summoned from Puerto Rico.  Ranger Joel
Tutein entered the boat and took photos of the bomb to assist the demolition
team when it arrived on scene.  Team members subsequently blew the trigger off
the bomb, causing some damage to the boat.  A suspect has been identified. 
FEMA representatives coordinated the response, as the boat was not on park
property at the time.  [Steve Alscher, LES, RAD/SERO, 5/31]

FIRE ACTIVITY

1) NATIONAL PREPAREDNESS LEVEL - Level I

2) LARGE FIRE SUMMARY

State  Agency     Area            Fire              5/30      5/31   Status

 AZ    BIA    Pima             * East Olberg           -       120   CN 5/30

 MT    USFS   Kootenai NF      * South Fork            -       300   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      MS - Modified suppression strategy
  CL - Controlled              MN - Being monitored
  CS - Containment strategy    NEC - No estimate of containment
  CND - Contained              CN (date) - Expected date of containment

3) FIRES YESTERDAY (BY AGENCY) -

                NPS     BIA     BLM     FWS     States     USFS      Total

Number            1      13       3       -          7       10         34
Acreage           1     157       4       -         49      304        515

4) COMMITTED RESOURCES -

               Crews     Engines     Helicopters     Airtankers     Overhead

Federal            3        16            2               1             7
Non-federal        -         -            -               -             -

5) CURRENT SITUATION - Initial attack and large fire activity were reported
yesterday in the Southwest and East.  A type II team was sent to the fire on
the Kootenai NF.  

6) OUTLOOK - The potential for increased initial attack activity and escaped
fires continues in the Southwest.

[NIFCC Incident Management Situation Report, 5/31]

RESOURCE MANAGEMENT

No field reports today.

OPERATIONAL NOTES

No notes.

MEMORANDA

No memoranda.

UPCOMING IN CONGRESS

The following activities will be taking place in Congress during coming
weeks on matters pertaining to the National Park Service.  If you would like
further information on any of these hearings or bills, please contact Stacey
Rickard in WASO Legislation at 202-208-3636.

June 15

House Resources' Subcommittee on National Parks, Forests and Lands (Hansen):
Oversight hearing - topics to be announced.

June 27

House Resources' Subcommittee on National Parks, Forests and Lands (Hansen):
Markup of H.R. 1296, to provide for the administration of certain Presidio
properties at minimal cost to the Federal taxpayer; H.R. 629, to authorize
the Secretary of the Interior to participate in the operation of certain
visitor facilities associated with but outside of the boundaries of Rocky
Mountain National Park; H.R. 826, to extend the deadline for the completion
of certain land exchanges at Big Thicket National Preserve; and H.R. 1508,
to require the transfer of title to the District of Columbia of certain real
property in Anacostia Park to facilitate the construction of National
Children's Island, a cultural, educational and family-oriented park.

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
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