- Subject: NPS Morning Report - Monday, June 19, 1995
- Date: Mon, 19 Jun 1995
NATIONAL PARK SERVICE
MORNING REPORT
To: All National Park Service Areas and Offices
From: Division of Ranger Activities, Washington Office
Day/Date: Monday, June 19, 1995
Broadcast: By 1000 ET
INCIDENTS
95-308 - Denali (Alaska) - Climbing Fatality; Four Rescued
After attempting the summit of Mt. McKinley on June 13th, seven members of a
Taiwanese climbing expedition were forced to bivouac at the 19,400-foot level
due to high winds and whiteout conditions. On the following evening, four
members of the group descended to 17,200 feet, where two American climbers put
them in a snow cave and cared for them. Two of the Taiwanese, J.C.C.
and H.T.C., were suffering from frostbite and required medical
attention. Despite erratic weather, the park's Llama helicopter was able to
evacuate them late on the morning of June 16th; they were then transferred to
an Air National Guard Pavehawk helicopter and flown to a hospital in Anchorage.
Later that morning, Jay Hudson and climbing ranger Joe Reichert searched the
upper mountain by fixed-wing aircraft and located two of the three remaining
climbers. The Llama made several attempts to reach them, but was unable to do
so because of high winds. Volunteer rescue climbers Alex Low, Conrad Anker,
Tim Light and Vince Langman climbed to the 17,200-foot level, where Light and
Langman assisted the other two Taiwanese at that level in their descent of the
mountain. Meanwhile, Low and Anker "sprinted" to the 19,400-foot level, where
they found climbers D.M.-L. and M.C.W. and the body of their
partner, C.J.-L. Lowe and Anker, with the assistance of three Austrian
climbers, helped the survivors reach the 17,200-foot level, where they were
airlifted off the mountain by Army Chinook helicopters, then transferred to
Pavehawks for the flight to the hospital. One of the four climbers has since
been released; the remaining three will require considerable treatment for
severe frostbite. Erratic winds and intermittent whiteout conditions severely
hampered rescue efforts throughout the day. [Ken Kehrer, CR, DENA, 6/16]
95-309 - Mount Rainier (Washington) - Search and Rescue
On the evening of June 6th, the park received a call from the 911 dispatcher
for Columbia County, located near St. Helens, Oregon. The dispatcher had
received a cell phone call from a person who said he'd fallen while climbing on
Eagle Peak in Mount Rainier and was injured. The call was very scratchy, and
the operator had a difficult time understanding the caller. A total of five
calls were made, but the operator was never able to get the person's cell phone
number. A searcher was sent up the Eagle Peak trail to evaluate the situation,
and came upon a person who identified himself as the victim's climbing partner.
He reported that the victim, C.R., 20, had a fractured leg. An
eight-person team found C.R. near the top of the peak but on steep, rotten
and crumbly rock. A Mast helicopter was accordingly called in, which picked up
two rangers and dropped them at the location. They determined that C.R.
had suffered injuries to various parts of his body sustained as a result of a
20-foot fall. He was evacuated by air, then taken by ambulance to a local
hospital. [Bill Larson, MORA, 6/15]
FIRE ACTIVITY
1) NATIONAL PREPAREDNESS LEVEL - Level II
The preparedness level has gone up one step. Preparedness Level II goes into
effect when the following conditions are met: One geographic area experiencing
high fire danger. Numerous Class A, B, and C fires occurring and a potential
exists for escapes to larger (project) fires. Minimal mobilization of
resources from other geographic areas occurring. The potential exists for
mobilizing additional resources from other geographic areas.
2) LARGE FIRE SUMMARY
% Est
State Area Fire IMT 6/18 6/19 Con Con
AZ Phoenix District * Stove T2 10,176 10,176 100 CND
State * Deep Wells -- 300 300 100 CND
Safford District * Diamond Bar -- 160 160 100 CND
NM State * Water T2 1,200 1,200 100 CN 6/18
* Nogal -- 1,000 1,000 100 CND
Cibola NF * Turkey -- 300 240 95 CN 6/19
Santa Fe NF * Cinco -- 400 - - NR
AK Delta Area * 512307 T2 800 800 85 NEC
CA San Bernadino RU * Pole -- 4,800 4,800 99 CN 6/19
HEADING NOTES:
Fire * = newly reported fire (on this report). Cx = complex.
IMT T1 = Type 1; T2 = Type II; ST1 = state Type 1; ST2 = state Type 2.
% Con Percent of fire contained.
Est Con Estimated containment date. NEC = no estimated date of
containment; CND = fully contained; NR = no report.
3) FIRES YESTERDAY -
NPS BIA BLM FWS States USFS Total
Number 1 12 2 0 23 16 54
Acres Burned 0 56 1 0 43 611 711
4) COMMITTED RESOURCES -
Crews Engines Helicopters Airtankers Overhead
Federal 24 12 12 0 39
Non-federal 10 0 2 0 13
5) COMPARATIVE SUMMARY -
CY 1995 Five Year Average
Year-to-Date Year-to-Date
Number of Fires 40,590 36,643
Acres Burned 616,812 609,205
6) SITUATION - Fire activity in the Southwest moderated due to cooler
temperatures, higher humidity and decreased winds. Considerable progress was
made toward containment of several fires. Large fire activity continued in
Canada, where another 125,226 acres burned (a total of 1,739,174 acres have
burned to date).
7) OUTLOOK - Moderate fire activity is expected to continue in the Southwest.
Fire activity will likely increase in Minnesota because of temperatures in the
90s, low humidity, and breezy conditions.
[NIFCC Incident Management Situation Report, 6/19]
RESOURCE MANAGEMENT
Yellowstone (Wyoming) - Follow-up on Wolf Reintroduction
The Crystal Bench wolves are still in the Lamar Valley and are being seen by
visitors. Wolf #9 and her pups (Rose Creek group) are doing well. The pups
are being fed two to three times per week by the park, and biologists are
working on specifics of the pups' release. The young female is just south of
the park boundary. The big news from the Soda Butte group is that there's been
a confirmed sighting of a pup. The large male was not seen or heard during the
overflight, but the other three wolves were found just north of the park.
OPERATIONAL NOTES
No notes.
MEETINGS/TRAINING CALENDAR
Calendar appears in the morning report every other Monday. If you know of a
conference, meeting or training session with Servicewide interest and
implications, please forward the listing to WASO Ranger Activities. Entries
are listed no earlier than FOUR months before the event, EXCEPT in instances in
which registration dates close much earlier. Asterisks indicate new entries;
brackets at end of entry indicate source of information:
7/17-21 -- "The Museum Leadership Seminar", Smithsonian Institute, Washington,
DC. The application deadline is May 12th. Contact: 202-357-3101.
[Diane Vogt O'Connor, CSD/WASO]
7/30-8/11 -- Ninth Annual Western Archives Institute, Fuller Seminary, Pasadena,
CA. Contact: 916-773-3000 (phone); 916-773-8249 (fax). [Diane
Vogt O'Connor, CSD/WASO]
8/6-10 -- 46th Annual American Institute of Biological Sciences Meeting of
Scientific Societies, Town and Country Hotel, San Diego, CA.
Contact: AIBS Meetings Office, 800-992-2427 (phone) or 202-628-1509
(fax). [Steve Cinnamon, MWRO]
8/8-10 -- "Repellents in Wildlife Management", symposium, Sheraton Hotel,
Denver Tech Center, Denver, CO. Early registration fee is $125;
$150 after June 30th. Contact: Office of Conference Services,
Colorado State University, 970-491-7501. [Steve Cinnamon, MWRO]
9/12-17 -- "Excellence in Wildlife Stewardship through Science and Education",
Second Annual Conference, Wildlife Society, Portland, OR. Nineteen
on-going symposia, 21 sessions featuring contributed papers and
posters, trade show. Child care available. Early registration fee
for members is $125, $170 for non-members; fees increased by $35
after August 14th. Contact: Wildlife Society, 5410 Grosvenor Lane,
Bethesda, MD 20814-2197; fax: 301-530-2471. [Steve Cinnamon, MWRO]
9/18-20 -- Seventh International Disaster Recovery Symposium and Exhibition,
Atlanta, GA. Contact: 314-894-0276. [Diane Vogt O'Connor,
CSD/WASO]
9/18-22* -- Teaching with Historic Places, Mather EDC, Harpers Ferry, WV.
Training course in which participants will use an established model
to develop lesson plans employing historic places in their parks.
Completed lesson plans can be used both on- and off-site. There is
no fee; travel and per diem are by benefitting account. The
application deadline is August 4th. Contact: Marilyn Harper,
National Register of Historic Places, WASO, 202-343-9546 or via
cc:Mail by name. [Marilyn Harper, IRD/WASO]
10/16-20* -- "Managing Parks Sustainably: Seminar on Environmental Issues",
Xerox Center, Leesburg, VA. Presented by WASO Environmental
Quality Division in conjunction with the Environmental Law
Institute. The seminar will address ways to incorporate
sustainability into aspects of park management ranging from visitor
impacts and facilities location and design to resource management
and ecosystem considerations, and will explore legal tools and
opportunities for moving toward sustainable decision-making for
park and adjacent resources. Limited to 40 people. Contact: Jacob
Hoogland, EQD/WASO, 202-208-5214. [Jake Hoogland, EQD/WASO]
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