- Subject: NPS Morning Report - Friday, July 14, 1995
- Date: Fri, 14 Jul 1995
NATIONAL PARK SERVICE
MORNING REPORT
To: All National Park Service Areas and Offices
From: Division of Ranger Activities, Washington Office
Day/Date: Friday, July 14, 1995
Broadcast: By 1000 ET
INCIDENTS
95-384 - Lake Mead (Nevada) - Follow-up on Homicide
An altercation broke out between two groups at Hole in Las Vegas Bay around 2
a.m. on July 6th. The fight began with rock throwing, but ended with the
stabbing of two 20-year-old men. Friends of the victims drove them to a local
hospital, where one of them died. On July 13th, A.T., 22, of
Henderson, Nevada, was arrested on a warrant charging him with one count of
murder and one count of attempted murder. His bail has been set at $500,00.
The case was investigated jointly by NPS criminal investigator Malcolm
DeMunbrun and Las Vegas police detectives. A.T.'s second victim remains in
the hospital, but is expected to recover. [CRO, LAME]
95-408 - Washington Monument (D.C.) - Closure
On Thursday, July 13th, the monument was closed for the first time in its
history due to the failure of its air conditioning. Temperatures at the 500
foot level reached 98 degrees by 11:30 a.m. Temperatures soon exceeded 100
degrees. The monument will remain closed until the heat wave subsides and/or
the air conditioning is repaired. [Erin Broadbent, NAMA]
95-409 - Rocky Mountain (Colorado) - Rescue
Late on the afternoon of July 6th, P.B., 22, a British resident of Estes
Park, slipped 350 feet down a snowfield in Tyndall Gorge and landed on a rock
outcropping. The park's technical SAR team lowered him a thousand feet down
the snowfield to Emerald Lake, ferried him across the lake through icebergs by
inflatable raft, wheeled him on a litter to Bear Lake, then transferred him to
ground and air ambulances for evacuation to a Fort Collins hospital. P.B.
subsequently underwent surgery there, and is reported to be in stable condition
with a collapsed lung and arm, wrist, rib and lower leg fractures. P.B. was
the only member of his group who was without an ice axe. [Kris Holien, ROMO]
95-410 - Glen Canyon (Arizona/Utah) - Assault
Part of Lone Rock Beach was gassed by camper Blake Vitali when he detonated a
canister of CS (tear gas) in the densely populated area on the afternoon of
July 2nd. Many visitors jumped into the lake to relieve the burning sensations
on their skin and in their eyes. Several children, however, ran into tents and
hid under sleeping bags and were consequently more seriously burned, generally
on their arms and legs. Vitali told rangers that he'd bought the canister on
the street in California. He said that he didn't know what the term CS or the
military markings on the canister meant, and that he thought it was just a
smoke bomb. Vitali was bent over the canister when it went off, so also reaped
what he had sown - a small but significant consolation to neighboring campers.
He was arrested and turned over to the county sheriff's office on state felony
charges. [Tomie Lee, CR, GLCA]
95-411 - Glen Canyon (Arizona/Utah) - Boat Accident; Serious Injury
On July 6th, a 17-year-old boat operator ran into a jet ski being ridden by
L.L., 51, of Provo, Utah. The force of the collision spun the jet ski
around and into the larger boat's prop. L.L. suffered seven severe
lacerations on the back of his leg from below his knee the bottom of his foot,
and may also have suffered a fracture to his tailbone. Ranger-medics
stabilized him at the scene and transported him to the park clinic. He was
later taken by helicopter to the hospital in Provo. Alcohol does not appear to
have been a contributing factor. [Tomie Lee, CR, GLCA]
95-412 - Glen Canyon (Arizona/Utah) - Carbon Monoxide Poisonings
Two confirmed and two possible cases of carbon monoxide poisoning were
investigated by rangers on July 2nd:
* Ranger-medics administered CPR to T.B. for about 15 minutes
before his heartbeat and breathing were restored. He was flown to Salt
Lake City for hyperbaric treatment.
* A 15-year-old female was treated by ranger-medics for dizziness,
difficulty in breathing and shakiness.
* R.A., 24, was brought unconscious to Bullfrog and was treated by
ranger-medics.
* B.L.H., 16, of Riverside, California, was riding in the back
of her family's jet-powered ski boat. When the family arrived at the
dock after an extended trip, they could not awaken her and began CPR.
Ranger-medics continued CPR and began advanced life support measures.
She was taken to a hospital in Phoenix and placed on life support systems
although she shows no brain activity. Another member of the party riding
in the rear of the boat also suffered minor symptoms of carbon monoxide
poisoning.
All four victims were in open boats. When patients riding in open boats show
symptoms similar to "minor" carbon monoxide poisoning, the cause is often
attributed to dehydration, alcohol, too much sun, or seasickness. It appears,
however, that some of the cases may in fact be carbon monoxide poisoning and
have in the past been overlooked because the victims were not in enclosed boats
or confined spaces. A local testing program has been proposed to study the
frequency of undiagnosed carbon monoxide poisonings. [Tomie Lee, CR, GLCA]
FIRE ACTIVITY
1) NATIONAL PREPAREDNESS LEVEL - Level II
2) LARGE FIRE SUMMARY
% Est
State Area Fire IMT 7/12 7/14 Con Con
AZ Tonto NF Basin-
Horseshoe Cx T2 14,000 22,092 80 CN 7/15
San Carlos Agency Burdette T2 10,484 10,484 - NEC
UT Salt Lake City Dis. Terra T2 900 6,300 85 CN 7/14
CO San Juan NF * Goodman Point -- - 350 40 CN 7/14
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 7 20 0 50 38 116
Acres Burned 0 7 3,300 0 1,7428 5,401 10,450
4) COMMITTED RESOURCES -
Crews Engines Helicopters Airtankers Overhead
Federal 47 48 15 0 182
Non-federal 0 6 0 0 6
5) COMPARATIVE SUMMARY -
CY 1995 Five Year Average
Year-to-Date Year-to-Date
Number of Fires - U.S. 48,264 41,279
Acres Burned - U.S. 887,928 1,150,453
Number of Fires - Canada 5,742 -
Acres Burned - Canada 11,103,803 -
6) SITUATION - There were few initial attack fires in the West yesterday; the
number of large fires also continued to decline. Large fires in Canada burned
another 300,000 acres.
7) OUTLOOK - Initial attack is expected to continue in the West.
[NIFCC Incident Management Situation Report, 7/14]
RESOURCE MANAGEMENT
Petrified Forest (Arizona) - Fossil Bee's Nest
Researchers at the park have discovered what could be the oldest fossil bee's
nest yet found. The discovery, if confirmed, indicates that bees were buzzing
around 140 million years earlier than previously thought. The scientists also
found clusters of cocoons that closely resemble the cocoons of present day
wasps, pushing back the known origin of wasps as much as 100 million years.
This new evidence casts serious doubts on the standard theory that flowering
plants (angiosperms) and social insects - such as bees - evolved together. The
oldest known flower lived 120 million years ago, and the oldest known fossil
bee is an 80-million-year-old specimen encased in amber and found in present-
day New Jersey. Researchers are now hoping to find additional evidence from
within a fossilized nest to strengthen the theory that social insects predated
flowering plants. [CR, PEFO]
OPERATIONAL NOTES
1) Geologist/Physical Scientist Survey - The restructuring of the NPS has led
to reorganization of the Washington Office's Mining and Minerals Branch to the
Geologic Resources Division under the Associate Director for Natural Resources
Stewardship and Science. As a first step in adjusting to this transition, the
division is seeking information on National Park Service employees who have
training, education, or experience in the geological or physical sciences.
This information will be used to promote the following objectives: 1) identify
NPS staff skilled in the geological or physical sciences, 2) better focus the
work of the new Geological Resources Division, and 3) encourage networking
among geoscientists and geological parks and help parks share staff expertise
more effectively as envisioned in the NPS reorganization plan. If you fall
into this category and have not received a memorandum to this effect
previously, GRD requests that you send them a cc:Mail message containing a
brief paragraph about your geological background and interests and describes
the NPS geological resources for which you are responsible (you may wish to
identify academic degrees and geological affiliations). Please send your
cc:Mail response to the Geologic Resources Division. If you cannot access
cc:Mail, please send them to Bob Higgins at PO Box 25287, Denver, Colorado
80225-0287. [Bob Higgins, GRD/WASO]
MEMORANDA
No memoranda.
OBSERVATIONS
Thanks to Jake Hoogland in WASO for today's quote:
"Establishing a national park, the highest form of land protection in the
United States, does not, in itself, insure that the resources within the park
will be preserved in perpetuity. The fact is that the future of many units of
our national park system is more in the hands of state and local agencies and
political leaders...than (in the hands of) the managers and policy makers that
govern our national parks."
Robert S. Chandler,
former superintendent,
Everglades, 1992
[Do you have a favorite quote about the NPS? If so, send it along for possible
inclusion in a future Morning Report. If you'd like a WP5.1 copy of quotes
that have appeared to date, send a note to this address]
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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