- Subject: NPS Morning Report - Monday, September 18, 1995
- Date: Mon, 18 Sep 1995
NATIONAL PARK SERVICE
MORNING REPORT
To: All National Park Service Areas and Offices
From: Division of Ranger Activities, Washington Office
Day/Date: Monday, September 18, 1995
Broadcast: By 1000 ET
INCIDENTS
95-620 - Caribbean Parks - Follow-up on Hurricane Marilyn
Hurricane Marilyn brought high winds and a good deal of rain to Puerto Rico,
but inflicted very little damage to the island or to San Juan NHS. No direct
communication has yet been received from Christiansted or Virgin Islands, but
San Juan superintendent Ping Crawford flew to the parks by helicopter yesterday
to assess the hurricane's impacts. He subsequently reported that all employees
were okay, but that considerable damage had been inflicted to the parks there:
* Saint Croix - Some roof damage to facilities.
* Saint John - Power lines and trees down, roofs blown off most structures
(including park residences), complete loss of the Caneel Bay Plantation
resort and Cinnamon Bay campground facilities.
* Saint Thomas - Loss of three government residences at Wintberg Estates,
major damage to Red Hook administrative office, destruction of half the
residence at Red Hook.
Southeast Field Area's Type II all-risk incident management team was dispatched
to Puerto Rico late on September 16th and arrived in the park the following
day. The team now has a command post at San Juan headquarters. The incident
commander is Gordon Wissinger from Natchez Trace; team members are Kent Cave,
Fort Pulaski, information officer; Daryl Rhodes, Everglades, operations section
chief; Bob Wightman, Great Smokies, planning section chief; Kevin Kacer, Big
Cypress, logistics section chief; Deborah Ledford, Kings Mountain, finance
section chief; Rick Black, Kennesaw Mountain, ordering manager. Wissinger,
Rhodes and Crawford will attempt to reach St. Thomas and St. John today. They
are working on establishment of transportation and logistics systems to meet
NPS needs. National Type I and II teams have also been sent to the area (see
fire report below). [Steve Smith, SEFA]
95-628 - Glacier (Montana) - Bear Mauling
D.R., 41, was injured in a surprise encounter with an adult grizzly bear
and cub in the Preston Park area just before noon on September 16th. D.R. and
companions Mike Ware and Paul Monteith heard the bears behind them, stepped off
the trail, and huddled down in some low brush as both bears charged from about
100 yards away. The bears went by them, but the adult returned and attacked
D.R. Ware sprayed it at close range with pepper spray, and it left the area.
D.R. received seven puncture wounds and several lacerations in his right
shoulder and lower back. Members of another hiking party provided first aid;
the three men then hiked to the road and drove to the St. Mary visitor center.
D.R. was treated by park medics and taken to a local hospital. In accordance
with the park's bear management policy, all trails leading into Preston Park
have been closed, including the Piegan Pass trail, the Baring Creek trail from
Sunrift Gorge, the Siyeh Pass trail, and the Continental Divide trail from
Jackson Glacier overlook. [Amy Vanderbilt, PAO, GLAC]
95-629 - Golden Gate (California) - Assists; Two Structural Fires
On September 12th and 14th, the park's fire department provided mutual aid
assistance to the city of San Francisco. The first call was to a reported
electrical hazard in the Marina District, which borders the Presidio. Upon
arrival, the crew found that the hazard had grown into a fire, that the rear
entry to the house was engulfed in flames, and that the fire was threatening to
spread to the interior of the house. By the time the closest city fire company
arrived, the park crew had extinguished the blaze, saving the home and its
contents. Two days later, the department responded to a fire just two blocks
away from the first fire, and found heavy smoke rolling out of the garage of a
two-story house. The fire was in a workshop in the back of the garage, and was
knocked down just as city companies arrived on scene. There was minimal damage
to the garage and none to the house or its contents. [J.R. Tomasovic, GOGA]
95-630 - Indiana Dunes (Indiana) - Alleged Fish Attack
On September 6th, G.B. of Villa Park, Illinois, was swimming off
the Beverly Shores beach when he nearly drowned. He was taken from the lake in
a semi-conscious state and transported to a hospital. G.B. first claimed
that he'd experienced difficulties because of rip currents, but investigators
determined that the lake had been very calm that day. He then stated that some
type of electrical occurrence had caused his mishap, but investigators also
ruled out that possibility. The park then received calls from the news media
concerning claims by G.B.'s wife that the park was not making any efforts
to make the beach safe from the creature that had attacked her husband,
allegedly a sturgeon. One news channel discovered and reported that a sturgeon
weighing several hundred pounds had in fact been caught in the area in the
1930s. The park contacted the emergency room physician who had treated
G.B.; he said that G.B.'s injuries were not of a type consistent with
an attack by a sturgeon, but were more probably caused by rope burn. All
indications are that the alleged fish attack was a hoax. [Rich Littlefield,
CR, INDU]
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
Fri Mon % Est
State Area Fire IMT 9/15 9/18 Con Con
NV Winnemucca Dis. * Barber Cx -- - 6,000 50 CN 9/18
* Rock Creek T2 - 4,000 20 CN 9/19
* Buckskin Cx -- - 500 50 CN 9/18
* Thacker Cx -- - 2,500 25 CN 9/18
* Denio -- - 1,150 95 CN 9/18
* Quinn River -- - 2,700 50 CN 9/17
Battle Mt. Dis. * Izen -- - 25,000 10 NEC
* Minnoletti -- - 1,050 100 CND
Elko Dis. * Midas Cx -- - 2,185 85 CN 9/19
* Cave Canyon -- - 1,000 80 CN 9/20
ID Boise NF Whiskey T2 310 580 100 CND
Richfield Dis. * Lava Ridge -- - 15,000 0 NEC
* Death Creek -- - 2,000 100 CND
OR Freemont NF * Blue Cx T2 - 900 0 NEC
Ochoco NF * South Fork Cx T2 - 1,900 100 CND
Burns Dis. * Iron Mountain -- - 2,100 100 CND
Malheur NWR * Krumbo -- - 750 100 CND
CA Susanville Dis. * Payne -- - 1,000 100 CND
* Copper -- - 698 90 CN 9/17
* Table -- - 500 100 CND
* Annie -- - 346 100 CND
CO Craig Dis. * Skull Creek -- - 1,200 75 CN 9/18
MA State Shatterack -- 400 400 60 NEC
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 0 5 86 0 45 111 247
Acres Burned 0 0 42,170 350 136 578 43,234
4) COMMITTED RESOURCES -
Crews Engines Helicopters Airtankers Overhead
Federal 55 158 33 3 300
Non-federal 9 25 0 0 27
5) COMPARATIVE SUMMARY -
CY 1995 Five Year Average
Year-to-Date Year-to-Date
Number of Fires - U.S. 75,553 60,966
Acres Burned - U.S. 1,773,881 2,765,550
Number of Fires - Canada 7,997 -
Acres Burned - Canada 17,519,075 -
6) SITUATION - Initial attack and large fire activity in Western areas, which
increased markedly early in the weekend, moderated yesterday. Containment
objectives have been met on several large fires. A total of 139 people have
been activated to support FEMA's post hurricane operations in the Caribbean,
including a Type I team sent to St. Thomas, a Type II team sent to St. Croix,
and a Type II state team (North Carolina) sent to San Juan. The National Park
Service's Southeastern Area team is in Puerto Rico to assist in damage
assessment of national parks in the Caribbean. Two Southern Area buying teams
have also been activated to assist these teams with procurement.
7) OUTLOOK - Fire activity in the West is expected to moderate; support for
teams assigned to Hurricane Marilyn is expected to continue.
[NICC Incident Management Situation Report, 9/18]
RESOURCE MANAGEMENT
Washington Office - Zebra Mussel Update and Alert
One of the newest nuisance aquatic organisms to become established in North
America is the zebra mussel. This highly prolific species was first found in
Lake St. Clair in 1988; they have since spread rapidly and become one of the
most ecologically and economically damaging aquatic nuisance species on the
continent. They are unusual among freshwater mussels in that they produce
massive numbers of free-living veliger larvae that are easily dispersed in
water currents or carried by humans in containers to uninfested waters. Adult
and juvenile mussels encrust on boat bottoms or are carried on aquatic
vegetation and can be introduced into uninfested park waters. Zebra mussel
encrustations cause serious biofouling problems at commercial water intakes,
power plants, marinas and docks. They can also cause local extinctions of
native unionid mussels and alter ecological processes. Zebra mussels have an
enormous filtering capacity, and, when abundant, can significantly reduce the
densities of planktonic organisms necessary for other filter feeding animals,
such as native mussels. Their extensive encrusting characteristics also
interfere with normal feeding behavior and result in suffocation of native
mussels. The National Biological Service warns that the mussel is widely
distributed in the Great Lakes and the drainages of the Mississippi, Ohio,
Arkansas, Red, Tennessee and Hudson rivers. Parks in the following states need
to remain alert to possible zebra mussel introductions and infestations: New
York, Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Wisconsin,
Minnesota, Michigan, Missouri, Arkansas, Mississippi, Tennessee, Kentucky,
Alabama, Oklahoma and Louisiana. Saint Croix NSR has developed an effective
program to monitor and control the mussels which includes boat inspections,
controlling access of boats from infested waters, monitoring, and extensive
public education efforts. The Fish and Wildlife Service also has aquatic
nuisance coordinators in its regional offices who can help parks develop
control programs. If you would like a list of these coordinators or a
subscription to Aquatic Nuisance Species Digest, contact Frank Panel in Water
Resources via cc:Mail. [Frank Panek, WRD/WASO]
OPERATIONAL NOTES
No notes.
OBSERVATIONS
Today's entry comes from "Conservation Quotes", issued in January, 1953, by
Director Connie Wirth. Can anyone identify the author?
"The national parks are charged with the obligation of preserving superlative
natural regions, including wilderness areas, for the benefit of posterity.
Attentiveness to the pleasure and comfort of the people is essential, but it
cannot mean catering to absolutely unlimited numbers unless the second function
is to destroy the first. In a theater, when the seats in the house have been
sold out and the available standing room also has been pre-empted, the
management does not jeopardize the main event by allowing still more onlookers
to crowd upon the stage and impede the unfolding of the drama."
C. F. Brockman
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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