- Subject: NPS Morning Report - Friday, August 1, 1997
- Date: Fri, 1 Aug 1997
NATIONAL PARK SERVICE
MORNING REPORT
To: All National Park Service Areas and Offices
From: Division of Ranger Activities, Washington Office
Day/Date: Friday, August 1, 1997
Broadcast: By 1000 ET
INCIDENTS
97-423 - Pipe Springs NM (UT) - Death of Employee
Maintenance employee David Hinman suffered an apparent heart attack at 11:15
a.m. on July 29th. Rangers and bystanders immediately began CPR and were
later supported by EMS staff from Colorado City, Arizona. Efforts to revive
him were not successful. Dave's wife, J., is the business manager for the
Zion Natural History Association and is stationed at that park. A memorial
service will be held tomorrow at 4 p.m. at the United Church in Kanab, Utah.
Condolences can be sent to J.H., Pipe Spring National Monument, HC
65, Box 5, Fredonia, AZ 86022. Donations in lieu of flowers can be made to
the United Church of Kanab-Fredonia Building Fund, 530 South Highway 89A,
Kanab, UT 84741. [Andrea Bornemeier, PISP, 7/31]
97-424 - Yosemite NP (CA) - Search for Missing Aircraft
On the morning of July 23rd, a single-engine 1962 Navion with two men on
board was tracked on radar to a position over the park, but was lost from
passive radar tracking as it crossed the Sierra Nevadas around 8 a.m.
Notification that the plane had not reached its destination was made to the
Civil Air Patrol (CAP) on the morning of the 25th. CAP aircraft began
searching the park that day, but found no clues. The park was notified of
the search around 4 p.m. On July 26th, CAP aircraft continued to search over
the location where the plane was last tracked and an investigation into its
disappearance was begun. Backcountry employees and hikers who may have seen
or heard the Navion were contacted. A search of wilderness permits was begun
to identify other possible witnesses. On the afternoon of the 29th, an Air
Force high-altitude C-130 was used to coordinate the search planes and park
contract helicopter, which was being used to follow up on leads and to detect
any emergency locator transmitter (ELT) signals. Two brief ELT transmissions
were detected by the C-130, but could not be plotted. The air search and
investigation are both continuing. [Steve Stockdale, IC, YOSE, 7/31]
97-425 - Golden Gate NRA (CA) - Demonstration
On Saturday, July 26th, about 150 demonstrators advocating use of government
buildings for the homeless entered the Presidio after marching at San
Francisco's civic center plaza. Two nights previously, a person or persons
had broken into three vacant apartments in Wherry housing and pre-positioned
three 55-gallon drums filled with fresh concrete. Each of the drums had a
plastic sleeve which would have allowed the demonstrators to handcuff their
hands deep inside the concrete filled barrels. On the day of the advertised
demonstration, however, roads to the housing area were blocked off by
rangers, so the demonstrators went to another location on Wyman Avenue.
Dozens of them broke into three residences there and barricaded themselves
inside, using boards and nails to block exterior doors. Park Police
officers, assisted by city police and U.S. marshals, moved demonstrators who
remained outside those buildings from the area, thereby permitting entry
teams safe access to use battering rams on the barricaded doors. A total of
54 arrests were made. Two protestors employed a quarter-inch thick steel
sleeve to guard their chained hands, which were locked inside a steel
bannister. Park maintenance workers and Presidio firefighters employed a
metal grinder to cut the bannister. They were taken into custody and later
identified from old booking photos. Many members of the group "Homes Not
Jails" refused to give their true names during processing. After being
advised that they were going to be taken to county jail, however, they met
with their attorney from the National Lawyers Guild and eventually agreed to
give their names. Personal vehicles owned by two officers were vandalized
outside of the police station. [Lt. Kevin Hay, USPP, SFFO, 7/30]
97-426 - Catoctin Mountain Park (MD) - Burglary
Ranger W. Rose was awakened at 4:50 a.m. on July 29th at his required
occupancy residence in the park by the sound of breaking glass at the nearby
visitor center. Rose saw a vehicle leave the area at a high rate of speed.
He discovered a broken window, damaged donation box and scattered money at
the visitor center, and began a search of the route the fleeing vehicle had
taken. Rangers Kempisty and Reddinger also responded. The suspects were
apprehended about a mile away, where the driver had lost control of the
vehicle and struck a tree. The driver, a juvenile, is currently in critical
condition in a hospital in Hagerstown; the passenger, 18-year-old C.R.,
declined treatment for some time, but was later taken to the same
facility. Charges have been filed against C.R. and are pending against
the driver. The accident occurred outside park jurisdiction and is being
investigated by state police. A park investigation continues in an effort to
link this incident to vandalism and theft from the park's campground fee safe
during the same time period and a similar fee safe incident which occurred in
June. [Roger Steintl, CR, CATO, 7/31]
97-427 - Grand Teton NP (WY) - Drowning
G.R., 49, of Jackson, Wyoming, drowned in a kayaking accident on
the Snake River five miles from Moose Landing on the afternoon of July 26th.
G.R. was kayaking with three friends when her kayak hit a snag and she
was thrown from the boat. She was momentarily able to cling to a log, but
was carried downstream before her friends could reach her. Rangers were
advised of the incident about 45 minutes later and began a search of the
river in boats, on foot and by helicopter. Helitack crew members spotted
G.R. in a small river eddy an hour later. The helicopter landed on a
small gravel bar and removed her from the river. A park medic was shuttled
to the scene by helicopter; after completing an assessment and consulting
with doctors at St. John's Hospital, resuscitation efforts were terminated.
The cause of death has been determined by autopsy to have been accidental
drowning, but the cause of the accident itself is still under investigation.
[Colin Campbell, CR, GRTE, 7/31]
FIRE ACTIVITY
NATIONAL PREPAREDNESS LEVEL - Level II
LARGE FIRE/INCIDENT SUMMARY
Wed Thu % Est
State Unit Fire/Incident IMT 7/30 7/31 Con Con
AK# Southwest Area Inowak T2 490,700 490,700 0 NEC
Chiniklik Mt. T2 3,340 3,340 60 8/3
* Devils Peak -- - 300 80 NEC
Galena District Paimiut T2 1,197 1,197 100 7/31
Simels -- 344,450 344,450 0 NEC
* Garfield Creek -- - 51,000 0 NEC
* Magitchlie Creek -- - 29,049 0 NEC
Fairbanks Area * Butte Creek -- - 3,400 0 NEC
ID Boise District * Winter Camp -- - 550 0 7/31
NJ State Rockwood #2 -- 1,700 1,800 100 CND
# Alaska has 48 other large fires burning for a total of 1,502,851 acres.
Heading Notes
Unit -- Agency = BIA area; NF = national forest; RU = CA state resource
or ranger unit; RD = state ranger district; District = BLM
district; NWR = USFWS wildlife refuge
Fire -- * = newly reported fire (on this report); Cx = complex; LSS =
limited suppression strategy; CSS = containment suppression
strategy
IMT -- T1 = Type 1; T2 = Type II; ST = State Team
% Con -- Percent of fire contained
Est Con -- Estimated containment date; NEC = no estimated date of
containment; CND = fully contained; NR = no report; LPS = limited
protection status
NUMBER OF NEW FIRES (FIVE DAY TREND)
NPS BIA BLM FWS States USFS Total
Sunday, 7/27 0 4 25 1 44 74 148
Monday, 7/28 1 3 37 0 86 105 232
Tuesday, 7/29 3 10 34 1 86 153 287
Wednesday, 7/30 0 1 26 0 65 68 160
Thursday, 7/31 2 6 29 0 85 71 186
TOTAL COMMITTED RESOURCES (FIVE DAY TREND)
Crews Engines Helicopters Airtankers Overhead
Sunday, 7/27 69 130 27 13 183
Monday, 7/28 89 114 42 6 184
Tuesday, 7/29 73 137 37 6 203
Wednesday, 7/30 57 127 45 7 214
Thursday, 7/31 54 82 36 6 170
COMPARATIVE ASSESSMENT
1997: YTD Ten Year Average: YTD
Number of fires 40,867 51,762
Acres burned 2,177,099 1,798,360
CURRENT SITUATION
Large fires continue to burn in Alaska. Several additional fires have been
staffed in order to protect structures.
[NICC Incident Management Situation Report, 8/1]
RESOURCE MANAGEMENT
No reports.
OPERATIONAL NOTES
No submissions.
MEMORANDA
No submissions.
EXCHANGE
No submissions.
OBSERVATIONS
This section, which appears intermittently in the Morning Report, contains
observations regarding the National Park Service, the System and the several
professions of park employees. Today's observation has been excerpted from a
collection of quotations entitled "John Muir: In His Own Words," compiled and
edited by Peter Browning.
"Only by going alone in silence, without baggage, can one truly get into the
heart of the wilderness. All other travel is mere dust and hotels and
baggage and chatter."
John Muir, July, 1988, letter to
his wife, from "The Life and
Letters of John Muir"
* * * * *
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Prepared by the Division of Ranger Activities, WASO, with the cooperation and
support of Delaware Water Gap NRA.
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