NATIONAL PARK SERVICE
                               MORNING REPORT

To:         All National Park Service Areas and Offices

From:       Division of Ranger Activities, Washington Office

Day/Date:   Thursday, July 23, 1998 

INCIDENTS

Incidents reportable under DOI and NPS criteria, as outlined in annual
instructional memoranda to the field (soon to be reissued to the field and
recapitulated in the Morning Report).  Reports are numbered for tracking
purposes.

98-415 - Zion NP (UT) - Severe Storm

A severe weather cell accompanied by lightning, strong winds and heavy rain
struck the park's headquarters area late on the afternoon of July 21st. The
resulting damage temporarily closed the main park road, flooded parts of the
Watchman campground, uprooted trees, and led to a four-hour power loss.  Over
an inch of rain and pea-size hail fell at park headquarters in less than an
hour.  Three loops of the campground were the most heavily impacted.  Runoff
from a nearby side canyon covered parts of campground loops A, B and C with
six to ten inches of mud, gravel and debris.  A few tents and personal
belongings were damaged in the debris flow, but there were no reports of
injured or missing visitors.  After the storm passed, some campers
voluntarily left the area, but most others moved to the many other parts of
the campground that were unaffected by the runoff.  At the time the storm
hit, the campground was about half full.  There was no flooding in the Virgin
River and the storm impacts appeared to be confined to a small area around
park headquarters.  The storm also closed the Zion-Mount Carmel highway for
about four hours.  The road connects Zion Canyon with U.S. 89 on the park's
east side.  Debris swept across the road on the west side of Zion tunnel in
four places.  By 9 p.m., park crews and contract haulers had cleared the
debris and reopened the road.  The strong winds uprooted a large cottonwood
tree in the employee housing area, but it caused no damage or injury. 
Lightning struck a power pole and caused a small fire, which was quickly
contained by park crews.  Power was soon restored.  Damage assessments are
currently underway.  Crews are working to reopen loop C of the campground and
continue the cleanup of mud and gravel on the Zion-Mount Carmel highway.  No
disruption of normal services or activities is expected.  [Denny Davies, PIO,
ZION, 7/22]

98-416 - Katmai NP (AK) - Boating Accident; Visitor Death

G.A., 48, died while on a guided rafting trap on a park river on
July 13th.  The rafting party, which consisted of a guide and eight visitors
on three rafts, departed on the morning of the 12th and soon encountered
swift, high water conditions.  Although they had planned a four-hour float to
their first camp, this leg of the trip lasted about eight hours due the lack
of available landing areas.  The rafts entered a stretch of river in which
numerous trees had been toppled over by high water conditions and were lying
across the width of the creek.  These downed trees, referred to as "sweepers"
and "strainers," could not be circumvented; two of the three rafts struck a
sweeper, flipped, and threw all six occupants into the water.  Four of them
were able to reach shore, but G.A. and another member of the group were
swept downstream and ran into another sweeper.  Due to the swift current and
the apparent presence of hydraulic conditions, both were pulled underwater. 
G.A.'s partner was able to free himself and make it to shore, but
G.A. failed to surface.  A search was begun, but was hampered by the
swift current, flooding, hazardous hydraulics, and the presence of numerous
sweepers lying like match sticks across the river.  Helicopter overflights
were conducted while waiting for water levels to drop.  G.A.'s body was
located two days later about a half mile downstream on a gravel bar. 
G.A. was a former state legislator in Alabama.  A board of inquiry into
his death and a review of the commercial operator's actions are planned.
[James Hummel, KATM, 7/22]

                       [Additional reports pending...]

FIRE ACTIVITY

NATIONAL PREPAREDNESS LEVEL - Level III

LARGE FIRE/INCIDENT SUMMARY 

                                                     Tue      Wed    %   Est
State      Unit             Fire/Incident     IMT    7/21     7/22  Con  Con

NC   Pisgah NF              Grandfather Cx    T2      200      200   60  7/24

TX   State                * Lone Willow       --        -      300   90  7/22

LA   Sabine NWR             North Bayou       --      600      600  100  CND

NV   Carson City District   Sand              --   20,000   20,000  100  CND
     Elko District          Cedar Ridge       --      800      800  100  CND
     Ely District           Caliente Cx       T2    1,500    1,742  100  CND

UT   Salt Lake District     Salt Lake Cx      --    8,800   16,320   80  7/23
     Cedar City District    Milford East      --      662      662  100  CND 
 
CO   Craig District         Peekaboo          --      390      390  100  CND 

WY   Worland District      * Devils Canyon    --        -      360   50  NEC

MI   State                 * Ogemaw           --        -      700   30  7/23
    
                                  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
IMT         T1 = Type I; T2 = Type II; ST = State Team
% Con       Percent of fire contained; UNK = unknown
Est Con     Estimated containment date; NEC = no estimated date of
            containment; CND = fully contained; NR = no report

NUMBER OF NEW FIRES (FOUR DAY TREND) 

                    NPS    BIA      BLM     FWS    States   USFS     Total

Sunday, 7/19         1     16        35       4       79     74       209
Monday, 7/20         2     10        60       0       92     74       238
Tuesday, 7/21       11     24        32       2      143     87       299
Wednesday, 7/22      2     10        39       1       72     47       171

TOTAL COMMITTED RESOURCES (FOUR DAY TREND) 

                  Crews     Engines    Helicopters    Airtankers   Overhead

Sunday, 7/19        76        369          91             9           832
Monday, 7/20       101        348          60            19         1,005
Tuesday, 7/21       91        282          78            13           657
Wednesday, 7/22     72        252          63             6           185

CURRENT SITUATION

Fire activity continued to increased yesterday in west Texas, Arkansas, and
Michigan.  A state of emergency was declared in 36 Oklahoma counties due to
fire activity.  

Very high and extreme fire indices were reported in Florida, Georgia, Texas,
Oklahoma, New Mexico, Arizona, Wyoming, Nebraska, South Dakota, Colorado,
Utah, Idaho, Nevada, California, and Washington.

NICC has not posted any fire weather watches or warnings today.

[NICC Incident Management Situation Report, 7/23]

RESOURCE MANAGEMENT AND PROTECTION

Significant news and activities in natural and cultural resource management,
protection and education.

No entries.

PARK DISPATCHES

Brief reports from the field on significant and newsworthy matters, human
interest vignettes, and similar stories not reportable as incidents or
resource management actions.

No entries.

OPERATIONAL NOTES

Instructional guidance and information from central offices to the field on
operational matters.

No entries.

MEMORANDA

Memoranda from the Directorate to the field on operational and personnel
matters.

No entries.

INTERCHANGE

A forum for sharing practical professional information and lessons learned
and for offering or soliciting help or support or material.

No entries.

                                *  *  *  *  *

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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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