NATIONAL PARK SERVICE
                               MORNING REPORT

To:         All National Park Service Areas and Offices

From:       Division of Ranger Activities, Washington Office

Day/Date:   Friday, July 2, 1999

INCIDENTS

99-326 - Mount Rainier NP (WA) - Rescue
     
Two climbers were rescued on the steep Liberty Ridge route on Wednesday, June
30th.  A cell phone call late on Tuesday revealed that L.S., 43,
and M.M., age unknown, were stranded on Liberty Ridge and in need of
rescue, having lost one of their packs.  On Tuesday evening, a helicopter
transported one team to the base of Liberty Ridge at 8,800 feet and another
to Camp Schurman at 9,500 feet, but was unable to fly higher due to a cloud
cap.  Both teams were thwarted by white-out conditions, but the weather
cleared sufficiently by late Wednesday morning for an Army Reserve Chinook
helicopter to land near the summit with a ten-person team.  Climbing ranger
Chris Olson, a Mountain Rescue Council member and Rainier Mountaineering
guides climbed down the 55-degree slope beneath the Liberty Cap and reached
the stranded climbers, who were found at 13,600 feet.  After having been
pinned down for two days with little gear, the climbers had begun to move
with the aid of three ice screws loaned by another group of climbers.
L.S. and M.M. were seriously dehydrated and exhausted but uninjured.
All were flown off the summit and were on the ground by 9 p.m.  Steve Winslow
was IC.  While this rescue was under way, another team of rangers,
interpreters, and trail crew members completed a technical lowering of an
injured hiker down the face of Panorama Point above Paradise.  While this
incident was underway, rangers and interpreters also treated a woman
suffering from chest pains. Both patients left the park via ambulance.  The
Liberty Ridge rescue followed the termination of the six-day search for
missing snowboarder William Tietjen and occurred within several hours of the
memorial service for Craig Strong, the park's cultural resources specialist,
who died in an automobile accident on Friday.  [Maria Gillett, PIO, MORA,
6/30]

99-327 - Grand Canyon NP (AZ) - Multiple Rescues; Fatality

Park rescue personnel were kept busy by several incidents on June 28th:

o     A distress call was received from Crystal Rapids on the Colorado River
      just after 8 a.m. Park personnel evacuated a 47-year-old woman who was
      suffering from dehydration associated with heat exhaustion.
o     A hiker called from the Hermit Trail trailhead to report the discovery
      of the body of a female hiker on the Tonto Trail three-quarters of a
      mile west of Hermit Creek.  The reporting party was camping at Hermit
      campground.  He was out on an early morning walk when he came across
      the body of Nuria Serrat, 46, of Las Vegas, Nevada.  The investigation
      continues, but it appears that she ran out of water and possibly died
      of heat-related complications during an extended five-day hike that
      included the Boucher and Hermit Trails.  
o     A 49-year-old woman who was a passenger on a commercial river trip was
      evacuated from Phantom Ranch.  She was suffering from hyponatremia (low
      sodium).
o     Two river parties advised Phantom Ranch rangers that they'd  seen a red
      tarp with a large "H" made of rocks on it near the mouth of Red Canyon
      (Hance Rapids).  A 51-year-old woman was evacuated with a knee injury.
o     A 16-year-old boy suffering from dehydration was evacuated from the
      Bright Angel Trail.  He'd attempted a rim-to-rim hike with only three
      tangerines to provide fluids.  He reported vomiting ten times on the
      way.  His parents had dropped him off at the North Rim, then drove to
      the South Rim to pick him up.  
o     A diabetic patient was evacuated from Phantom Ranch due to his
      inability to control blood glucose levels in the heat.

The park's two helicopters were kept extremely busy with these multiple
incidents.  The high temperature in the Inner Canyon that day was 110
degrees.  The IC for the fatality was Nick Herring; Dave Trevino was IC for
the remaining incidents.  [Ken Phillips, SAR Coordinator, GRCA, 6/30]

FIRE ACTIVITY

NATIONAL PREPAREDNESS LEVEL - Level II

LARGE FIRE/INCIDENT SUMMARY 

                                                      Tue     Wed    %   Est
State      Unit              Fire/Incident   IMT      6/29    6/30  Con  Con

NV    Ely FO               * Mahogany         --         -     500    0  UNK
                           * Pioche           T3         -

CO    Montrose District      Bramiers         --     1,200   1,200    0  UNK

AZ    Navajo Area Office     Navajo Mtn. 1    --       340     340   40  NR
      State                  Cataract         --       305     305    0  7/1
      Coconino NF            Turkey           --       660     660    0  NR

CA    Shasta-Trinity RU      Lake             --       200     120  100  CND
      Kern County            Digier           --       350     580   80  7/1

                                  Heading Notes
c
Unit        Agency or Area Office = BIA area; NF = national forest; RU = CA
            state resource or ranger unit; RD = state ranger district; FO =
            BLM field office; 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 I Team; T2 = Type II Team; T3 = Type III Team; ST =
            State Team; FUM = Fire Use Management Team
% Con       Percent of fire contained; UNK = unknown; NR = no report
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, 6/27         2      6        13       2       56     16        95
Monday, 6/28         1      8        19       3       87     39       157
Tuesday, 6/29        2      4         9       1      122     20       158
Wednesday, 6/30      1      9        11       0       93     16       130

TOTAL COMMITTED RESOURCES (FOUR DAY TREND) 

                  Crews     Engines    Helicopters    Airtankers   Overhead

Sunday, 6/27        56        161          23             3           184
Monday, 6/28        29        179          24             2           167
Tuesday, 6/29       43        197          24             9           187
Wednesday, 6/30     65        226          26             2           215

CURRENT SITUATION

Moderate initial attack was reported Wednesday in Nevada and California; new
large fires were reported in the western Great Basin.

Very high to extreme fire indices were reported in Nevada, California,
Arizona, New Mexico, Utah, Colorado, Rhode Island, New Jersey, Connecticut
and Alaska.

[NICC Incident Management Situation Report, 7/1]

RESOURCE MANAGEMENT AND PROTECTION

No entries.

OPERATIONAL NOTES

No entries.

MEMORANDA

No entries.

INTERCHANGE

No entries.

PARKS AND PEOPLE

Intermountain Regional Office - A retirement roast will be held for regional
director John Cook on the evening of Saturday, August 28th. The sit-down
dinner will be held at the Brown Palace Hotel in Denver.  The cost is $42 per
person.  If you are interested in attending, please contact Lindsey Wagner in
the Intermountain Regional Office at 303-969-2504 by July 30th. 

                                *  *  *  *  *

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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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