NATIONAL PARK SERVICE
                               MORNING REPORT

To:         All National Park Service Areas and Offices

From:       Division of Ranger Activities, Washington Office

Day/Date:   Thursday, July 8, 1999

INCIDENTS

99-331 - Steamtown NHS (PA) - Revision: Train Crash with Injuries

The park has submitted a rewrite of yesterday's incident report with
corrections to several points: On July 5th, a non-NPS diesel engine
accidentally contacted a nine-car holiday excursion that had originated in
the park, causing 27 passengers to be examined and released by area
hospitals.  Nearly 100 emergency service personnel from volunteer and paid
companies responded to the accident and worked in the 100-degree heat to
evacuate the victims.  The train was part of a special holiday excursion
sponsored by the park and had 400 people on board.  Many had gotten off for
lunch when the accident occurred.  An investigation into the cause is being
conducted by the NPS, Federal Rail Authority and the National Transportation
Safety Board.  [Ralph J. Coury, PAO, STEA, 7/7]

99-343 - Systemwide - Fourth of July Roundup

Several parks have reported Fourth of July events or incidents:

o     National Capital Parks (DC) - The NPS hosted the annual national
      Independence Day celebration on the National Mall and surrounding
      areas.  Park Police officers enforced alcohol restrictions on the Mall
      and the George Washington Memorial Parkway for the third year in a row. 
      This year, over 700 cans or bottles of beer and about 50 bottles of
      other alcoholic beverages were surrendered to officers.  There were no
      associated arrests.  All of the alcohol will be disposed of today at
      the Arlington County pollution control plant.

o     Lake Meredith NRA (TX) - The park employed ICS on July 3rd to manage
      the first fireworks program held in the area in two years.  About
      40,000 people attended the event, which included two bands, a barbecue,
      and an hour of fireworks over the lake.  Sustained high winds kept the
      number of boaters down.  Many others viewed the fireworks from outside
      the park.  The were no major incidents, but personnel were kept busy
      with traffic control, two arrests for public intoxication, two EMS
      cases, one search for two missing boys, two wildland fires within the
      park boundary, two mutual aid fires, and one structural fire just
      outside the park.  No additional resources were brought in for the
      event.  Eighty park employees, volunteers and Public Land Corps workers
      were committed to the event by Lake Meredith; nine other agencies
      participated.

o     Fort Vancouver NHS (WA) - The park hosted the 37th annual Fort
      Vancouver fireworks show.  About 65,000 people attended the event,
      which was managed cooperatively by the NPS and the city of Vancouver
      fire and police departments.  USPP captain Dan Walters from the
      Columbia Cascades SO coordinated the law enforcement and public service
      efforts of four rangers from Olympic and Crater Lake NP's; chief ranger
      Gregg Fauth coordinated all other operations.  A large stage at the
      site was the venue for a variety of military and pop music shows,
      beginning at noon and ending with a 45-minute fireworks show at 10 p.m. 
      There were two medevacs and an attempted theft of money from a
      concessions booth, but no other significant incidents.  No alcohol is
      permitted at the event, which is held under a special use permit to a
      non-profit Fourth of July committee.

o     Antietam NB - The 14th "Salute To Independence" was held in the park on
      July 3rd.  About 30,000 people attended the Maryland Symphony Orchestra
      concert and the subsequent fireworks display.  The event was managed
      under ICS and staffed by about 120 people from 14 agencies, who managed
      traffic, logistics and heavy visitation.  Temperatures were in the 90's
      throughout the day, and the heat kept most visitors from arriving until
      just before the concert.  There were several heat-related illnesses,
      with three visitors taken to hospitals.  EMS assistance was provided
      on-site by Sharpsburg EMS staff, a Community Rescue Service EMS bike
      team, and an emergency room physician and trauma nurse.  Except for one
      assault on a ranger (see below), there were no other significant LE
      incidents.

Other parks with significant Fourth of July events should send summaries for
inclusion in future Morning Reports.  [Sgt. Robert MacLean, USPP, NCR, 7/7;
Dale Thompson, CR, LAMR, 7/6; Tony Sisto, Superintendent, FOVA, 7/7; Ed
Wenschhof, CR, ANTI, 7/7]

99-344 - Antietam NB (MD) - Assault on Ranger

Ranger Todd Stanton contacted E.C., 39, at the "Salute to
Independence" concert on July 3rd for conducting an illegal business
operation. Stanton asked E.C. to accompany him to the incident command
post.  E.C. refused; as Stanton attempted to get E.C. to comply with
his requests, E.C. struck Stanton in the right temple.  Stanton and an
off-duty sheriff's deputy got him under control and placed him under arrest. 
He was held in jail over the holiday weekend after a commitment hearing by
the state court commissioner.  Stanton was treated at Washington County
Hospital for a bruise on the head and a wrist sprain.  E.C. was taken to
Baltimore for an initial appearance before a federal magistrate on July 6th,
and was held for a bond hearing there on the 7th.  Charges of assault on a
federal officer and conducting an illegal business operation are being
pursued.  [Ed Wenschhof, CR, ANTI, 7/7]

99-345 - National Capital Parks Central (DC) - Pursuit; Assault on Officers

On July 1st, lieutenant Robert Kass, commander of the USPP motorcycle unit,
attempted to stop a vehicle for a traffic violation near the Washington
Monument.  The operator refused to stop and a chase ensued.  During the
pursuit, the driver threw numerous bags of suspected narcotics out of the
vehicle.  As the pursuit continued, the operator struck Kass and his
motorcycle and other USPP patrol cars with his vehicle.  None of the officers
was seriously injured.  The driver was apprehended after he lost control of
the vehicle on a median strip.  He was charged with assault and numerous
traffic violations.  [Sgt. Robert MacLean, USPP, NCR, 7/2]

99-346 - Sequoia/Kings Canyon NP's (CA) - Employee Conviction

On August 12, 1998, a visitor saw seasonal firefighter J.C. with a
firearm in his possession in the park.  J.C., who has been a seasonal
firefighter since 1993, had been paroled after serving a year in state prison
for a theft conviction.  Rangers arrested J.C. the following day for being a
felon in possession of a firearm, a felony and violation of 18 USC 922(g)(1). 
J.C. was returned to state prison for the parole violation and was sentenced
recently in federal court to 30 months in prison.  An associated
investigation by rangers and the park investigator resulted in clearance of
numerous cases of theft of government property.  J.C. admitted to acquiring
park keys over the years.  He was therefore able to gain access to numerous
park buildings during the late evening hours.  J.C. stole an estimated
$20,000 worth of government property, including two-way radios, chainsaws,
computer components, tools and miscellaneous other items.  J.C. was allowed
to plea bargain the stolen property charges in exchange for a guilty plea for
weapons possession.  [Al DeLaCruz, SA, SEKI, 7/1]

99-347 - Yellowstone NP (WY) - Concession Drug Arrests

Ranger Joe Bueter followed-up on numerous hearsay reports of drug dealing and
employed aggressive interview techniques to obtain information that lead to a
consent search of a concession employee room at Old Faithful.  A gram of
black tar heroin and 6.5 grams of cocaine packaged into bindles were found in
the room along with $990 in assorted bills.  S.G. and G.G.
were each charged with three felony counts of drug possession.  S.G. is an
employee with the concessioner at Old Faithful; G.G. supplied drugs from
Salt Lake City.  G.G. provided false information about his identity for
two days, but was eventually identified through the FBI's classification
service.  He is wanted on three warrants in Canada and a fourth from Salt
Lake City.  S.G. is currently on probation out of Salt Lake City.  Future
charges of obstruction will be considered for G.G., who also faces
deportation by INS upon conviction for any offense and for his outstanding
warrants.  A number of other concession employees are being charged with
possession of controlled substances received from S.G. and G.G.  [Dick
Divine, CI, YELL, 7/1]

99-348 - Gulf Islands NS (FL/MS) - Shark Bite

L.A., 30, of Pensacola, was wading in knee-deep water in the Gulf
of Mexico on July 4th when she was bitten in the leg by a six-foot blacktip
shark.  L.A. and three others were in the middle of a school of bait
fish about three feet from shore when the incident occurred.  The shark bit
her leg once and left a ring of 12 to 15 teeth marks between her knee and
ankle.  A friend carried her to shore, where Langdon Beach lifeguards wrapped
her leg in towels to stop the bleeding.  L.A. was taken to a local
hospital for treatment and was scheduled to be released on July 6th.  Shark
attacks are extremely rare along the northern Gulf Coast, although sharks a
are regularly observed swimming just offshore during the summer months. 
[Skip Prange, ACT, GUIS, 7/7]

99-349 - Yukon-Charley Rivers NP (AK) - Structural Fires

Three buildings at the historic Taylor cabin site near the confluence of the
Nation and Yukon Rivers were destroyed by a lightning-caused fire on the
night of July 3rd.  The buildings, listed on the National Register of
Historic Places, were recently restored by the NPS and were open for free
public use.  A second nearby public use cabin at the mouth of the Nation
River has a sprinkler system and is believed to be relatively safe from the
fire.  The Taylor buildings were restored over the past two years at a cost
of about $68,000.  The historic buildings date from 1920 and included a
12-by-24-foot main log shop building, a 12-by-12-foot log shed, and a dog
barn. Soon after the fire began, park staff cleared brush and trees from
around the buildings to slow any fire, but the unusually strong winds and hot
fire destroyed the structures before any additional fire fighting effort
could safely be made.  The dog barn, a sod-roofed structure built for sled
dogs, was probably the last of its kind in Alaska.  The buildings were built
by prospector James Taylor and were representative of life along the river
after the turn-of-the-century gold rushes and up to World War I, when
fishing, trapping and cutting wood for steamships plying the Yukon provided a
livelihood for many people.  [John Quinley, PIO, ARO, 7/7]

99-350 - Gulf Islands NS (FL/MS) - Shooting Incident

On the evening of June 30th, ranger John Hughes received a report from D.S.
and S.S. that someone had fired a gun into their tent at campsite B-9 in
the Fort Pickens campground.  Hughes found that the bullet had traveled
through the mesh tent door, penetrated a medicine chest inside the tent, then
went through the tent floor and lodged in the soil.  The S.a did not
discover the bullet hole until the morning of the 30th.  Hughes was able to
determine that the shooting had taken place between 9:30 p.m. and 10:30 p.m.
on June 29th while the S.s were walking on the beach.  A possible suspect
was also identified.  He'd been camping on site B-10 and left the area on the
morning of the 30th.  A description was broadcast to local agencies, and a
visitor use assistant at the Fort Pickens entrance station spotted the man
entering the park at 7 p.m. on July 1st and notified the park's dispatch
center.  Hughes and ranger Jared Klein stopped the driver, S.S.,
a Laotian refugee with an extensive criminal record and numerous
aliases.  S.S. confessed to the shooting and consented to a search of
the vehicle's trunk, where additional evidence was found and seized.  The
rangers also found a .22 pistol under the driver's side seat after S.S.
got out of the vehicle.  He is being held on multiple felony charges.  A
joint investigation with ATF is underway.  [Skip Prange, DR, Florida
District, GUIS, 7/2]

99-351 - Yellowstone NP (WY) - Sewage Spill

Park staff discovered a broken sewage line spilling raw sewage into a meadow
between Chittenden Bridge and Upper Falls on July 2nd.  Several thousand
gallons spilled before the line could be shut down.  The break occurred in a
section of the line located in an unstable, geologic slump area that has been
slowly giving away.  Restroom facilities in the Uncle Tom's parking area have
been closed until the pipe can be repaired.  Next week, park staff will
replace the damaged pipe, constructed in the early 1970s, with a pipe that
will better handle and adjust to the shifting and movement of the slump. 
Temporary restroom facilities have been placed near the parking area until
the line can be repaired.  None of the sewage reached any water courses. 
[Public Affairs, YELL, 7/2]

99-352 - Capulin Volcano NM (NM) - Road Closure

Over two inches of rain and hail fell on the park on the evening of July 5th,
accelerating erosion along the park road that spirals up the cinder cone to a
viewpoint near the summit.  The volcano's cinders are easily eroded; they run
off onto the road and block the culverts that are spaced along the two-mile
drive.  Inspection the following morning revealed places where the cinders
were over four feet deep on the roadway, and gullies and canyons that had
undercut the road.  Local public lands crews and park staff are attempting to
clear the road and open all culvert inlets in anticipation of more severe
storms predicted for this week.  [Dennis Carruth, CAVO, 7/6]

99-353 - Indiana Dunes NL (IN) - Car Clout Arrest

Rangers began a surveillance/bait car operation in May in response to a
number of car clouts at various beach parking lots.  On May 19th, ranger Bill
Tadych saw C.M., 18, look into the bait car and a visitor's car
parked nearby.  C.M. went to a second visitor's car on the other side of
the lot, looked into it, broke the driver's window by throwing a piece of
spark plug ceramic against the window, then hit the inside trunk release and
took a cloth bag out of the trunk.  When he realized the bag held nothing of
value, he threw it into the nearby vegetation.  Tadych captured part of this
activity on video tape.  As C.M. was attempting to drive out of the lot, he
was confronted by ranger Fred Grish, who had responded to Tadych's call for
assistance.  C.M. eluded the rangers and fled the area.  Rangers Larry
Smith and Tammi Severin had also responded and joined in the pursuit, which
covered five miles and at one point reach 75 mph.  C.M. was finally stopped
at a road block by Grish and arrested.  He was charged under 18 USC 1363,
damage to personal property, and a state assimilated statute regarding flight
from law enforcement officers.  Pieces of spark plug ceramic were recovered
from five previous thefts, but efforts to link C.M. to those cases have not
yet been made.  Since the arrest, the number of car clouts in the park has
decreased greatly.  [Rich Littlefield, CR, INDU, 6/18]

99-354 - National Capital Parks (DC) - Bank Robbery Suspect Arrested

A USPP canine unit observed a suspected drug transaction in Southeast DC on
June 25th.  The two suspects were detained and subsequently arrested for drug
violations.  One of the men had a large sum of U.S. currency in his
possession.  The money was stained with red dye, commonly employed by banks
to mark money after it's stolen.  FBI agents charged him with bank robbery. 
The robbery had occurred the day before, after which the thief had fled into
the Farragut North Metro station.  While in the Metro station, chemical fumes
emitted by the dye pack temporarily impaired several pedestrians in the area,
but none was seriously injured.  [Sgt. Robert MacLean, USPP, NCR, 6/28]  

99-355 - George Washington Memorial Parkway (VA) - Rescue

Two rock climbers attempting to scale an 80-foot cliff at Great Falls on July
1st were injured when they fell 30 feet after a supporting anchor broke
loose.  A kayaker spotted them and immediately contacted a ranger, who in
turn notified Park Police.  Eagle, the USPP helicopter, responded and
extracted one of the men and flew him to a hospital.  The second climber was
taken downriver by boat to an ambulance, then to a hospital.  Both are
recovering from their injuries.  [Sgt. Robert MacLean, USPP, NCR, 7/2]  

99-356 - Big Bend NP (TX) - Reptile Poaching

Ranger Lorant Veress encountered a visitor who appeared to be in the process
of collecting a rattlesnake on the road to Castolon just before 10 p.m. on
June 22nd.  The man was identified as J.B. from Glen Gardner, New
Jersey.  J.B. had reptiles in his possession that he claimed to have
collected west of Phoenix.  Veress pursued a misdemeanor Lacey Act violation
because J.B. had collected the reptiles in Arizona without a state
hunting license and because he transported them across state lines into the
park.  He was fined $500 in court for 36 CFR violations and sentenced to a
year's prohibition from the park, but was found not guilty on the Lacey Act
violation.  [Kathi Hambly, DR, BIBE, 6/29]

99-357 - Biscayne NP (FL) - Refugees 

Twenty-six Cuban nationals made it to shore on Sands Key on July 7th.  They
were traveling in a sailboat that was about 25 feet long and had a diesel
engine.  The NPS, Border Patrol and Coast guard all participated in
retrieving the men and women, who were taken to the Coast Guard station at
Miami Beach.  No fewer than four helicopters from news media were in the area
at the same time, prompting an NPS request to close the immediate airspace
for safety reasons.  [Gary Bremen, PR, BISC, 7/7]

99-358 - Redwood N&SP (CA) - Assist; MVA with Injuries

Rangers Paige Ritterbusch and Dave Barland-Liles were in the process of
executing search warrants in Klamath when they overhead radio traffic
regarding a head-on collision on the U.S. 101 bridge over the Klamath River. 
They were first on scene and began triage, provided patient care, and called
in additional help.  The driver and passenger in one vehicle were trapped
inside; the driver of the other was found sitting dazed near the bridge's
guardrail.  He had a broken leg and neck pain; one passenger suffered from
broken ribs, a broken left femur, arm and wrist and had neck pain; a third
had a broken left arm and collar bone.  Air and ground ambulances transported
all the victims, one of whom had a heart attack en route to the hospital but
survived.  All occupants were wearing seatbelts and both vehicle airbags
deployed.  The combined vehicle speed was estimated at 90 mph.  [Bob Martin,
CR, REDW, 6/30]

99-359 - Coronado NM (AZ) - Assist; Drug Seizures

On June 29th, rangers were involved in two separate incidents which resulted
in the seizure of just under 1,000 pounds of marijuana.  Early in the day, a
Forest Service officer asked for emergency assistance after coming upon a
smuggling operation and uncovering a nearly 300-pound cache of marijuana. 
Park personnel assisted in securing the area and carrying the load back to
waiting vehicles.  Park personnel were involved in a joint operation that
evening with Customs officers which resulted in the seizure of 700 pounds of
marijuana.  Heavy contraband and illegal alien trafficking continues
throughout the area, with associated significant resource damage.  [Fred
Moosman, CR, CORO, 7/4]