NATIONAL PARK SERVICE
                               MORNING REPORT

To:         All National Park Service Areas and Offices

From:       Division of Ranger Activities, Washington Office

Day/Date:   Friday, August 20, 1999

INCIDENTS

99-463 - Olympic NP (WA) - Follow-up on Search, Fatality

Investigators have determined the circumstances that likely led to the death
of 18-year-old H.B. of the Netherlands.  It appears that H.B.
set up his camp at Elk Lake on the evening of August 10th.  He then took a
day hike to Glacier Meadows on the morning of the 11th.  H.B. was known to
hike to high points to get good pictures.  He evidently climbed an 800-foot
ridge with 75% slopes to do so and nearly reached the top when he lost his
footing n the loose dirt and rocks, slid backwards onto a snow chute, and
fell about 500 feet onto rocky scree.  [Curt Sauer, CR, OLYM, 8/19]

99-478 - Gettysburg NMP (PA) - Follow-up on Rape

D.O., 30, of Gettysburg, was arrested by state police near his
residence late on August 18th and charged with the abduction and rape of a
17-year-old girl the previous day.  D.O. confessed to the crimes and
provided investigators with information which led to the recovery of the
handgun he had brandished at the girl - a BB pistol found on park land.  One
of the rapes evidently took place at a location on the battlefield past
Culp's Hill, the other just outside the park boundary.  D.O. was arraigned
before a local magistrate and charged with four counts of forcible rape, two
counts of involuntary deviant sexual intercourse, and one count each of
robbery and kidnapping.  He is being held on $100,000 cash bond.  He may also
be prosecuted federally.  D.O. apparently has an extensive criminal
history.  The district attorney prosecuting the case had this to say about
the incident: "I have to commend the strength and incredible fortitude of the
victim.  The information provided by her was absolutely essential in closing
this (case) as quickly as we did.  We have no reason to believe that this was
anything other than a random act.  It was absolute senseless brutality, and
it will be punished to the fullest extent."  [Pete Walzer, SPR, GETT, 8/19;
Matthew Vlahos, The Hanover Evening Sun, 8/19]

99-494 - Glacier NP (MT) - Bear Encounter with Injuries

On August 13th, three out-of-state hikers in two separate parties were
injured in a surprise encounter with a female grizzly bear and a cub on the
Scalplock Lookout Trail in the Walton area of the park.  The park received a
report around noon that a lone male hiker, B.G., 42, from
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, had been attacked.  He suffered numerous puncture
wounds and lacerations on his shoulders and arms.  The report came from park
maintenance workers traveling on horseback to Scalplock Lookout.  The
maintenance workers treated B.G. and were transporting him to the Walton
Ranger Station on horseback when they encountered M.S., 43, of
Barrington, New Hampshire, who reported that he and his female companion, S.R.,
35, of South Portland, Maine, had also been injured by a bear
further up the trail.  One of the maintenance workers continued to the ranger
station with the first individual, while the other went back to assist the
second party.  M.S. had bite marks and scratches on his back; S.R. had
puncture wounds, lacerations, and an injured right knee.  They were treated
and also transported by horseback to the ranger station, where park medics
met them and continued treatment.  B.G. was flown to Kalispell Regional
Hospital.  S.R. was also flown out, while M.S. was taken by ambulance. 
Rangers closed the Scalplock Trail and made a sweep of the trail to make sure
there were no other hikers in the area.  The rangers also escorted two
maintenance workers who were working at the lookout back to the ranger
station. In accordance with the park's bear management guidelines, a full
investigation, including in-depth interviews with the victims, was conducted. 
Based on the descriptions of the attack, the bear's actions, park bear
sighting records, and the investigation, the attacks are considered defensive
behavior of a female protecting her young.  No management action will be
taken against the sow or her cub.  Rangers will patrol the trail looking for
the bears or other indications that bears are in the area and will reopen the
trail only when it is determined to be safe for visitors.  [Steve Frye, CR,
GLAC, 8/19]

99-495 - Glacier NP (MT) - Falling Fatality

H.A., 74, of Greensboro, North Carolina, fell to his death along
the Going-to-the-Sun Road on August 13th.  H.A. had stopped his vehicle to
take a photo near the Eastside Tunnel, one mile east of Logan Pass.  He
stepped over a roadside retaining wall, lost his balance, and fell between
400 and 500 feet down a steep, rocky slope.  A ranger rappelled down the
slope and confirmed that he'd died.  Rangers temporarily closed a section of
the road near the accident site during the body recovery.  [Steve Frye, CR,
GLAC, 8/19]

99-496 - Redwood N&SP (CA) - MVA with Two Fatalities

On August 18th, rangers and resource management staff responded to an
accident involving two tractor trailers on Highway 101 adjacent to the
camping area at Freshwater Spit.  Initial investigation suggests that the
northbound tractor trailer crossed the double yellow line and crashed head-on
into the southbound truck.  Both drivers were killed.  Park personnel and
Orick VFD volunteers attended to both victims, secured the scene, managed the
diesel spill, and directed traffic.  California Highway Patrol officers
subsequently arrived on scene and took control as the primary investigative
agency.  [Corky Farley, Operations Supervisor, REDW, 8/18]

99-497 - Death Valley NP (CA) - MVA with Multiple Injuries

Off-duty ranger Bill Archer was driving east from Stovepipe Wells on
California Highway 190 on the evening of August 18th when he came upon a two-
vehicle accident.  Two vans in a six-van caravan had collided; one of the
them was on fire and blocking the highway.  Archer, an EMT, first checked the
burning vehicle to assure there was nobody inside, then provided medical
treatment to the injured.  The temperature at the time approached 120 degrees
in the shade, of which there was none.  Two park fire engines, the park
ambulance, and patrol rangers responded.  The EMS situation was somewhat
complex and confusing, as none of the injured spoke English.  It first
appeared that only three members of the group had been injured.  Two were
prepared for air evacuation to Las Vegas, the third for ambulance transport. 
After all EMS personnel had been committed and were on their way to
hospitals, another nine visitors complained of neck and back pain and
requested aid from a doctor.  Since they were all mobile and since no
additional EMS staff or ambulances were available, they were given a map with
the location of the nearest hospital and advised that they could either drive
there themselves or wait two hours and pay for transportation by a commercial
ambulance.  They elected to drive.  The burned-out vehicle was loaded on a
flatbed and removed.  [CRO, DEVA, 8/19]

99-498 - Klondike Gold Rush NHP (AK) - Suicide

Project leaders for the Southeast Alaska Guidance Association, a Public Land
Corps organization, discovered the body of F.S., 20, of Skagway,
Alaska, in a vehicle within the Chilkoot Trail unit of the park on the
afternoon of August 16th.  The vehicle was 80 yards from a cemetery and
behind dense forest understory.  Rangers and Skagway police jointly
investigated.  Evidence at the scene, including entries in a personal
journal, suggested that foul play had not been the cause of his demise, and
the state medical examiner later ruled the death a suicide.  F.S.'s family
had reported him missing to police several days previously.  F.S. died of
self-inflicted electrocution using the vehicle battery and specialized
wiring.  [Reed McCluskey, CR, KLGO, 8/18]
 
FIRE ACTIVITY

NATIONAL PREPAREDNESS LEVEL - Level II

LARGE FIRE/INCIDENT SUMMARY 

                                                     Tue      Wed    %  Est
State      Unit              Fire/Incident   IMT     8/17     8/18  Con Con

CA    Lassen-Modoc RU        Cinder           ST      450      600   50 UNK
      Yosemite NP          * Leconte          --        -      650    0 UNK
      Stanislaus NF        * Carmoke         FUM        -      262    0 UNK

AZ    Coconino NF            Eden             --      400      400  UNK UNK 
      Arizona Strip FO     * Lime Hills       --        -      800    0 UNK 

OR    Vale District          Gallagher        --      300      300   60 8/17

NV    Humboldt-Toiyabe NF    East Quinn       --      700      750  100 CND
      State                * Mitchell Creek   --        -    2,000    0 UNK
      Winnemucca FO        * 290 Junction     --        -      700   80 8/19
      Battle Mtn. District * Filipini         --        -      600  100 CND 

ID    Lower Snake District   Fritz Spur       --      500      500  100 CND 
                           * Frog Haller      --        -      300   50 8/18
                           * Meadow Creek     --        -      800   50 UNK
      Upper Snake District * Wilson Gulch     --        -      200   50 8/19
                           * North Canyon     --        -      500  100 CND

UT    Salt Lake FO           Dry Canyon       --    1,000    1,700  UNK 8/18

TX    State                * Givens Creek     --        -      950  100 CND
                           * Veale Creek      --        -      150  100 CND

                                  Heading Notes

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 
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; UNK = unknown; NR = no report

FIRE NARRATIVES

Yosemite NP - The lightning-caused Leconte Fire is burning in manzanita and
forest litter in Hodgdon Meadows.  It is being managed to meet resource
objectives.

NUMBER OF NEW FIRES (FOUR DAY TREND)

                    NPS    BIA      BLM     FWS    States   USFS     Total

Sunday, 8/15         3      2         5       2      107     41       160
Monday, 8/16         1      1         8       1      286     29       326
Tuesday, 8/17        1      6         0       1      342     39       401
Wednesday, 8/18      1      8         0       1      122     36       213

TOTAL COMMITTED RESOURCES (FOUR DAY TREND) 

                  Crews     Engines    Helicopters    Airtankers   Overhead

Sunday, 8/15        15        106          25             5            71
Monday, 8/16        20         74          18             3            92
Tuesday, 8/17       38        114          21            10           135
Wednesday, 8/18     67        150          35            10           175

CURRENT SITUATION

Moderate initial attack was reported throughout the South and West on
Wednesday.  New large fires were reported in northern California and the
Great Basin.

Very high to extreme fire indices were reported in 10 states - Oregon,
California, Idaho, Utah, Nevada, South Dakota, Wyoming, Colorado, Oklahoma, 
and Texas.

[NICC Incident Management Situation Report, 8/19]

RESOURCE MANAGEMENT, PROTECTION AND EDUCATION 

No entries.

OPERATIONAL NOTES

No entries.

MEMORANDA

No entries.

INTERCHANGE

No entries.

PARKS AND PEOPLE

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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