NATIONAL PARK SERVICE
                           MORNING REPORT


To:         All National Park Service Areas and Offices

From:       Division of Ranger Activities, Washington Office

Day/Date:   Thursday, March 30, 2000

ALMANAC

On this day in 1975, former Georgia governor Jimmy Carter opened his 
presidential campaign headquarters in the railroad depot in his home 
town of Plains, Georgia.  The depot is now part of Jimmy Carter 
National Historic Site.

INCIDENTS

00-113 - Grand Canyon (AZ) - Structural Fire

Park dispatch received a call from an employee at 1 p.m. on March 28th 
reporting blue-gray smoke issuing from a historic home undergoing 
rehabilitation. First units were on scene within two minutes and found 
that the front half of the three-bedroom was fully engulfed in flames. 
Two park and concession fire engines responded along with rescue and 
ambulance units; a mutual aid response from the community of Tusayan 
was also requested. Although the fire was contained within 20 minutes, 
firefighters had to contend with several hazards. The painting 
contractor initially reported there were several 25-pound propane 
cylinders in the structure.  These were fueling heaters used to 
accelerate the drying of oil-based latex wall paint and were in the 
same room with containers of paint thinner and other cleaning 
chemicals.  Responding personnel could hear the venting of propane, 
but it was only after the active fire was suppressed that the source 
was identified as three 100-pound cylinders, all of which were 
charred.  The rehabilitation of the structure was originally funded at 
$150,000. The park is now reviewing the contractor's responsibility 
for starting the project over and their liability for replacing PPE 
contaminated by large amounts of oil-based latex paint.  Final 
determination on the cause of the fire is pending. ]Patrick Hattaway, 
Acting Chief, Branch of Operations, GRCA, 3/29]

00-114 - Suitland Parkway (MD) - MVA with Fatality

A Nissan pickup truck traveling east on the parkway crossed the raised 
center median strip and collided head-on with a westbound Toyota 
Corolla on March 17th. The operator of the Nissan was flown by USPP 
helicopter (Eagle 1) to Prince Georges County Hospital, where he was 
pronounced DOA; the driver of the Toyota was flown to the same 
hospital by a Maryland state police helicopter and was admitted with 
non-life-threatening injuries. An investigation is underway. [Sgt. R. 
MacLean, USPP, NCR, 3/29]

00-115 - George Washington Memorial Parkway (VA) - MVA with Fatality

On March 19th, a northbound Toyota Camry left the road and struck a 
tree. Fairfax County firefighters extracted the driver from the car; 
she was flown to Fairfax Hospital by Eagle 1 and is currently in 
guarded condition. Her female passenger was pronounced dead at the 
scene. The investigation continues. [Sgt. R. MacLean, USPP, NCR, 3/29]

CULTURAL/NATURAL RESOURCE MANAGEMENT

No submissions.

OPERATIONAL NOTES

Supreme Court Decision - On March 28th, the Supreme Court issued a 
ruling stating that an anonymous tip that a person is carrying a gun - 
without any additional information - is insufficient to justify 
stopping and frisking that person. The court said that a description 
of clothing or the location of a suspect, without further indicia of 
reliability, would not support a "Terry" stop and frisk. Justices 
agreed that other factors, such as corroboration by officers of other 
suspicious activity, could support such a stop when combined with an 
anonymous tip. For more information about these or other court 
decisions, contact FLETC legal instructor and lawyer Don Usher via 
cc:Mail at NP-WASO. The full text of the decision and its concurrence 
can be viewed and downloaded at http://supct.law.cornell.edu/supct/ 
html/98-1993.ZO.html.

MEMORANDA

No submissions.

PARKS AND PEOPLE

No submissions.

FOOTNOTE

The March 28th Morning Report contained an "Almanac" entry on the 
anniversary of the Civil War Battle of Glorieta Pass in New Mexico, 
now a part of Pecos NHP. Attentive readers offered two corrections to 
the report - that it was a Union rather than a Confederate victory and 
that it actually took place in Arizona at Picacho Pass. A quick check 
with ace Civil War historian Scott Hartwig (GETT) revealed the 
following. The original report was right in stating that it was a 
Confederate victory, at least tactically. Although they won the 
battle, they "lost the war", as Union raids on their supply train 
caused the Confederates to subsequently retreat into Texas. And the 
battle was fought at Glorieta Pass - the action at Picacho Pass was a 
smaller skirmish and took place on April 15, 1862. 

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address requests pertaining to receipt of the Morning Report to your 
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the web at http://www.nps.gov/morningreport

Prepared by the Division of Ranger Activities, WASO, with the 
cooperation and support of Delaware Water Gap NRA.

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