NATIONAL PARK SERVICE
                           MORNING REPORT


To:         All National Park Service Areas and Offices

From:       Division of Ranger Activities, Washington Office

Day/Date:   Friday, May 12, 2000

                           *** NOTICE ***

Per order of the Department of Interior, all flags are to be lowered 
to half-staff on Monday, May 15th, for Peace Officers Memorial Day. 
Flags will be returned to full staff on the morning of Tuesday, May 
16th.

ALMANAC

On this date in 1898, Rear Admiral William T. Sampson's American fleet 
bombarded San Juan, Puerto Rico, during the Spanish-American War, 
which resulted in Spain's cession of the island to the U.S.  San Juan 
National Historic Site preserves the city's historic defensive 
fortifications.

INCIDENTS

99-458 - Carlsbad Caverns NP (NM) - Follow-up on Homicide

On August 8, 1999, R.K., 25, murdered his best friend, D.C., 
in Rattlesnake Canyon. The pair had been issued a 
backcountry permit and were reportedly unable to locate the exit 
trail. After running out of water and becoming exhausted from attempts 
to find their way out of the canyon, D.C. asked R.K. to kill 
him to put him out of his misery. R.K. did so, stabbing D.C. 
twice. R.K. was found later that afternoon by ranger Lance Mattson 
after being advised that D.C.'s car had been at the Rattlesnake 
Canyon trailhead for several days. R.K. was airlifted from the 
park to a local hospital, treated and released, then arrested for 
murder. He was released on a $50,000 cash bond and allowed to return 
to his home in Pennsylvania to be with his family. The case received 
considerable national media attention during the subsequent nine 
months. On May 8th, R.K. pled no contest to a charge of second 
degree murder. The sentencing hearing lasted two-and-a-half days and 
resulted in a sentence of 15 years incarceration, with 13 years 
suspended. Expert witnesses Bob Moon (IMR) and Sherrie Collins (GRCA) 
provided testimony on the characteristics and effects of dehydration 
for the prosecution. [Mark Maciha, SPR, CAVE, 5/10]

00-202 - Fort Stanwix NM (NY) - Severe Storm Impacts

On May 10th, a series of severe thunderstorms passed through upstate 
New York with locally damaging high winds and heavy rainfall. The park 
and the city of Rome were pelted by golf ball size hail for over five 
minutes, causing serious damage to park windows, roofs, exterior 
lights and trees. No park visitors or staff were injured, although 
personal vehicles were heavily damaged. The park remains open. Repairs 
have begun and will cost an estimated $5,000. [Gary Warshefski, FOST, 
5/11]

00-203 - Little River Canyon NP (AL) - Drowning

Ranger Dwight Dixon received a call reporting a possible drowning at 
Blue Hole on the upper Little River on May 9th. Witnesses reported 
that T.R., 19, of Gadsden, Alabama, had gone under and not 
resurfaced and that he'd been under for about 15 minutes. T.R. 
was soon spotted from shore on the bottom of the river, which is about 
12 feet deep at that point. Dixon entered the water and brought 
T.R. to the surface, then got him to shore with a visitor's 
assistance. T.R. was transported by ambulance to a local 
hospital, but paramedics were unable to revive him. Witnesses said he 
was swimming across the river and was about half way across when he 
began struggling. It's believed that fatigue was a factor. [Dwight 
Dixon, CR, LIRI, 5/9]

FIRE ACTIVITY

National Preparedness Level - Level III

The preparedness level has gone up one step.  Preparedness Level III 
goes into effect when the following conditions are met: Two or more 
geographic areas experiencing incidents requiring a major  commitment 
of national resources.  High number of fires becoming Class D and 
larger.  Additional resources are being ordered and mobilized through 
NICC.  Type 1 teams are committed in two or more areas, or 300 crews 
are committed nationally.

Current Situation

The Cerro Grande fire near Los Alamos, New Mexico, continued to 
destroy structures yesterday. Winds are forecast to diminish somewhat 
today in New Mexico and Arizona. Two more Type I teams have been 
ordered for the Southwest Area - one for the Outlet fire at Grand 
Canyon, the other for a new 6,000-acre fire in the Lincoln National 
Forest. The following resources were committed nationwide as of 
yesterday: 109 crews, 198 engines, 23 helicopters, four air tankers, 
and 554 overhead personnel. Very high to extreme fire indices were 
reported in Arizona, New Mexico, Utah, California, Texas, Oklahoma, 
and Maryland.

NPS Fires

Bandelier NM (NM) - The Cerro Grande fire has now burned 19,000 acres 
and 295 structures and is reported to be 0% contained. Efforts are 
being made to reestablish a secure anchor point for fire lines. 
Engines and crews continued to battle structural fires in Los Alamos 
and at the Los Alamos Laboratory yesterday. Extreme fire behavior was 
observed in all areas, and the incident command post had to be 
evacuated. An area command team, two Type I teams,  780 firefighters, 
23 engines, and eight helicopters have been committed. An 
investigation into the fire has been begun. 

Coverage of the fire has been extensive in all media so is not being 
repeated here. Check any media web page for details. One good source 
is a local newspaper, the Albuquerque Journal, which can be found at 
http://www.abqjournal.com.

Secretary Babbitt and Agriculture Secretary Dan Glickman released a 
joint statement on the fire yesterday afternoon. The full text 
follows: 

"We extend our deepest sympathies to those who have lost their homes 
in this tragic fire. We are thankful that no one has been injured so 
far. We are personally monitoring the situation very closely.  
Containing this fire is our top priority. Both the Department of 
Agriculture's Forest Service and the Interior Department's National 
Park Service are dedicating all available resources to fighting this 
tremendous fire. We have sent both Forest Service Chief Mike Dombeck 
and National Park Service Director Bob Stanton to Los Alamos to 
oversee firefighting efforts. Federal Emergency Management Agency 
Director James Lee Witt is also on his way to the area to assist 
residents in recovery efforts. Although containing the fire is our 
first priority, we have ordered an immediate investigation to 
determine how this fire got out of control. We hope to learn enough 
from what went wrong in this tragedy to keep it from happening again."

Grand Canyon NP (AZ) - The Outlet fire has burned 7,000 acres in 
ponderosa pine and mixed conifers two miles north of North Rim 
Village. High winds continued to cause problems. A Type II team has 
been assigned and a Type I team (Frye) has been ordered; 230 
firefighters, three engines and a helicopter have been committed so 
far. The estimated containment date is May 18th. 

Outlook

A FIRE WEATHER WATCH has been posted for low relative humidity in 
northern Florida. 

New Mexico and Arizona will be mostly sunny and cooler. Winds will be 
west to northwest from 10 to 20 mph. Afternoon temperatures will be in 
the high 60s and 70s in the mountains and near 90 at lower elevations. 
Minimum relative humidities will be between 15 and 25 percent.

[NICC Incident Management Situation Report, 5/12; Public Affairs, 
WASO, 5/11]

CULTURAL/NATURAL RESOURCE MANAGEMENT

Report pending.

OPERATIONAL NOTES

Lyme Disease Policy - A memorandum transmitting the Service's Lyme 
disease policy was signed and transmitted to all associate and 
regional directors on May 5th. The policy, which is found in Appendix 
A of RM-50B, provides guidance on prevention of Lyme disease through 
awareness, training, preventive techniques, and active immunization. 
This policy and additional information on Lyme disease can be found at 
the Risk Management Office web site (www.nps.gov/riskmgmt). [Claudia 
Finney, RMO/WASO]

GPS - On May 1st, President Clinton made real-time, military quality 
GPS signals available to all civilian and commercial users. This will 
increase the accuracy of the system to non-military users - including 
the NPS - from 100 meters down to 10 to 20 meters. The upgrade took 
effect on midnight of May 1st. This improvement had been delayed by 
national security concerns and had to await the development of the 
necessary technology.  [Lyne Shackelford, FRSP]

MEMORANDA

No submissions.

INTERCHANGE

No submissions.

PARKS AND PEOPLE

No submissions.

                            *  *  *  *  *

Distribution of the Morning Report is through a mailing list managed 
by park, office and/or regional cc:Mail hub coordinators.  Please 
address requests pertaining to receipt of the Morning Report to your 
servicing hub coordinator.  The Morning Report is also available on 
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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