NATIONAL PARK SERVICE
                           MORNING REPORT


To:         All National Park Service Areas and Offices

From:       Division of Ranger Activities, Washington Office

Day/Date:   Saturday, July 22, 2000

ALMANAC

On this date in 1967, the poet Carl Sandburg died at Connemara, his 
farm in Flat Rock, North Carolina, where he had spent the last 22 
years of his life.  It became Carl Sandburg Home National Historic 
Site a year later.

INCIDENTS

00-420 - Lowell NHP (MA) - Death of Employee

Park maintenance employee Stanley Zelinski, 49, was found dead at his 
home on the morning of July 18th by park personnel and Dracut police 
and EMS units who were checking to see why he hadn't reported for work 
or called in. The cause of death has been determined to have been a 
cardiac arrest. Stanley was well-liked and respected by all his 
coworkers and renowned for his sense of humor. His famous one-liners 
put a smile on everyone's face and kept morale high among all he 
worked with. Calling hours will be on Tuesday, July 25th, from 4 to 8 
p.m. at Laurin Funeral Home at 295 Pawtucket Street in Lowell. The 
funeral will be the following day at 10 a.m. at Saint Francis Church 
at 115 Wheeler Road in Dracut. [Dave Redding, Acting CR, LOWE, 7/21]

00-421 - Gateway NRA (NY/NJ) - Drowning

Park Police officers were dispatched to Crookes Point on the afternoon 
of July 20th to check out a report of two people in the water. They 
determined that 13-year-old T.J. had been sitting with her 
three-year-old stepsister on a rock jetty near the water's edge while 
two adult family members were fishing, and that the wake from a 
passing fishing vessel had washed them both into the water. Three 
people on another vessel in the area rescued the three-year-old, 
administered CPR and took her to shore; they then rescued the girl's 
father, who had entered the water in an attempt to save his children. 
A multi-agency search was begun for the older girl which involved NPS 
lifeguards, NYPD divers, and NYFD divers. Her body was found about 50 
yards from shore shortly thereafter. CPR was administered and she was 
taken to Staten Island University Hospital, where she was pronounced 
dead. The three-year-old and her father were also taken to the same 
hospital. At the time of the report, he was okay but she was in 
critical condition. [John Lauro, USPP, GATE, 7/20]

00-422 - Coronado NM (AZ) - Illegal Immigrants

On the night of July 17th, rangers saw a group of about 160 illegal 
immigrants moving through the park. A total of 76 were apprehended 
with the assistance of the Border Patrol, with the remainder fleeing 
back to Mexico on foot. This was one of the largest single groups seen 
to date by park staff. Resource damage caused by the constant stream 
of people crossing the border has been considerable. The park is 
crisscrossed by a network of foot trails, some approaching the width 
and smoothness of single-lane roads. There's also been considerable 
ground erosion, destruction of vegetation, and deposition of human 
feces and trash. Smuggling organizations often use these undocumented 
aliens as decoys or screens for backpackers carrying drugs into the 
country - the latter cross the border while rangers and officers are 
busy dealing with the former. [Fred Moosman, CR, CORO, 7/20]

FIRE SITUATION

NATIONAL PREPAREDNESS LEVEL - Level III

CURRENT SITUATION

New large fires were reported yesterday in the Southwest, Great Basin, 
and California. Firefighters on eight large Western fires met 
containment goals. Dry lightning and strong winds are forecast for the 
northern Great Basin today, which will challenge containment efforts 
on fires in Oregon, Idaho, Montana and Wyoming. Mobilization of 
resources through NICC continues at a steady pace.

The following resources were committed nationwide as of yesterday 
(changes from yesterday's numbers in parentheses): 305 crews (+ 11), 
1,633 overhead (+ 12), 467 engines (- 14), 130 helicopters (+ 20), and 
14 air tankers (+ 4).

Very high to extreme fire danger indices were reported in all Western 
states and in Georgia and Alabama.

NPS FIRES

Mesa Verde NP (CO) - The lightning-caused Bircher Fire started on 
Thursday, July 20th, on county land and soon burned into the park. 
Since it was evident that the fire might burn toward the park's sole 
access road and its campground at Morefield, the park's evacuation 
plan was put into effect and structural fire protection was organized 
for Morefield Village. By late that evening, the fire had burned about 
1,000 acres, with a hundred or so on park land. It has now burned a 
total of 3,500 acres and is just 5% contained. Two outbuildings were 
destroyed; six residences, five commercial buildings, and 20 
outbuildings are threatened. The weather forecast promises little 
improvement over the weekend. A total of 354 firefighters and overhead 
personnel, 20 engines and a helicopter are committed.

SIGNIFICANT NON-NPS FIRES 

Salmon-Challis NF (ID) - Clear Creek Fire (39,166 acres, 20% 
containment, Type I team, 849 firefighters and overhead): Although 
there was no reported acreage growth yesterday, the fire made major 
runs near the Salmon River corridor on the northeast perimeter. Some 
fire line on the southeast side of the fire was also lost. Crews were 
removed from both areas.

Payette NF (ID) - Burgdorf Junction Fire (3,290 acres, 56% 
containment, Type I team, 668 firefighters and overhead): Torching and 
spotting continue, but little spread was observed. A red flag warning 
has been issued for today for high temperatures, low RH and gusty 
winds.

Battle Mountain Field Office, BLM (NV) - Berndt Fire (2,950 acres, 60% 
containment, Type II team, 337 firefighters and overhead): Fire 
activity has been limited to hot spots close to the fire line and 
occasional torching. All divisions reported making substantial 
progress toward containment.

Bitterroot NF (MT) - Little Blue Fire (5,800 acres, 75% containment, 
Type I team, 887 firefighters and overhead): Significant progress was 
made in efforts to contain and mop-up the fire yesterday. 

Stanislaus NF (CA) - Arnot Fire (225 acres, 0% containment, FUM team, 
25 firefighters and overhead): The fire started on July 3rd and has 
been slowly backing down slope. It has now reached more continuous 
fuels. The fire was caused by lightning and is being managed to 
accomplish resource management objectives.

FIRES/ACRES, YEAR-TO-DATE

There have been 56,512 fires so far this year (the ten-year, 
year-to-date average is 48,432 fires). These fires have burned a total 
of 2,860,880 acres (the ten-year, year-to-date average is 1,673,466 
acres).

OUTLOOK

NICC has issued three RED FLAG WARNINGS - the first for low RH, a high 
Haines index and gusty winds for southwest Oregon and southwest Idaho, 
the second for low RH, a high Haines index, dry lightning and 
increasing winds for western Montana and north central Idaho, and the 
third for low RH and gusty winds over 30 mph for southwest Wyoming - 
and two FIRE WEATHER WATCHES - the first for high temperatures, low 
RH, a high Haines index and increasing winds in central Idaho, the 
second for gusty winds, thunderstorms and low RH in southwest Montana.

[NICC Incident Management Situation Report, 7/22; Dave Lentz, MEVE, 
7/21]

CULTURAL/NATURAL RESOURCE MANAGEMENT

No submissions.

INTERPRETATION AND VISITOR SERVICES

No submissions.

OPERATIONAL NOTES

No submissions.

MEMORANDA

No submissions.

INTERCHANGE

No submissions.

PARKS AND PEOPLE

Apostle Islands NS (WI) - The park has an opening for a GS-0025-13 
chief of resources management and visitor protection. The vacancy 
announcement is APIS-00-13 and can be found on USA Jobs.

                            *  *  *  *  *

Distribution of the Morning Report is through a mailing list managed 
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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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