NATIONAL PARK SERVICE
                           MORNING REPORT


To:         All National Park Service Areas and Offices

From:       Division of Ranger Activities, Washington Office

Day/Date:   Sunday, July 30, 2000

ALMANAC

On this date in 1619, the first representative legislative assembly in 
North America met at the Jamestown Church - the beginning of 
representative government in America.  The Jamestown portion of 
Colonial National Historical Park, Virginia, is jointly administered 
by the National Park Service and the Association for the Preservation 
of Virginia Antiquities.

INCIDENTS

00-437 - Delaware Water Gap NRA (NJ/PA) - Climbing Fatality

Climber S.R., 22, a student at Haverford College near 
Philadelphia, fell about 120 feet to his death while climbing a cliff 
on Mt. Tammany around 7:15 p.m. on Saturday, July 29th. S.R. and 
climbing partner T.G. had completed a technical climb of the 
difficult "Double Overhang" route and were in the process of 
rappelling down from the top when the accident occurred. S.R. was 
descending on a double-rope rappel, utilizing a sling left by other 
climbers as an anchor. According to T.G., S.R. had descended about 
15 feet when the anchor failed, causing him to fall to the ground. 
T.G. descended and checked S.R., but could not detect either a 
pulse or breath. T.G. then descended down a scree slope to 
Interstate 80 and flagged down a passing motorist. The motorist in 
turn used his cell phone to make a 911 call. A state trooper and local 
fire and EMS reached the scene at 8:20 p.m. The found that S.R. had 
suffered extensive and severe traumatic injuries and had no pulse or 
respirations. A carryout of the victim's body was completed after 
midnight by the park's high-angle rescue team and a township search 
and rescue squad. [Doyle Nelson, CR, DEWA, 7/30]

00-438 - Vicksburg NMP (MS) - Significant Vandalism: U.S.S. Cairo

On July 25th, the park curator at the U.S.S. Cairo Museum received a 
report from a visitor that a man had climbed over a security barrier 
and broken off a section of wood from the hull of the gunboat. Rangers 
Bob Irish and Rick Martin responded and from a distance saw the man - 
later identified as C.M., 26, of Los Angeles - enter a white 
sedan in the museum parking lot. A seasonal park interpreter, who was 
in period clothing performing naval living history activities on the 
gunboat, employed his Civil War style telescope to obtain the make and 
license number of the vehicle as it left the lot. As soon as C.M. 
told the car's driver what had happened, the driver turned the vehicle 
around, immediately returned to the lot, and convinced C.M. to 
surrender the section of hull to the curator. During the 
investigation, rangers identified several discrepancies in C.M.'s 
explanation of what had happened, which he claimed was just an 
accident. C.M. was arrested and taken before a federal magistrate 
and charged with an ARPA violation. A public defender was appointed. 
The U.S. Attorney's Office will seek a federal grand jury indictment 
in early August for felony damage to an archeological resource. Bail 
was set at $20,000, but later reduced to $2,000. [Greg Zeman, Chief of 
Operations, VICK, 7/27]

FIRE SITUATION

NATIONAL PREPAREDNESS LEVEL - Level V

CURRENT SITUATION

Five new large fires were reported yesterday; seven others were 
contained. Lightning is forecast today for eastern Oregon, eastern 
Washington and southwestern Montana and may lead to increased initial 
attack. Mobilization of aircraft, equipment, crews and overhead 
through NICC remains steady. The Pentagon's Directorate of Operations 
for Military Support (DOMS) has been asked to supply a battalion to 
assist in fire suppression efforts. An advance party will fly to Fort 
Hood, Texas, today, and will begin training soldiers on Monday.

The following resources were committed nationwide as of yesterday 
(changes from yesterday's numbers in parentheses): 665 crews (+ 1), 
4,099 overhead (+ 683), 977 engines (- 20), 199 helicopters (+ 15), 
and 16 air tankers (+ 7).

Very high to extreme fire danger indices were reported in all eleven 
Western states and in Texas.

[For more national fire news, go to www.nifc.gov/fireinfo/nfn.html, 
which also provides links to web sites for specific fires]

NPS FIRES

Mesa Verde NP (CO) - Bircher Fire (23,607 acres, 100% containment, 
Type I team, 828 firefighters and overhead): The fire was fully 
contained yesterday. 

Death Valley NP (CA) - Happy Fire (5,500 acres, 90% containment, 64 
firefighters and overhead): The fire continues to burn in pinyon pine 
and juniper, intermixed with desert shrub in extremely steep terrain. 
Helicopter bucket drops have been effective on the northeast flank. 
Full containment is expected by Tuesday. 

SIGNIFICANT NON-NPS FIRES 

[Most of the following are fires being managed by Type I teams. For a 
listing of all project fires, see www.nifc.gov/news/sitreprt.html. 
Fires that are no longer reported have been contained]

Boise NF (ID) - Twin Creek Fire (458 acres, 45% containment, Type I 
team, 569 firefighters and overhead): Moderate fire behavior was 
reported yesterday, but with continued torching in sub-alpine fir. 
Very low RH and numerous uncontained spot fires are causing problems.

Salmon-Challis NF (ID) - Clear Creek Fire (74,000 acres, 30% 
containment, two Type I teams, 892 firefighters and overhead): The 
fire has crossed Panther Creek and moved up Trial, Napias and Deep 
Creeks to the east. The main focus has been on protecting structures. 
Extreme burning conditions and spotting are deterring containment 
efforts; rolling material in steep terrain is causing problems in fire 
line construction.

Fishlake National Forest (UT) - Oldroyd Fire (523 acres, 15% 
containment, Type I team, 106 firefighters and overhead): The fire has 
been active on all sides. Approximately 25 summer residences are 
threatened to the northwest of the fire.

Wasatch-Cache NF (UT) - Wasatch Complex (1,500, no estimate of 
percentage containment, Type I team, 279 firefighters and overhead): 
The East Vivian Fire continues to challenge containment efforts and is 
half a mile from structures in South Fork Canyon. A structure 
protection plan is in place. 

Payette NF (ID) - Burgdorf Junction Fire (14,500 acres, 30% 
containment, Type I team, 573 firefighters and overhead): Torching, 
spotting and some crowning were observed on the north side of the 
fire. Crews are locating spots outside of the main perimeter. 
Continued hot and dry weather and a forecast Haines index of six will 
challenge containment efforts today.

Upper Snake River District (ID) - Coffee Point North Fire (40,000 
acres, 40% containment, Type I team, 16 firefighters and overhead): 
Active torching and spotting have been observed.

Helena NF (MT) - Canyon Ferry Complex (28.922 acres, 30% containment, 
Type I team and Type II team, 999 firefighters and overhead): The 
Magpie Creek drainage burned extensively yesterday, forcing crews out 
of the fire area and into safety zones. The status of structures above 
Bar Gulch is not known. Residents of York were scheduled to return to 
their homes this morning.

Los Padres NF (CA) - Plaskett 2 Fire (3.550 acres, 65% containment, 
Type I team, 1,193 firefighters and overhead): Crews are completing a 
burnout operation on the north fork of Willow Creek. Mop-up continues 
along Highway 1.

Sequoia NF (CA) - Manter Fire (37,435 acres, 10% containment, Type I 
team, 1,119 firefighters and overhead): The fire made several major 
runs on all fronts. Youth camps and other facilities have been 
evacuated.

FIRES/ACRES, YEAR-TO-DATE

There have been 60,081 fires so far this year (the ten-year, 
year-to-date average is 50,752 fires). These fires have burned a total 
of 3,384,080 acres (the ten-year, year-to-date average is 1,866,395 
acres).

OUTLOOK

NICC has issued four FIRE WEATHER WATCHES for today - the first for 
dry lightning and low humidity in south central Montana, the second 
for dry lightning on the east slope of the west central Oregon 
Cascades, the third for dry lightning on the east slope of the 
Cascades in Washington, and the fourth for dry lightning for central 
and northeast Oregon.

[NICC Incident Management Situation Report, 7/30]

CULTURAL/NATURAL RESOURCE MANAGEMENT

No submissions.

INTERPRETATION AND VISITOR SERVICES

No submissions.

OPERATIONAL NOTES

Lessons Learned Video - Copies of "Officer Down: The Murder of a 
National Park Ranger," the lessons learned video about the shooting of 
Joe Kolodski, were sent to each unit of the system this past May via 
the seven regional offices. Unofficial surveys indicate that fewer 
than half of protection rangers Servicewide have seen this 44-minute 
film, which was produced by NPS/FLETC at the direction of the board of 
review and the regional director for Southeast Region. Please make an 
effort to see the video. If you don't have a copy, please check with 
your regional protection manager or law enforcement specialist. 
Discussion points were printed, folded and placed within each video 
case. [Tom Cherry, LE Training Manager, FLETC]

MEMORANDA

No submissions.

INTERCHANGE

No submissions.

PARKS AND PEOPLE

No submissions.

                            *  *  *  *  *

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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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