NATIONAL PARK SERVICE
                           MORNING REPORT


To:         All National Park Service Areas and Offices

From:       Division of Ranger Activities, Washington Office

Day/Date:   Saturday, September 2, 2000

ALMANAC

On this date in 1940, President Franklin D. Roosevelt officially 
dedicated Great Smoky Mountains National Park in ceremonies attended 
by several thousand people at the Rockefeller Memorial on the North 
Carolina-Tennessee state line.  John D. Rockefeller, Jr., had 
contributed more than $5 million to acquire land for the park.

INCIDENTS

00-550 - Glen Canyon NRA (UT/AZ) - Rescue

Rangers and Coconino SAR team members were dispatched to a motor 
vehicle accident on Highway 89 in Blue Pools Canyon on August 18th. 
T.J. had driven her car off the road around 5 a.m. on August 
17th. The vehicle went down an embankment and slammed into a narrow 
canyon about 60 feet down at a high rate of speed. The vehicle was not 
visible from the highway. T.J. was able to extricate herself from 
the vehicle, but was unable to get out of the canyon due to the nature 
of her injuries and the high angle of the canyon walls. Friends looked 
for her for two days and finally found her at 10 p.m. on the 18th. 
T.J. had suffered two broken arms, a broken shoulder, a punctured 
lung and broken ribs. Daytime temperatures reached into the high 90s, 
causing her to also suffer from dehydration. She was evacuated from 
the canyon via a high-angle rescue and flown to Flagstaff on a Classic 
Lifeguard helicopter. [Brian O'Dea, PR, GLCA, 8/29]

00-551 - Point Reyes NS (CA) - Stolen Vehicle; Arrests

Shortly before midnight on August 14th, a seasonal ranger at the park 
began following a car that was being driven erratically and at a high 
rate of speed. As he was requesting a records check from dispatch, the 
car suddenly swerved sharply to the shoulder and stopped. Two of the 
five occupants jumped out of the car and began approaching the 
ranger's vehicle, refusing to comply with the ranger's commands to 
stop, issued over the cruiser's PA system. While this was occurring, 
the dispatcher advised the ranger that the car was stolen and that the 
occupants should be approached with caution. The ranger immediately 
requested backup and took cover behind the right rear of his vehicle. 
He held the two men at bay until county deputies arrived on scene. The 
driver and one of the occupants, who had an outstanding felony warrant 
against him, were taken into custody. The other three occupants were a 
woman with prior arrests and her two pre-school-aged daughters. [Karyl 
Yeston, DR, PORE, 8/21]

00-552 - National Capital Parks (DC) - Stolen Vehicle; Arrests

Park Police officer Ernest Patrick was dispatched to a two-car 
accident on Constitution Avenue near the Washington Monument on August 
14th. He arrived on scene in his cruiser just as officer Robert Louden 
arrived on his mountain bike. Louden saw a man squatting behind a 
nearby trash can, evidently attempting to conceal himself from 
Patrick. When he saw Louden approaching, he discarded a box in the 
trash can and started to walk away. The officers detained him and 
determined that he was the operator of one of the vehicles involved in 
the accident. The box contained a fully-loaded .38 caliber revolver; 
the vehicle was found to be stolen. The driver and his passenger were 
arrested. [Sgt. R. MacLean, USPP, NCR, 8/23]

00-553 - Great Sand Dunes NM (CO) - Assist; Rescue

On August 16th, Alamosa County SAR asked rangers to help rescue a 
climber who had fallen 150 feet just below the summit of Little Bear 
Peak (14,037 feet) in the nearby Sangre de Cristo Mountains. Attempts 
to drop the rangers off by helicopter on the summit ridge were 
thwarted by winds, so they were dropped off at a lake at the timber 
line to the west. Rangers Jim McChristal and Matt Gilkey climbed the 
standard route, including a fourth class couloir with loose rock and 
running water, to the site of the accident. They were later joined by 
two members of the county SAR team. Gilkey stabilized the climber's 
injuries. All parties were forced to spend the night on the mountain 
without adequate bivouac gear and were short-hauled off the peak by an 
Army Blackhawk helicopter the following day.  Weather conditions were 
very unstable at the time, with unpredictable winds, dense storm 
clouds and nearby lightning. Rescuers cleared the mountain just prior 
to an intense storm. The climber had numerous cuts, abrasions, a 
dislocated finger, and a C-7 fracture. [CRO, GRSA, 8/18]

                   [Additional reports pending....]

FIRE SITUATION

NATIONAL PREPAREDNESS LEVEL - Level V

CURRENT SITUATION

A total of five new large fires were reported yesterday, but crews 
reached containment goals on four others. Initial attack was light to 
moderate. An area of low pressure will linger over the Pacific 
Northwest, bringing showers and thunderstorms and much cooler 
temperatures over most of the Western states. 

The following resources were committed nationwide as of yesterday 
(changes from Wednesday's numbers in parentheses): 616 crews (- 89), 
5,554 overhead (- 777), 1,134 engines (- 164), and 221 helicopters 
(+ 4).

Very high to extreme fire danger indices were reported in Kansas, 
Arkansas, Texas, Oklahoma, Mississippi, and all eleven Western states.

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

NPS AND NPS-RELATED FIRES

Yellowstone NP (WY) - Spruce Complex (6,425 acres, 0% containment, no 
estimated containment date, 56 FF/OH). Due to rainy, damp weather and 
the prediction of additional moisture in the park over the upcoming 
holiday weekend, some fire restrictions are being lifted inside the 
park.  As of today, wood and/or charcoal fires will be allowed at 
frontcountry campsites, picnic areas, parking areas, and employee 
housing as long as they are limited to established fire pits or grates 
or as long as fire pans or barbecues are used.  Smoking restrictions 
in the frontcountry have also been lifted.  All backcountry 
restrictions will remain in place until further notice. Highway 212 
outside the Northeast Entrance, otherwise known as the  Beartooth 
Highway, has reopened, although some delays may occur. The Northeast 
Entrance to the park and the Chief Joseph Highway (Highway 296) to 
Cody, Wyoming, remain open.

Glacier NP (MT) - Sharon Fire [450 acres, 0% containment, no estimated 
containment date, 10 FF/OH].  Temperatures cooled and rain fell on the 
fire yesterday.  Park Peake Fire [2,100 acres, 75% containment, full 
containment expected by October 15th, four FF]. Only minimal activity 
was reported.

Grand Teton NP (WY) - Teton Complex (15,723 acres, 0% containment, no 
estimated containment date, Type II team, 395 FF/OH). Acreage 
adjustments are due to new GPS data. Containment problems for the 
fires in this complex include high winds, low relative humidity and 
heavy fuels.

Great Basin NP/Humboldt-Toiyabe NF (NV) - Phillips Ranch Fire [2,600 
acres, 40% containment, no estimated containment date, six FF/OH). 
Steady progress toward containment objectives was made due to 
precipitation.

Jewel Cave NM/Black Hills NF (SD) - Jasper Fire (82,600 acres, 70% 
containment, no estimated containment date, Type I team, 1,082 FF/OH). 
Burnout operations have been successful and have strengthened control 
lines. Highway 16 has been reopened and evacuees have been allowed to 
return to their homes. The park remains closed.

For a listing of all fires, see www.nifc.gov/news/sitreprt.html. 

OUTLOOK

No watches or warnings have been issued today.

A Pacific cold front will push into the Northern Rockies bringing cool 
temperatures along with showers and thunderstorms to the Pacific 
Northwest, Great Basin, Montana and northern California. An area of 
low pressure will linger across the Pacific Northwest. This may bring 
a possibility of high elevation mountain snow showers to this region. 
Across the Southwest partly cloudy skies and locally windy conditions 
are expected.

In the north, temperatures will generally be in the 50's to mid 60's 
in the mountains, the mid 60's to near 80 in the lower elevations. In 
the southwest, temperatures will be in the 60's and 70's in the 
mountains and 80's to 100 in the valleys. 

Winds will generally be from the west 10-20 mph. Winds out ahead of 
the front will be from the west to southwest at 15-30 mph.

Relative humidity will generally be in the 20's and 30's with 40's to 
near 70 percent in the cooler and wetter areas of the North.

[NICC Incident Management Situation Report, 9/2]

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

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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