NPS Morning Report - Thursday, August 2, 2001
- Subject: NPS Morning Report - Thursday, August 2, 2001
- Date: Thu, 2 Aug 2001 08:48:07 -0400
NATIONAL PARK SERVICE
MORNING REPORT
To: All National Park Service Areas and Offices
From: Division of Ranger Activities, Washington Office
Day/Date: Thursday, August 2, 2001
INCIDENTS
01-348 - New River Gorge NR (WV) - Follow-up: Flash Flooding
On July 8th and 26th, heavy rains caused serious flooding throughout
southern West Virginia, including New River Gorge. A Type 3 IMT (Rick
Brown, IC) is currently managing recovery operations in the park. The
following is an update on activities over the past two days:
o The road to the lower beach of Sandstone Falls was reopened
after the culverts were cleaned. Trail work on the
Thurmond-Minden trail and Southside Junction trail is in
progress.
o The resource assessment team gave a presentation at the Canyon
Rim VC to the incident management team and park staff. The
PowerPoint presentation discussed the draft soil and watershed
resource assessment.
o New slides were reported on Fayette Station Road and on the
road from the Babcock State Park's grist mill to the former
town of Sewell. Orders Construction Company began clearing
debris on Cunard Road. The contractor estimates that the
project will be completed in approximately a week and a half.
Thurmond Depot remains closed, as repairs to Route 25
continue. Trail assessments continue throughout the park.
[Tammi Woodrum, IO, IMT, NERI, 7/30-31]
01-409 - Yellowstone NP (WY) - Young Girl Suffers Thermal Burns
A six year-old girl from Ocala, Florida, was injured while playing
with her brother near an unnamed thermal feature located in the Lower
Geyser Basin in the Old Faithful area on the afternoon of July 31st.
The girl was visiting Yellowstone with her mother and brother and had
spent the previous night camping in Madison Campground. They stopped
to view a thermal area from a pullout on Fountain Flats Drive. The
children ran ahead of their mother towards the thermal feature. The
nine-year-old boy successfully crossed the narrow geyserite brim of
the thermal pool that separates the hot (192°F - 200°F) thermal waters
of the pool and the cooler river. The girl tried to follow her
brother, but slipped off the narrow ledge and submerged her lower
right leg in the thermal waters, receiving second and third degree
burns. She was able to stop her fall before completely becoming
immersed in the pool. Her mother assisted her at the edge of the
pool, then took her to the Madison Campground to seek medical
attention. Park staff immediately responded to the area and stabilized
her injuries. She was transported by ambulance to the airport in West
Yellowstone, Montana, then flown by air ambulance to the Salt Lake
City Burn Center. She is the second visitor to receive a thermal burn
this summer. The park has again reminded visitors of the importance of
staying on boardwalks and designated trails while visiting thermal
features, and that it is unsafe to run or play around them. Scalding
water underlies thin, breakable crusts; many geyser eruptions are
unpredictable, and thermal features are near or above boiling
temperatures. Boardwalks and trails help to protect park visitors and
prevent damage to delicate formations. [Public Affairs, YELL, 8/1]
[Additional reports pending....]
FIRE MANAGEMENT
National Fire Situation - Preparedness Level 2
Three new large fires were reported on Wednesday, all of them in the
Rockies. One large fire in the eastern Great Basin and another in the
Rockies were contained. Initial attack was light nationwide.
Very high to extreme fire indices were reported in Arizona,
California, Colorado, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon,
Utah, Washington and Wyoming.
NICC has not issued any watches or warnings for today.
The full NICC situation report can be found at
http://www.nifc.gov/news/sitreprt.pdf.
National Resource Status (Five Day Trend)
Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu
Date 7/29 7/30 7/31 8/1 8/2
Crews 199 247 291 238 235
Engines 222 329 327 315 365
Helicopters 85 79 60 63 64
Air Tankers 16 0 0 4 6
Overhead 938 1,380 1,579 1,425 1,712
Park Fire Situation
Yosemite NP (CA) - On Tuesday, July 24th, a fire started in the Merced
River Canyon about 20 miles west of the park near Briceburg on Highway
140. Electrical power in the park and surrounding communities was lost
for approximately 24 hours and Highway 140 (a major route into the
park) was closed for approximately two days. The fire continued to
burn in the steep, rugged canyon area and grew to 728 acres. At its
peak, there were 1,400 firefighters involved from Yosemite, the Forest
Service, California Department of Forestry, and Mariposa County Fire.
Yosemite crews were heavily involved in the initial attack. No
structures were lost; there were at least six injuries to
firefighters. Media interest was high. As of this report, the fire is
95% contained. There were no closures to any facilities within the
park.
Yellowstone NP (WY) - Clarifying reports have been received from the
park on the location of the Arthur Fire. The fire is within the park's
boundary. It began near Top Notch Peak just south of the East Entrance
Road near the Sylvan Pass area and is burning towards the east
entrance from inside the park. The fire, which closed that road to all
inbound and outbound traffic on Sunday, July 29th, is now estimated at
around 1800 acres. The fire has spotted, with one spot less than 150
yards from the road at some locations. The road will remain closed
until it is safe to reopen it to traffic. There was little activity on
the fire on Tuesday because of cooler temperatures (in the 60s) and
higher humidity, but activity was expected to increase yesterday. The
Type 1 incident command team is now onsite and operational. Close to
600 people are committed to the fire at this time, and more are
expected. Because of low fire activity, two hot shot crews were able
to attack the spot close to the road. The fire is located in a ravine
in steep rugged terrain and is too dangerous for crews to attack
during heavy fire activity. One fire retardant drop was conducted on
Tuesday but was unsuccessful because of winds. Numerous bucket drops
were done later in the day. Structural fire protection continued at
the east entrance and other facilities outside the park. Arthur Fire
ground crews also assisted the park on another fire in the park. The
Inkspot Fire was caused by an illegal unattended campfire near
Washburn Hot Springs southeast of Mount Washburn on July 26th. This
fire is close to containment and is currently estimated to be around
three acres. All park entrances, except for the east entrance, remain
open, as well as all visitor and park facilities, including all
lodging, food services, general stores, gift shops, and campgrounds.
Park visitors whose travel route takes them through Cody, Wyoming, can
access the park through the northeast entrance. A nighttime closure (9
p.m. to 9 a.m.) between Madison and Norris for road construction
remains in place.
Grand Teton NP (WY) - Fire restrictions were instituted in the park
yesterday. Open fires are restricted to established, agency-provided
fire rings.
Sequoia-Kings Canyon NPs (CA) - The park reports one new 30-acre fire,
started by lightning on July 30th. It is being monitored.
Grand Canyon NP (AZ) - The Vista Fire has burned 982 acres. Fire
activity diminished significantly earlier this week due to overcast
skies. Plans are for a burnout on the north check line, weather
permitting.
Park Fire Danger
Extreme Sequoia/Kings Canyon NPs, Hawaii Volcanoes NP,
Dinosaur NM, Grand Teton NP
Very High N/A
High Joshua Tree NP, Lassen Volcanic NP, Everglades NP,
Lake Mead NRA
[Scott Gediman, PIO, YOSE, 8/1; Marsha Karle, PIO, YELL, 8/1; NPS
Situation Summary Report, 8/1; NICC Incident Management Situation
Report, 8/2]
FILM AT 11...
Yesterday's Salt Lake Tribune carried an AP report by Robert Gehrke on
Wednesday's release of the National Park System Advisory Board's
report on future directions for the NPS. The article, entitled "U.S.
Parks Urged to Expand Visitor Services," provides a short summary of
this seminal report. It may be found on the web at:
http://www.sltrib.com/2001/Aug/08022001/nation_w/118712.htm. [Dennis
Burnett, RAD/WASO]
* * * * *
The Morning Report solicits entries from the field and central offices
for its daily and weekly sections (below). The general rule is that
submissions, whatever the category, should pertain to operations, be
useful to the field, and have broad significance across the agency.
Additional details on submission criteria are available from the
editor at any time (Bill Halainen at NP-DEWA, or
Bill_Halainen@nps.gov). Ask for either incident reporting criteria
(issued by WASO, June 18, 2000) or general criteria.
Daily and weekly sections are available for news or significant
developments pertaining to:
Field incidents Interpretation and visitor services
Natural resource management Cultural resource management
Operations (WASO only) Memoranda (WASO only)
Requests/offers of assistance Park-related web sites
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Reports on "lessons learned"
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Prepared by the Division of Ranger Activities, WASO, with the
cooperation and support of Delaware Water Gap NRA.
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