NPS Morning Report - Friday, August 24, 2001



                        NATIONAL PARK SERVICE
                           MORNING REPORT


To:         All National Park Service Areas and Offices

From:       Division of Ranger Activities, Washington Office

Day/Date:   Friday, August 24, 2001

INCIDENTS

01-464 - Statue of Liberty NM (NY) - Rescue and Arrest

On the morning of August 23rd, Park Police officers saw a parasail 
powered by a motorized backpack flying in close proximity to the 
Statue of Liberty. The sail subsequently became entangled in the 
statue's torch, leaving the operator - later identified as T.D., 
believed to be a French national - dangling from the parachute 
lines along the arm of the statue. USPP officers rescued T.D. by 
lowering a line to him and hoisting him up. He was uninjured and was 
placed under arrest. It's believed that T.D. planned to land on the 
torch, then bungee jump to the ground. He had BASE jumping equipment 
in his possession and was wearing a T-shirt with a political statement 
on the use of land mines. T.D. has been charged with reckless 
endangerment, trespassing, disorderly conduct, and air delivery. 
Additional charges will likely be filed by the U.S. attorney. The FAA 
has begun a civil investigation into the incident. T.D. was 
previously arrested at the Statue of Liberty in 1994 when a planned 
bungee jump was foiled. At that time, he was charged with defacing a 
national monument, trespassing, and destruction of government 
property. T.D. paid a fine for those infractions. [Lt. Chris Pappas, 
USPP, STLI, 8/23]

01-465 - Zion NP (UT) - Shuttle Bus Fire

A shuttle bus and trailer caught fire and burned just south of Weeping 
Rock around 3:30 p.m. on the afternoon of Wednesday, August 22nd. The 
driver of a second shuttle bus, which was headed in the opposite 
direction, spotted the fire in the engine compartment and used her 
radio to advise the other driver. The shuttle driver reacted quickly, 
stopping the bus and evacuating about 60 passengers. The park's 
structural and wildland fire units and EMS personnel were on scene 
within 15 minutes from the time the fire was reported. It was quickly 
extinguished before it could spread into roadside vegetation, but the 
damage to the bus and trailer was extensive and has been estimated at 
about $330,000. The cause of the fire is under investigation. No one 
was injured. [Chuck Passek, ZION, 8/23]

01-466 - Pea Ridge NMP (AR) - Assist; Armed Assault

On Saturday, August 4th, the Benton County Sheriff's Office asked for 
assistance in backing up a deputy who was answering a call regarding a 
man with a gun just outside park boundaries. C.W. had fired 
shots at his common-law wife and neighbors and was firing a weapon 
within the house. C.W. has a criminal history and was on parole 
for second degree murder, battery and assault. When rangers arrived, 
the deputy was attempting to secure a perimeter around the house. 
Officers had reason to believe he was holding his common-law wife 
hostage, but they later determined that he was the house's sole 
occupant. Rangers helped secure the area until other county units 
could arrive. Officers from the county's special operations group 
attempted to negotiate with C.W., who they thought might try to 
commit suicide, but changed focus when activity within the house was 
observed. Deputies fired tear gas into the building, but there was no 
response. They entered shortly thereafter. At first, C.W. could 
not be found, but he was eventually located by a dog named "Ranger" 
and pulled from the attic. He was still armed when arrested. Rangers 
withdrew from the immediate area and provided crowd control and EMS 
assistance to deputies with heat-related problems. They also helped 
treat C.W. after he was extricated from the house. There were no 
injuries. Media interest was high. [Bruce Cunningham, MWRO, 8/23]

01-467 - John Day Fossil Beds NM (OR) - Assist; Attempted Murder of    
         Officers

The superintendent was contacted by Oregon State Police on the evening 
of August 21st regarding the attempted shooting of a Grant County 
deputy and a state trooper near the park. One shot had been fired from 
a high-powered rifle and the deputy had been struck in the leg by 
either bullet fragments or gravel from the bullet's impact. The 
incident began when the two officers responded to a conflict at a 
local ranch, reputedly over cattle theft. That ranch borders the park 
and is located about a mile-and-a-half north of the Cant Ranch, the 
park's headquarters. Park staff opened the Cant Ranch for use as an 
incident command post and provided phone, fax, Internet and other 
support. Two state police SWAT teams were flown to the town of John 
Day and transported to the park, arriving around midnight. The 
rancher's house was then surrounded by about 30 SWAT and county 
officers. State Route 19 was closed to traffic at the north and south 
ends of the park for the duration of the incident. Darkness and very 
difficult open terrain complicated the operation. An armored vehicle 
was used to approach the house, and two suspects were taken into 
custody around 3 a.m. Park staff, particularly museum technician Scott 
Foss, were able to provide state police planners with very useful, 
digitally-enlarged aerial photographs of the rancher's house and 
outbuildings, detailed maps of the grounds, and GPS coordinates for 
strategic locations. [Jim Hammett, Superintendent, JODA, 8/23]

01-468 - Cape Hatteras NS (NC) - Drowning

A.K., 24, of Zelienople, Pennsylvania, was sitting on the beach 
with family members a half mile north of the Pony Pens on Ocracoke 
Island around 6 p.m. on August 18th when her brother-in-law became 
caught in a rip current while swimming nearby. A.K. and her husband 
entered the water to help; all but A.K. made it to shore safely. Help 
was summoned, and ranger Bill Caswell made it to the scene within a 
few minutes. He grabbed a rescue buoy from his truck, sprinted from 
the road across 175 yards of brush, sand and sand dunes, entered the 
water, and swam 200 feet through breakers and the rip current to reach 
A.K., who was face down in the water. He brought her to shore with 
the assistance of a visitor, and responding staff from Hyde County EMS 
began CPR on her. Despite efforts by Caswell and the EMS crew, A.K. 
was pronounced dead about a half hour later. Caswell began his NPS 
career as a lifeguard in 1976. [Jeff Cobb, CR, CAHA Group, 8/23]

                   [Additional reports pending....]

FIRE MANAGEMENT

National Fire Situation - Preparedness Level 5

Three new large fires were reported yesterday and five others were 
contained. Initial attack was light throughout the nation. 

Very high to extreme fire indices were reported in Arizona, 
California, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Texas, Utah, 
Washington and Wyoming.

NICC has not posted any fire watches or warnings for today.

For the full NICC report, see http://www.nifc.gov/news/sitreprt.pdf.

National Resource Status (Five Day Trend)

                        Mon     Tue     Wed     Thu     Fri
Date                    8/20    8/21    8/22    8/23    8/24
        
Crews                   800     805     809     788     658
Engines                 1,228   1,299   1,289   1,171   854
Helicopters             92      93      239     217     199
Air Tankers             4       3       2       2       1
Overhead                4,913   4,785   5,028   5,021   4,207
Area Command IMT        1       1       1       1       1
Type 1 IMT              7       10      11      9       10
Type 2 IMT              13      12      11      9       8
State IMT               8       8       7       6       4
Fire Use Team           2       3       3       2       2

Park Fire Situation

Yosemite NP (CA) - The Hoover Complex (5,136 acres as of Wednesday 
evening) is about five miles southeast of Glacier Point. The fire has 
been moving slowly east and north, although evening winds have also 
been pushing it downslope toward the northwest. Two fire use modules 
have been assigned. These modules are small crews of five to ten 
firefighters who help manage wildland fires. They are helping the 
park's fire use monitors by recording weather and fire behavior, 
watching for spot fires, and keeping the northwest side from spreading 
toward Yosemite Valley. Resource advisors are also on scene, assessing 
possible effects to archeological sites, vegetation and wildlife. 
Minimum impact techniques are being used to lessen adverse impacts on 
the wilderness. The Buena Vista trail has been closed from Mono Meadow 
junction to Buena Vista Lake; the Illilouette Creek trail is closed 
from the junction below Mount Starr King to Merced Pass Lakes.

Grand Canyon NP (AZ) - The park reports three new natural cause 
prescribed fires. The Vista Fire is still being monitored.

Zion NP (UT) - The park has several new lightning-caused fires, all 
under an acre. 

Extreme         N/A
Very High       Grand Teton NP
High            N/A

[Johanna Lombard, YOSE, 8/23; NPS Situation Summary Report, 8/23; NICC 
Incident Management Situation Report, 8/24]

PARKS AND PEOPLE

NPS Fire Management Program Center (ID) - The NPS is recruiting for 
someone to represent the Service on the working group that is 
developing an interagency helicopter operations guide. The group is 
primarily responsible for recommending revisions to the guide. The 
previous NPS representative moved on to a new job in another agency. 
FMPC is particularly interested in people with experience in the 
operational use of helicopters over a wide spectrum of missions, i.e. 
resource management, law enforcement, SAR, etc. Time commitments 
include one or two meetings every two years, conference calls, and 
reviewing draft changes. Per diem and travel will be covered. If 
interested, please contact Gary Johnson at 208-387-5182 or at 
gary_r_johnson@nps.gov. [Gary Johnson, FMPC]

                            *  *  *  *  *

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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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