NPS Morning Report - Tuesday, August 28, 2001
- Subject: NPS Morning Report - Tuesday, August 28, 2001
- Date: Tue, 28 Aug 2001 11:50:52 -0400
NATIONAL PARK SERVICE
MORNING REPORT
To: All National Park Service Areas and Offices
From: Division of Ranger Activities, Washington Office
Day/Date: Tuesday, August 28, 2001
INCIDENTS
01-474 - Kaloko-Honokohau NHP/Pu'uhonua o Honaunau NHP (HI) - Special
Event
Director Fran Mainella and Senator Daniel Akaka (HI) visited the parks
on August 21st. They received orientations to the area and its issues
and had an opportunity to get acquainted with park staff while being
served refreshments at the beach adjacent to Kaloko Fishpond.
Secretary Gayle Norton joined them in the evening for the traditional
Hawaiian ceremonies during sunset at Pu'uhonua o Honaunau. They were
then treated to a feast of traditional Hawaiian and local dishes at a
luau organized by the staff. Entertainment was provided by dancers and
musicians from the community. Towards the end of the evening, the
party toured the luau grounds and spoke to employees and their
families and staff from other DOI agencies based on Oahu and Hawaii.
[Les Inafuku, CR, KAHO, 8/27]
01-475 - Glen Canyon NRA (AZ/UT) - Drowning
On August 20th, N.C., 48, drowned while swimming in Lake
Powell. N.C. was swimming while the houseboat he was on drifted in
Gunsight Canyon. He swam for several minutes, showing no signs of
distress; as the houseboat maneuvered to pick him up, though, he
slipped below the surface of the water. A throw ring was tossed to
him, but he was unable to grab it. A member of the party jumped in to
assist, but N.C. had already disappeared. His body was found in 100
feet of water via side scanning sonar provided by the NPS Submerged
Cultural Resource Unit in Santa Fe. The body was recovered with the
park's remote operated vessel. The IC for the incident was ranger Jim
Gould. This was the park's tenth fatality for the year. [Mike Mayer,
ACR, GLCA, 8/27]
[Additional reports pending....]
FIRE MANAGEMENT
National Fire Situation - Preparedness Level 5
Eight new large fires were reported yesterday - six in the Rockies and
two in the Great Basin. Three others were contained. Initial attack
was again light nationwide. The California Department of Forestry and
Fire Protection confirmed the mid-air collision of two of their
Grumman S-2 aircraft yesterday afternoon. The aircraft were making
aerial retardant drops on the Bus Fire near the town of Hopland in
Mendocino County. Both pilots were killed. The National Transportation
Safety Board has been notified.
Very high to extreme fire danger was reported in Arizona, California,
Colorado, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Texas, Utah,
Washington and Wyoming.
NICC has posted a FIRE WEATHER WATCH for low humidity, gusty winds and
dry thunderstorms for western portions of southern Montana.
For the full NICC report, see http://www.nifc.gov/news/sitreprt.pdf.
National Resource Status (Five Day Trend)
Fri Sat Sun Mon Tue
Date 8/24 8/25 8/26 8/27 8/28
Crews 658 636 618 632 573
Engines 854 777 640 607 594
Helicopters 199 205 191 196 187
Air Tankers 1 5 7 6 5
Overhead 4,207 4,445 4,535 4,672 4,968
Area Command Team 1 1 1 1 1
Type 1 IMT 10 10 8 8 6
Type 2 IMT 8 8 9 9 8
State IMT 4 3 2 1 0
Fire Use Team 2 2 2 2 1
Park Fire Situation
Great Basin NP (NV) - Crews continue to make significant progress with
mop-up operations on the Granite Fire (618 acres, 85% contained, 65
FF/OH).
Yellowstone NP (WY) - The park reports several fires. The following
update was prepared yesterday:
o Arthur Fire (2,800 acres) - Lines are holding well; mop up
continues.
o Falcon Fire (3,190 acres) - Significantly more activity was
observed on the east than the west flank. Sunday's spot fire
on the south side of Falcon Creek in the Bridger-Teton NF made
an upslope run to the south, bumping into a 1988 burn once it
crested the ridge. The east flank continued to burn out
unburned fuels within the perimeter and even extended out into
the Yellowstone River valley, reaching the west bank of the
Yellowstone at one location. Isolated torching was observed on
the west and north flanks. The fire has yet to get into the
Lynx Creek drainage to the north.
o Sulphur Fire (380 acres) - More torching and short-duration
crown fire runs were observed on Sunday, but the direction of
spread shifted from directly east to southeast in response to
west/northwest winds. The head of the fire has gotten
progressively wider as numerous spots ahead of the main fire
have burned together. Ground fuels continue to hold the heat
in advance of the daily burn period, and jack piles were
actively burning throughout the night. The fire crossed the
ridge upslope to the east via spotting very late in the burn
period. The fire is being managed for resource benefits
o Little Joe Fire (700 acres) - The fire began outside of the
park's northern boundary near Reese Creek on Sunday and burned
into the park yesterday. About 130 of the total acres are
within the park. One small backcountry structure was
reportedly lost.
o Stone Fire (114 acres) - Continued torching and spotting
activity is occurring on the west, south, and southeast
flanks, resulting in the burning out of unburned tree islands
and some movement to the east. Some burning in the sedge
bottoms adjacent to the tree islands was observed, but only
when preheated by adjacent burning tree stands. The fire is
being managed for resource benefits.
o Sepulcher Fire (four acres) - A few hot spots were mopped up
and will be patrolled.
Yosemite NP (CA) - The Hoover Fire (6,401 acres) is one of five fires
in the Hoover Complex. The other four have together burned a total of
no more than 80 acres. They are being managed for resource benefits.
The park remains open to visitors. As previously noted, however,
portions of the Buena Vista and Illilouette trails remain closed.
Extreme N/A
Very High Zion NP
High Redwood NP
[Mona Divine, YELL, 8/27; Johanna Lombard, YOSE, 8/27; NPS Situation
Summary Report, 8/27; NICC Incident Management Situation Report, 8/28]
OPERATIONAL NOTES
WASO Move - As has been noted in previous editions of the Morning
Report meeting and events calendar, the Washington Office is in the
process of moving to a new building at 1800 G Street Northwest, just a
few blocks up from Main Interior. The schedule has changed, however.
Administration and Natural Resources were supposed to move into their
9th floor offices on August 24th, but that date has been pushed back
to September 7th. Operations, Professional Services and Cultural
Resources (all on the 10th floor) are still set to move on September
21st; the Directorate (8th floor) will move on October 5th. For more
information on the move, check the associated web site:
http://165.83.219.72/wapc/themove.html. By the way, if you're planning
a trip to WASO, you might keep in mind another set of dates that occur
during this period. The IMF/World Bank meeting just a few doors down
from the new NPS offices will take place on September 29th and 30th.
Some WASO offices are advising field and regional folks not to visit
them during this period, including the days just before and after the
weekend, due to the anticipated demonstrations and possibility of
police-demonstrator confrontations. [Dave Barna, Dan Hamson, Andrew
Teter, WASO]
PARKS AND PEOPLE
Delaware Water Gap NRA (PA/NJ) - Roger Parsons, the park's chief of
administration, will be leaving the agency to accept a position as
GS-14 associate director of operations for EPA and will be moving to
Minnesota in mid-October. Roger leaves his ninth park with some
sadness after 24 years with the National Park Service, but takes
solace in the fact that he will still be working to protect the
nation's natural resources. The park is working on a vacancy
announcement for the target GS-13 chief position and invites
interested parties to stay tuned to USAJobs. [Roger Parsons, DEWA]
Redwood N&SP (CA) - The vacancy announcement for the chief ranger's
position has been reissued. The position has been upgraded to GS-12/13
(subject to WASO approval) and readvertised as REDW 01-30, with a
closing date of September 18th. Applicants who responded to the
original announcement at the GS-12 level (REDW 01-25) are being
considered and need not reapply. The park is seeking applicants with
strong supervisory and program management skills in traditional
protection functions who are committed to the roles of rangers as
professional resource protectors and educators and who are excited
about the opportunity to work as a team member in a strong partnership
environment with California State Parks staff. [Andy Ringgold, REDW]
* * * * *
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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