NPS Morning Report - Tuesday, September 11, 2001



                        NATIONAL PARK SERVICE
                           MORNING REPORT


To:         All National Park Service Areas and Offices

From:       Division of Ranger Activities, Washington Office

Day/Date:   Tuesday, September 11, 2001

INCIDENTS

01-507 - Curecanti NRA (CO) - Search; Fatality

On the morning of September 6th, R.H., 67, of Grand Junction, 
was taking his boat out of Blue Mesa Reservoir when it slipped off its 
trailer and began to drift out into the lake. R.H. attempted to swim 
to the boat, which was about 30 feet from shore, but tired on the way 
and attempted unsuccessfully to make it back to the shore. Bystanders 
tried to rescue him with a line and flotation device before he sank 
beneath the water. Park personnel and a county dive team searched for, 
found, and recovered his body 15 feet from shore in 30 feet of water 
about an hour later. The preliminary autopsy report indicates that 
R.H., who had a history of heart disease, suffered a fatal heart 
attack during the episode. [Linda Alick, CR, CURE, 9/10]

01-508 - New River Gorge NRA (WV) - Suicide

The Fayette County 911 center received a report that a woman had 
jumped off the New River Gorge Bridge around 8:45 a.m. on Sunday, 
September 9th. Rangers, deputies and state troopers responded. The 
deputy sheriff who arrived first on the scene saw what appeared to be 
the body of the woman floating downriver and through the rapids below 
the bridge, but then lost sight of the victim. A search of the river 
corridor was accordingly begun. Protection and river patrol rangers 
worked with volunteer diving teams to search the river downstream from 
the bridge. A vehicle left on the bridge was found to belong to a 
local 74-year-old Fayetteville woman. Yesterday, an air scent search 
dog was brought in to assist with the search. The dog alerted several 
times at an area about 15 yards downstream from the point last seen. 
The dive teams concentrated their efforts in that area and soon 
discovered the woman's body in approximately 18 feet of water. Rangers 
transported the woman's body downriver by boat to Tayes Landing, where 
it was turned over to the Fayette County Sheriff's Department.  [Gary 
Hartley, CR, NERI, 9/10]

FIRE MANAGEMENT

National Fire Situation - Preparedness Level 3

Three new large fires were reported yesterday, one each in the 
northern Rockies, eastern Great Basin and Northwest. One large fire 
was contained in the Northwest. Initial attack was light nationwide. 

Very high to extreme indices were reported in Oregon, California, 
Idaho, Utah, Nevada, Arizona, Colorado, and Montana.

NICC has not issued any watches or warnings for today.

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                    9/7     9/8     9/9     9/10    9/11
        
Crews                   277     309     317     238     230
Engines                 387     363     327     213     212
Helicopters             116     86      84      86      76
Air Tankers             1       0       0       0       2
Overhead                2,287   2,029   2,279   1,762   1,667

Park Fire Situation

Glacier NP (MT) - Activity has picked up on the Moose fire (66,800 
acres, approximately 24,000 within the park; 45% contained, no 
estimate for full containment; Type 1 team w/425 FF/OH committed - 
including 10 crews and three engines). Some occasional torching has 
been observed. There's been on increase in acreage, however. A Type 2 
team will take over the fire today.

Extreme         Hawaii Volcanoes NP
Very High       Zion NP
High            Joshua Tree NP, Grand Teton NP, Carlsbad Caverns NP

[NPS Situation Summary Report, 9/10; NICC Incident Management 
Situation Report, 9/11]

PARKS AND PEOPLE

Southern Arizona Group (AZ) - The National Park Service maintains an 
agreement with BLM in which the two agencies operate a joint dispatch 
center in Phoenix for fire, law enforcement, search and rescue and EMS 
support. BLM has posted a vacancy announcement for permanent GS-6/7 
dispatcher (announcement number DD118562 on USA Jobs) which is open 
through September 17th. BLM plans to hire three additional dispatchers 
for the center; the positions will be open to all sources. This is an 
excellent opportunity for individuals who wish to get their foot in 
the door with the federal government. The vacancy announcement is 
listed under the title "range technician (dispatcher)," but don't be 
misled by the title or the occupational questions on page 7 of the 
announcement. It is strictly a full-time dispatch position. Be sure to 
respond to the questions on pages 8-9 under section 3 and the 
questions which follow regarding knowledge of fire dispatch/initial 
attack procedures and guidelines, computerized investigative searches, 
law enforcement investigations, etc. The two agencies are in serious 
need of some good, dedicated individuals for these jobs supporting NPS 
parks and field rangers in southern Arizona as well as BLM areas 
throughout the state.  Funding is available. If you have any questions 
regarding this announcement, please call either Vickie Jensen at 
623-580-5516 or Margo Fitts at 623-580-5610. [Dwayne Collier, SOAR]

                            *  *  *  *  *

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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