NPS Morning Report - Wednesday, September 12, 2001
- Subject: NPS Morning Report - Wednesday, September 12, 2001
- Date: Wed, 12 Sep 2001 11:01:40 -0400
NATIONAL PARK SERVICE
MORNING REPORT
To: All National Park Service Areas and Offices
From: Division of Ranger Activities, Washington Office
Day/Date: Wednesday, September 12, 2001
INCIDENTS
01-509 - Servicewide - Terrorist Attacks
National Park Service personnel systemwide are responding in many ways
to the terrorist attacks yesterday on Washington and New York. Here's
a summary, as of 11 a.m. today:
o WASO/Servicewide - The National Park Service's Type 1 all-risk
management team (Skip Brooks, IC) has been called out and is
in place and operating at Shenandoah NP. The team is serving
as a clearing house for information on incident-related
activities throughout the agency. Please report them to
Shenandoah NP dispatch at 540-999-3422.
o Northeast Region - All parks in Northeast Region closed
yesterday due to terrorist activity. Parks evacuated their
visitors, implemented their continuity of operations plans,
stepped-up their security - particularly at the Statue of
Liberty, Federal Hall, Boston National Historical Park and
Independence - and began sharing resources as needed.
Protection rangers from some parks traveled to others that
don't have protection staffs; two boats from Fire Island with
a boat captain and protection rangers on each assisted the
Park Police and helped move people and employees via New York
harbor. Two protection rangers were dispatched to Sandy Hook
to help with crowds that began to form along the shoreline to
view the altered New York City skyline. Two other rangers went
to Boston NHP to assist with security there. Rangers and Park
Police officers are working 12-hour shifts in the New York
City area. Miller Field in Gateway is being used as a staging
area to access Staten Island. Ellis Island has been serving
as a triage station. United Flight 93, which crashed in
southwestern Pennsylvania, came down between two parks. The
southwest Pennsylvania group superintendent reported that she
felt the ground shake when the plane impacted over ten miles
away. Federal Hall in NYC was used as a refuge by
approximately 150 people escaping the collapse of the World
Trade Towers. Park Police officers and a doctor helped them,
and the park was closed after being evacuated. The regional
all-risk Type 2 team (Brown) has been activated and will
assist the parks, make contingency plans, and provide public
information support. The team has set up shop at the regional
office in Philadelphia. Regional SET teams continue to be on
alert. All parks will be working to open up today except for
the Statue of Liberty, Federal Hall, Manhattan sites, and
Gateway sites, including Sandy Hook. Boston NHP will also
remain closed. New York parks are assessing their employees'
situations, as there will inevitably be connections with some
of the many people who lost their lives. Parks will make CISD
and EAP services available as needed. Independence will open
the Liberty Bell and Independence Hall today, but will limit
numbers of visitors and access to other areas of the park.
o National Capital Region - The regional office, all of the
downtown D.C. monuments and several parks closed yesterday.
All but the monuments have reopened. Due to the extensive Park
Police commitment, their involvement is reported separately
(below). Fifteen rangers from Monocacy, Harpers Ferry, C&O
Canal, Manassas and Prince William responded to a USPP request
for law enforcement assistance. They formed up into two squads
and staged out of the George Washington Memorial Parkway HQ
area. One squad was positioned on the National Mall near the
Capitol and at the Jefferson Memorial, mostly to enforce
closures. The second was dispatched to the Columbia Island
marina area. The Pentagon day care center evacuated about 50
children to the island, and the rangers provided support and
eventually escorted them to a Virginia DOT center in
Arlington, where they remained until picked up by their
families. Catoctin Mountain Park, located near Camp David, was
shut down yesterday and remains closed today.
o US Park Police/National Capital Region - The Park Police have
been placed on a heightened state of alert and have increased
security and patrols around all monuments and memorials. They
were evacuated and will remained closed indefinitely. These
closures are precautionary; no specific threats have been
received. All personnel have been recalled and placed on
12-hour plus tours of duty. The chief's command post (CCP) was
put into operation shortly after the second plane crash at the
World Trade Center and prior to the plane crash into the
Pentagon. As these events were occurring, USPP officers were
called upon for emergency assistance by numerous agencies,
including federal, state and local governments. They were
called upon to evacuate key members of the Department of
Interior, including Secretary Norton and her staff and
Director Mainella. They also assisted the Secret Service with
escorts for President Bush and Secretary Powell. The Aviation
Unit provided primary aerial LE support to the Park Police and
Virginia law enforcement ground units at the Pentagon and
emergency medical transportation for victims at that location.
The Secret Service requested full-time helicopter LE support
for the White House grounds and escort coverage. The Secretary
of Interior asked for the use of the Eagle helicopter for
evacuation of staff from DOI; however, due to priority
medevacs and commitment to presidential protection, that
request could not be fulfilled. At the request of DOI's Office
of Managing Risk and Public Safety, members of the USPP SWAT
team provided escorts to a secure location for the secretary's
staff. USPP officers also escorted the director and took her
and her staff to a secure location. Due to the volume of
emergency incidents occurring throughout the Washington
metropolitan area (closure of the government; road, train and
bridge closures; suspicious package/activity calls; etc), USPP
put an emergency action plan into effect, which included the
call-in of off-duty personnel, 12-hour shifts, and procurement
of food and water. Officers responded to many incidents,
including suspicious packages and vehicles; assisted the FBI
with crime scene support; assisted the Pentagon's child care
center with a group of stranded children evacuated from the
building; and cleared the entire core monument area of
pedestrians and vehicles. Road and pedestrian closures and
increased patrols were put into effect and continued
throughout the day. Some remain in effect. Other units were
deployed to the White House and the Ellipse. Requests for
assistance from federal agencies continued throughout the day
and was provided when available. The Counter Terrorism Unit
played a pivotal and unique role in the dissemination of
information and coordination of the Park Police response to
critical incidents. Working with the FBI's Counter Terrorism
Task Force and Metropolitan PD, officers provided evacuation
information, dispelled rumors, and coordinated crime scene
assistance. Departmental staff also solicited information from
members of this unit and employed them to communicate with the
FBI. The ability of USPP to access this type of information
during this critical time significantly improved the
coordination of emergency services and the safe evacuation of
DOI personnel and visitors.
o Midwest Region - Mount Rushmore and the Arch at Jefferson
National Expansion were closed yesterday. Plans are to reopen
both later today.
o Intermountain Region - The visitor center at Oklahoma City NM
has been closed.
o Pacific West Region - The USS Arizona and Cabrillo have been
closed due to the closures of immediately adjacent naval
bases. Lake Mead, Lake Roosevelt, Ross Lake and Whiskeytown
remain open, but the dams at all four areas have been closed.
Ditto for Hetch-Hetchy in Yosemite.
[Bob Martin, RCR, NER, 9/12; Einar Olsen, RCR, NCR, 9/12; Sgt. R.
MacLean, USPP, NCR, 9/12; Dennis McGinnis, Type 1 team, SHEN, 9/12;
Dennis Burnett, RAD/WASO, 9/12]
FIRE MANAGEMENT
National Fire Situation - Preparedness Level 3
The Forest Service has been tasked by FEMA with providing two Type 1
incident management teams (Gage and Bateman) to manage mobilization
and distribution centers in response to the New York City and Pentagon
disasters. One additional Type 1 team (Stutler) has been ordered to
stage in preparation for incident mobilization as needed.
Two new large fires were reported yesterday, both in California. Two
more were contained. Initial activity was light nationwide.
Very high to extreme indices were reported in Arizona, California,
Colorado, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, Oregon, Texas, Utah and Wyoming.
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)
Sat Sun Mon Tue Wed
Date 9/8 9/9 9/10 9/11 9/12
Crews 309 317 238 230 253
Engines 363 327 213 212 237
Helicopters 86 84 86 76 75
Air Tankers 0 0 0 2 1
Overhead 2,029 2,279 1,762 1,667 1,670
Park Fire Situation
Glacier NP (MT) - The Moose fire (67,400 acres, approximately 17,000
within the park; Type 2 team w/367 FF/OH committed - including 10
crews, three engines, six helicopters) has been 75% contained. Full
containment is forecast for September 13th. The acreage has increased
due to better mapping.
Extreme Hawaii Volcanoes NP
Very High Mojave NP, Zion NP
High N/A
[NPS Situation Summary Report, 9/11; NICC Incident Management
Situation Report, 9/12]
* * * * *
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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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