NPS Morning Report - Wednesday, May 1, 2002



                           NATIONAL PARK SERVICE
                              MORNING REPORT


To:         All National Park Service Areas and Offices

From:       Division of Ranger Activities, Washington Office

Day/Date:   Wednesday, May 1, 2002

INCIDENTS

02-138 - Great Smoky Mountains NP (NC/TN) - Camper Explosion with Serious
Injury

R.C., 71, a campground host at Cosby Campground, was badly burned
in a propane gas explosion around 5 p.m. on April 26th. Ruth and her
husband, F.C., had just left the campground contact station and returned
to their camper trailer. As Ruth started to prepare dinner, she turned the
propane stove burner on, apparently leaving it on for longer than normal,
and used a gas lighter to start the burner. The lighter ignited the gas
vapors in the trailer, causing a huge explosion that consumed the entire
kitchen, dining and sitting area of the trailer. R.C., who was standing
over the stove, was badly burned on her face, forehead, ears, head, hands
and arms. F.C. was sitting on the sofa in the sitting area of the trailer
when the explosion occurred; he suffered only singed hair and was not
injured. He ran to assist his wife, threw a coat over her head,
extinguished the fire in her hair, and took her outside of the trailer.
F.C. then called over the park radio for help; ranger Steve Kloster and
visitor use assistant Bob Zydanowicz responded from the Cosby Ranger
Station and provided medical assistance. After calling for help and making
sure his wife was safe outside of the trailer, F.C. went back inside the
trailer and extinguished a fire that was starting to burn in the cabinets
and sofa. R.C. was transported to Cocke County Baptist Hospital,
then flown to Elander Burn Center in Chattanooga. She remains in the burn
center in critical but stable condition with second degree burns on her
face, ears, head, hands and arms. [Rick Brown, DR, GRSM, 4/28]

02-139 - Mount Rushmore NM (SD) - Felony Arrest

On the afternoon of April 26th, ranger Lee Buschkowsky stopped a vehicle
for speeding on Highway 244 within the park. The NCIC check on the driver,
S.T., came back with an active felony warrant against him for
burglary in Kentucky. Buschkowsky confirmed that the warrant was active and
that Kentucky would extradite. There were six other people in the vehicle,
so Buschkowsky called for backup. Rangers Mark Davison and Todd Van Alstyne
responded immediately. Buschkowsky and Davison drew their service handguns,
and Van Alstyne took positions with a service AR-15 rifle. The rangers then
took the driver out and to a safe location, where he was placed under
arrest. No shots were fired and no one was injured. A county deputy took
custody of S.T. for transport and extradition. [Mike Pflaum, CR, MORU,
4/30]

02-140 - Gulf Islands NS (FL/MS) - Body Found

A visitor to the Fort Pickens area of the park saw a body floating in the
Gulf of Mexico on the morning of April 25th. County deputies were fist on
scene and pulled the body of R.B.K., Jr., 30, of Cottondale,
Alabama, out of the surf. R.B.K. was clothed only in cut-off jean shorts;
there were no visible signs of trauma on him, and he evidently had not been
in the surf for long. The prevailing surf conditions were calm, with no rip
current present. Rangers found R.B.K.'s car in a nearby parking lot with
large amounts of prescription drugs inside. Rangers are working on the case
with the state medical examiner's office. An autopsy was completed on April
26th, but toxicology reports are still pending. [CRO, GUIS, 4/30]

FIRE MANAGEMENT

National Fire Situation

Preparedness Level 1

Initial attack was light nationwide on Monday. Three new fires were
reported - the 3,000-acre Ryan Fire on the Coronado NF in Arizona (5%
contained), the 180-acre Breen Fire on state lands southeast of Durango,
Colorado (0% contained), and the 300-acre Kellogg Fire on the Humboldt-Del
Norte Resource Unit in California (100% contained). A Type 2 IMT (Kvale) is
assigned to the Ryan Fire.

Very high to extreme fire indices were reported in Arizona, California,
Colorado, New Mexico and Texas.

National Resource Status

                  Wed   Thu   Fri   Sat   Sun   Mon
Date              4/24  4/25  4/26  4/27  4/28  4/29

Crews             73    41    43    26    26    18
Engines           150   191   137   108   93    77
Helicopters       24    19    17    2     13    16
Air Tankers       0     0     0     0     0     0
Overhead          463   379   378   312   294   220

Park Fire Situation

No new reports.

Park Fire Danger

Extreme - Lake Mead NRA
Very High - N/A
High - Everglades NP

[NPS Situation Summary Report, 4/30; NICC Incident Management Situation
Report, 4/30]

PARKS AND PEOPLE

Ranger Activities Division/WASO (DC) - Lee Dickinson, the Service's special
park uses coordinator, successfully underwent a kidney transplant operation
early on the morning of Sunday, April 28th. She has been on a wait list for
several years, and her number came up late Saturday night. Lee is resting
comfortably in the ICU in Thomas Jefferson Hospital in Philadelphia and
unable to take phone calls. She will be moved to a private room later this
week. If everything goes well, she will be discharged sometime next week
and will begin a recuperation period of about six weeks. Once the location
of her recuperation is known, the address will be posted in the Morning
Report for those interested in sending her cards and letters. [Dennis
Burnett, RAD/WASO]

Virgin Islands NP/Coral Reef NM (VI) -The park is recruiting for two
permanent GS-9 protection rangers who will perform the full range of ranger
duties by vehicle, vessel and foot. A 22.5% COLA will be added to pay.
Relocation expenses will be paid and government housing is available.
Please refer to USA Jobs for more details on the positions or contact
either Mindy Silva at 340-776-6201 ext. 258 or chief ranger Steve Clark at
ext. 254. The announcement closes on May 31st. [CRO, VIIS]

NPS/FLETC (GA) -National Park Ranger Integrated Training Program Class 202
(NPRI-202) graduated from FLETC on April 24th. As the first class to
receive training under the new six day work week program, the rangers
established some very high standards for subsequent classes, with superior
individual and group achievements. Michael P. Michener (EVER) was top
driver with a perfect 300 score; five other rangers were also recognized
for perfect driving skills. Rangers Eric D. LaSalle (GOGA), Michener and
David J. Ross (YELL) received the distinguished fitness award (equivalent
to a score of 500) on the PEB, while two other students received a fitness
award (equivalent to scoring above 95%) on the PEB. D. Patrick Peralez
(BICA) was high firearms expert with a 295 out of a possible 300 points; he
was joined by five other rangers who qualified as expert shooters. Amy
Mowat (BIBE) was the class scholar with an outstanding 97.54 FLETC academic
average. She was joined by another ranger who scored above 95% in the
academic portion of the training course. Casey J. Osback (AGFO) received
the class nomination for the FLETC director's award as the outstanding
ranger of the class. Greg Wozniak (GRSM) received the NPS director's award,
which recognizes the graduating student who achieved the highest overall
average of all integrated training phases without remediating any practical
exercises. Greg's final overall average was an outstanding 97.418 score. A
total of ten rangers scored above 95% in the overall scoring, and the class
average was an amazing 93.47. Congratulations to NPRI-202 on a job well
done! NPRI-203 is now in progress at FLETC, with NPRI-204 scheduled to
arrive in May. [Don Usher, WASO-FLETC]

                               *  *  *  *  *

Prepared by the Division of Ranger Activities, WASO, with the cooperation
and support of Delaware Water Gap NRA.

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