NPS Morning Report - Thursday, May 2, 2002



                           NATIONAL PARK SERVICE
                              MORNING REPORT


To:         All National Park Service Areas and Offices

From:       Division of Ranger Activities, Washington Office

Day/Date:   Thursday, May 2, 2002

INCIDENTS

02-141 - Lake Mead NRA (NV/AZ) - Biker Gang Brawl with Fatalities and
Injuries

On Friday, April 26th, the park's special operations response team,
comprised of SET team members and rangers trained in special operations,
was dispatched to the 20th annual "River Run," a biker gathering held in
Laughlin, Nevada, and Bullhead City, Arizona - both near the park. Over
75,000 motorcycle riders participated, many of them from outlaw gangs with
wars in progress between them. The park aircraft was utilized for
observation purposes, as was a Bureau of Reclamation helicopter. Among the
gangs involved were the Hells Angels, Mongols and Vagos. The Lake Mead
team, comprised of ten rangers, was augmented by five more uniformed
rangers and rangers from Katherine. They staged out of Katherine's Landing,
where the Hells Angels had rented several houseboats. The team's mission
was to assist other agencies as needed. The park's fire engine crews were
also stationed at Katherine to provide assistance. During the early morning
hours of April 27th, a large number of Hells Angels went to the Harrah's
casino in Laughlin and confronted the Mongols. The confrontation turned
into a brawl with shootings and stabbings. All SWAT teams, local officers,
firefighters and EMS personnel responded; the park's team was asked to go
to Bullhead Hospital, where they provided protection for staff who were
treating injured and dying bikers. Word was out that many of the bikers
would continue to the hospital to finish-up what they'd started at the
casino. Three bikers died during the night, and another 14 were injured.
Rangers held their position at the hospital from 3 a.m. until relieved in
mid-morning. The casino was locked down and arrests were made, partly
through pictures taken from video cameras. Later that day, rangers and
firefighters were used to maintain a road closure on Davis Dam at the
request of the sheriffs of both of the involved counties. They also
maintained a closure down to Katherine's Landing. Later in the day, the
Hells Angels and Mongols were asked to leave the area, and most complied by
10 p.m. Laughlin was quiet and back to normal by 1 a.m. The success of the
operation was attributed in large part to the specialized training that
rangers had received. The ranger team came with a tactical command post, an
armored vehicle, and all the requisite training and equipment. Chief ranger
Dale Antonich had this to say: "I am very proud to have such professional
firefighters, investigators and rangers at Lake Mead. It took true teamwork
to pull this all off, and everyone on the staff performed as a team. The
situation was greatly hampered by the fact that many rangers are detailed
to the Hoover Dam operation or other operations, causing a severe impact on
staffing over this busy weekend." [Dale Antonich, CR, LAME, 5/1]

02-142 - Virgin Islands NS (VI) - Boat Grounding

A 25-foot rented pleasure boat went aground on a reef just off the point of
Peter Bay on the afternoon of April 27th. Ranger Al Miller arrived via
patrol boat and found "Nauti Nymph #35" aground on a reef in the Windswept
area, which is well marked with numerous "No Boat" buoys. The captain and
passenger were uninjured and not in any immediate danger. Due to the boat's
location, Miller was unable to reach it. Miller asked ranger Troy Williams
for assistance. Williams approached the boat by land and waded out to it.
Also arriving on scene was the owner of the rental company in another boat.
They attempted to pull the Nauti Nymph off the reef with a tow line, but it
broke. Williams and other people at the scene were able to turn the boat by
hand and eventually push it off the reef. The captain said that they were
looking at the expensive homes on the hillside and were not aware that
they'd entered the area until they struck the reef. He was cited for
failure to obey regulatory markers and for striking underwater features.
The damage to the coral will be evaluated by resource management staff.
This is the second ground in the park this month. [Al Miller, PR, VIIS,
5/1]

FIRE MANAGEMENT

National Fire Situation

Preparedness Level 2

The preparedness level has gone up one step.  Preparedness Level 2 goes
into effect when the following conditions are met: One geographic area
experiencing high fire danger. Wildland fire activity is occurring and a
potential exists for escapes to larger (project) fires.  Minimal
mobilization of resources from other geographic areas is occurring.  The
potential exists for mobilizing additional resources from other geographic
areas.

Initial attack was light nationwide on Tuesday, but three new large fires
were reported and three Type 1 teams are in the field. One Type 1 team
(Humphreys) has taken over from a Type 2 team that was managing the now
25,000-acre Ryan Fire in the Coronado National Forest. This wind-driven
fire is 16 miles east of Patagonia, Arizona, and has burned onto the Fort
Huachuca military base. The second Type 1 team (Bateman) has been assigned
to the Penasco Fire (200 acres) in the Lincoln National Forest in New
Mexico. The fire is threatening a subdivision, several ranches and a Girl
Scout camp. The third team (Kerrigan) is overseeing the Pleasant #2 Fire
(200 acres) in the Inyo National Forest in California.

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

National Resource Status

                  Thu   Fri   Sat   Sun   Mon   Tue
Date              4/25  4/26  4/27  4/28  4/29  4/30

Crews             41    43    26    26    18    41
Engines           191   137   108   93    77    112
Helicopters       19    17    2     13    16    20
Air Tankers       0     0     0     0     0     1
Overhead          379   378   312   294   220   343

Park Fire Situation

No new reports.

Park Fire Danger

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

[NPS Situation Summary Report, 5/1; NICC Incident Management Situation
Report, 5/1]

PARKS AND PEOPLE

Mississippi NRRA (MN) ? The park's own Charlie Maguire, the Singing Ranger,
made an appearance on ABC's Good Morning America during the morning of
April 30th in Stillwater, Minnesota. The stop in Minnesota was one of five
locations visited this week during the show's "50 States ? One Nation ? One
Year" tour. More than 4.7 million persons viewed Tuesday's show. Maguire
performed "Rivertown" which is featured on the park's "Great Mississippi"
CD.  Hired in 1995, Maguire composes and sings songs about the Mississippi
River and its people to educate the public through music. To hear the
Singing Ranger's songs about the Mississippi River, please visit
www.nps.gov/miss/charlie/. [Sara Dummer, MISS]

                               *  *  *  *  *

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

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