NPS Morning Report - Wednesday, July 10, 2002



                           NATIONAL PARK SERVICE
                              MORNING REPORT


To:         All National Park Service Areas and Offices

From:       Division of Ranger Activities, Washington Office

Day/Date:   Wednesday, July 10, 2002

INCIDENTS

02-291 - War in the Pacific NHS (Guam) - Typhoon Halong

Preparations are underway at American Memorial Park in Saipan and War in
the Pacific NHP in Guam (the two are referred to by the latter for
brevity's sake) for the arrival of Typhoon Halong. The storm is currently
located 140 miles southeast of Guam and 225 miles south of Saipan and
moving west-northwest at 15 mph. It's expected to pass just south of Guam;
although it currently has maximum sustained winds of 85 mph and gusts to
105 mph, it's expected to strengthen before arriving in the area. The VC at
War in the Pacific, slightly damaged by Typhoon Chata'an, has been closed
since that storm passed over Guam late last week. All park staff remain at
home. There have been no injuries to either staff or family members. Power,
phones and other utilities on Guam remain sporadic and unavailable in most
areas. Staff at American Memorial worked until noon on July 10th (yesterday
on local time), then were sent home. [Chuck Sayon, Site Manager, AMME,
7/10]

02-292 - Mount Rainier NP (WA) - Rescue

Rescue efforts were set in motion to locate two overdue climbers on the
demanding Liberty Ridge Route on Saturday, June 29th. The climbers were
supposed to have been out on Wednesday, June 26th. They'd been seen by
rangers that day at 13,000 feet, but made it clear that they were not in
need of assistance. The weather over the next few days was extremely bad,
with winds blowing up to 50 mph and temperatures around 15 degrees at the
summit. A storm on Friday night was accompanied by snow and winds well over
150 mph. Climbing and backcountry rangers began a search with assistance
from an Army Reserve Chinook helicopter. An ice axe was located near a
crevasse that had been used as an anchor for a rope leading down into the
crevasse. Tent poles with flagging on top marking the crevasse were spotted
on the summit during aerial reconnaissance. Climbing rangers who had been
taken to the summit by the Chinook to begin a ground search were able to
locate the equipment and the missing party. After summiting Wednesday
night, climbers D.Q., 32, and A.M., 40, realized they
would not be able to set up their tent. To get out of the weather, they
climbed 35 feet into the crevasse and dug a shelf where they spent several
epic days and nights waiting out the storm and staving off hypothermia.
They melted water by filling their water bottles with snow and placing them
in their sleeping bags, and took turns climbing out of the crevasse each
day to re-set the tent poles. Climbing rangers assisted the climbers out of
the crevasse and they were airlifted off the summit. Due to their weakened
condition, it's doubtful that they would have survived without rescue. Mike
Gauthier was IC for this incident. [Patti Wold, Interpretive Specialist,
MORA, 6/29]

02-293 - Mount Rainier NP (WA) - Rescue

At 8:30 a.m. on June 29th, a three men from Idaho was descending the
mountain on the Kautz Glacier Route when Youn Phan slipped on the Turtle
Snowfield at 8,900 feet. He self-arrested with his ice axe, during which
his crampon dug into the snow, locking his foot in place and probably
dislocating and breaking his ankle. One member of the party reported the
accident at 10:30 a.m. at Paradise while the other remained with Phan. Two
climbing rangers were lowered by hoist to a point 500 vertical feet above
the injured party, then climbed down to him. Two backcountry rangers and
five members of Tacoma Mountain Rescue began the climb up from Paradise to
assist with a carryout, but the weather remained clear and Phan was
evacuated by the same Chinook that brought the two climbers off Liberty
Ridge (above) at last light. Rick Kirschner was IC for this incident.
[Patti Wold, Interpretive Specialist, MORA, 6/29]

02-294 - Capitol Reef NP (UT) - Search and Rescue

On the evening of June 27th, park staff received a cell phone call from two
visitors who reported that the other six members of their church group were
lost and dehydrated in the Halls Creek drainage, a remote backcountry
canyon route. The temperature that day had exceeded 100 degrees. Nightfall
prevented an overflight by Glen Canyon NRA aircraft, so ranger/EMT Mark
Thompson and biologist Dave Worthington drove to the trailhead at the
southern end of the park to meet the reporting party. While assessing the
situation, lights from the remaining members of the party were eventually
spotted from the canyon rim, and Thompson and Worthington hiked in, met the
group at about 1:30 a.m., and discovered that they had filtered water they
had found and that there were no medical problems. The group of teenage
boys from Utah, led by former Army Ranger Kirk Weisler, had become
disoriented and split up, unable to find the Narrows, a prominent feature
of the canyon. The group had not obtained information on the route or the
required backcountry permit from park staff, and lit a campfire despite
burning restrictions in place in the park and throughout the state.
Earlier in their trip the group had hiked the Narrows at Zion NP and had
been SCUBA diving at Lake Mead NRA.  [Tom Cox, CARE, 6/29]

02-295 - C&O Canal NHP (MD) - Fatality

Rangers contacted a large group of people consuming alcohol in the park
around 10 p.m. on June 30th. While the rangers were checking the group for
warrants, D.K., 24, of West Virginia, slipped away and fled. When
questioned, none of the others in the group reported knowing that he was
gone. Fishermen nearby said that they'd seen a man matching D.K.'s
description heading up the tow path. The rangers looked for him, but
without luck. The next morning, two people from the group told state police
that they'd seen D.K. jump into the Potomac River and that they were to
have picked him up at a known location on the West Virginia side. When he
failed to appear, they became concerned. They also told police that a boat
had come up the river and that they thought they heard it hit something in
the water and stop and circle before it continued on up river. With the
assistance of numerous agencies, divers searched the river until dark on
July 1st. On July 2nd, they found D.K.'s body on the river bottom in about
24 feet of water. Evidence indicated that he'd been hit by a boat. Alcohol
is thought to have been a contributing factor. Rangers confirmed that there
was an active warrant out for D.K. State DNR is investigating the
fatality, since they have primary jurisdiction on the Potomac River.
[Dwight Dixon, Acting CR, CHOH, 7/3]

02-296 - Great Smoky Mountains NP (NC/TN) - Fugitive Arrested

On June 20th, backcountry ranger Gene Wesloh contacted a man regarding a
backcountry permit violation at a remote location in the North Carolina
section of the park. A check was run for "wants" via park radio; he came
back as not wanted, so he was issued a citation and released. Three days
later, the Polk County Sheriff's Office in Florida entered a fugitive
warrant against the man. Since NCIC runs what is called a "delayed Q" on
all entries - search inquiries for the previous 72 hours to see if any
agencies have queried the files on the person or item being entered into
the system - park dispatch was notified of this entry and forwarded the
information to rangers for follow-up. Rangers and county officers talked
and determined that there was reason to believe that the man was still in
the park. Searches over a wide stretch of backcountry north of Fontana Lake
over a two-day period led to the man's apprehension on the afternoon of
June 29th. He will be extradited to Florida. Charges against the man
included use of juveniles in pornography, distribution of pornography, and
numerous counts of sexual involvement with minors. The area where the
arrest was made was so remote that rangers had to relay new of the
apprehension through Swain County EMS dispatch, hike several miles with the
prisoner, then transport him via park boat to a waiting cruiser. [Jack
Ramsden, Communications Center, GRSM, 7/1]

[Additional reports pending...]

FIRE MANAGEMENT

National Fire Situation

Preparedness Level 5

Initial attack was moderate yesterday in the eastern Great Basin, Rockies,
Southwest and northern California and light elsewhere. A total of 360 new
fires were reported, three of which became large fires.

Very high to extreme fire indices were reported in Arizona, California,
Colorado, Kansas, Nebraska, Nevada, New Mexico, Montana, North Dakota,
Oklahoma, Oregon, South Dakota, Texas, Utah, Washington and Wyoming.

Priorities for large fires in the Southwest, the Rockies and the Great
Basin are being established by the multi-agency coordinating groups for
those areas.

For a map showing the locations of current major fires , click on
http://www.nifc.gov/fireinfo/firemap.html ; for details on all major fires
currently burning, click on http://www.nifc.gov/news/sitreprt.pdf or
http://www.nifc.gov/fireinfo/nfn.html.

National Resource Commitments

                  Tue   Wed   Thu   Fri   Sat   Sun   Mon   Tue
Date              7/2   7/3   7/4   7/5   7/6   7/7   7/8   7/9

Crews             372   388   389   ***   329   276   264   207
Engines           950   715   768   ***   632   551   585   444
Helicopters       138   130   135   ***   145   137   141   119
Air Tankers       3     1     1     ***   1     3     4     4
Overhead          2,934 3,248 3,001 ***   2,877 2,890 2,711 2,141
Area Commands     2     2     2     ***   0     0     0     0
Type 1 IMT        8     8     9     ***   7     4     3     3
Type 2 IMT        15    15    15    ***   10    8     7     7
Fire Use IMT            2     1     1     ***   1     2     2     1

*** - Report not available

National Fire Warnings and Watches

NICC has issued a RED FLAG WARNING for high temperatures and low relative
humidity for southwestern Idaho.

Park Fire Situation


Yellowstone NP (WY) - Strong, gusty winds from a cold front passage created
extreme fire behavior conditions on the Broad Fire on Monday. Crews were
constructing fire lines and reestablishing a helispot when a decision was
made to pull back because of safety concerns due to the increased fire
activity. GPS mapping revealed that the wind-driven fire has grown to 2,550
acres. The fire is located six miles east of Mt. Washburn on the east side
of the Yellowstone River in very rugged, inaccessible terrain, well away
from any developed areas. It is not threatening any structures. Other than
a small area near Agate Creek, no backcountry campsites or trails are
affected; visitors planning to stay in this remote backcountry area need to
check with the backcountry office for specific information. The fire, which
is burning in very heavy fuels in old growth forest and in heavy
accumulations of dead and down woody fuel, has the potential to put up a
great volume of smoke and may be visible to park visitors. Previous 1988
fire burns are a few miles east of the fire and near Agate and Quartz
Creek. Because of continuing extreme fire behavior on this fire, no crews
were dispatched to the fire yesterday. A fire use management team has been
ordered.

Shenandoah NP (VA) - The Rocky Top II fire (375 acres) is burning in
bug-killed pine, rhododendron, leaf litter and understory about five miles
east of Port Republic. Crews continue to construct fire lines in remote and
rugged terrain. A total of 125 firefighters and overhead have been
committed.

[NICC Incident Management Situation Report, 7/10; Public Affairs,
Yellowstone NP, 7/9]

PARKS AND PEOPLE

Point Reyes NS (CA) - A vacancy announcement for the park's GS-12/13 chief
ranger position has been announced in USAJobs. The vacancy announcement is
NPS PORE-02-37 and closes on July 26th. Point Reyes NS administers
approximately 90,000 acres of biologically diverse lands on the northern
central coast of California.  Cultural resources include over 250 historic
structures and 100 archeological sites. The park also has a strong
leadership team. Occupancy of government housing may be required. The chief
ranger is responsible for a wide range of complex natural resource and
visitor protection programs.  The incumbent's management duties include the
planning, direction, and execution of the visitor management and protection
division and execution of the special park uses and horse operations
branches. She/he provides leadership and oversight for a variety of diverse
programs, including emergency  medical services, search and rescue,
physical and visitor security, boat operations, oil and other hazardous
materials spill response, wilderness management, fee programs, concessions
management, ranch management, and many special park uses.  For additional
information, call Don Neubacher at 415-464-5101. (Don Neubacher, PORE)

                               *  *  *  *  *

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

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