NPS Morning Report - Monday, July 29, 2002



                           NATIONAL PARK SERVICE
                              MORNING REPORT


To:         All National Park Service Areas and Offices

From:       Division of Ranger Activities, Washington Office

Day/Date:   Monday, July 29, 2002

INCIDENTS

02-334 - Capitol Reef (UT) - Flash Flood; Road Closures

Flash flood season arrived at Capitol Reef about six weeks later than usual
on the afternoon of July 25th. A sudden, small, but intense thunderstorm
dumped about an inch of rain within a few minutes on Miners Mountain and
the Waterpocket Fold, causing flooding in Capitol Gorge and Grand Wash and
eventually the Fremont River. Employees from five divisions responded,
locating visitor vehicles within the flood area, closing roads, and
monitoring flow in various drainages. Eleven people in three vehicles, all
foreign visitors, were stranded in Capitol Gorge, where the road follows
the wash bottom and the water level was two feet deep. Two of these
vehicles were left in the flowing water as all visitors followed safety
advisories and scrambled to high ground. There were no injuries. The
vehicles were driven out a few hours later when the water receded and the
park's road grader was able to reach them. Another dozen vehicles were
stranded for almost two hours at high points between concrete wash
crossings along the paved Scenic Drive. Some road closures will remain in
effect through today as maintenance crews clear mud and debris. Ranger Pete
Fonken was IC. Drought conditions continue; with the addition of this
rainfall, Capitol Reef has received only 1.63 inches total precipitation in
the official water year, which began on October 1, 2001. Average annual
precipitation is 7 inches.  [Tom Cox, ACR, CARE]

02-335 - Glacier NP (MT) - Rescue; Man Swept Over Falls

Late on the afternoon of Monday, July 22nd, D.W., 42, of Spokane,
reportedly ventured beyond the fence above Upper McDonald Falls, slipped,
fell into Upper McDonald Creek, went over the falls, struck a rock, and
then came ashore below the falls. His family sought help from others
nearby, one of whom provided two sleeping bags. The group then wrapped
D.W. in the bags to help prevent hypothermia. A construction crew was
flagged down on the Going-to-the-Sun Road, who in turn reported the
accident via radio to park headquarters at approximately 6 p.m. Three park
rangers and a local ambulance were dispatched to the scene. After
preliminary assessments, D.W. was placed in a cervical collar as a
precautionary measure, then placed upon a backboard while being treated for
hypothermia. He was transported to a hospital via, where he was treated and
released Monday evening. [Amy Vanderbilt, PAO, GLAC]

02-336 - Harpers Ferry NHP (WV/MD/VA) - Search for Missing Employee

S.W., 37, a former VIP at Great Smoky Mountains NP, checked into
the park on July 14th, where he was scheduled to begin work the next day as
a visitor use assistant. His supervisor assigned him to seasonal quarters,
and he unpacked some items and told his roommate that he was going out to
get something to eat. When he failed to appear at work the next day, a
check was made. S.W., his vehicle, and all his belongings were gone.
Ranger John McCutcheon subsequently received a note from S.W.'s father
advising him that a female friend of his son's had received an email
message from him with some suicidal phrases in it. S.W. was entered into
NCIC as a missing person. An old girlfriend of S.W. then reported
receiving emails from him that put him on the road to Wupatki NM, where
he'd also worked as a volunteer. A nationwide lookout was issued. On July
21st, S.W. was found at a motel by police officers in Winslow, Arizona.
S.W. agreed to be committed to a local hospital. His employment at
Harpers Ferry was terminated. [Scot McElveen, CR, HAFE]

02-337 - Lake Mead NRA (NV/AZ) - Double Drowning

A family of five rented a patio boat from the Las Vegas Bay Marina on July
21st and traveled to a location south of Las Vegas Bay. The father, 48,
attempted to teach his son, 18, how to swim. At some point, the son
disappeared under the surface, and the father dove down after him. The
water depth at that point is in excess of 150 feet. Neither resurfaced.
Rangers responded, with the first unit arriving within 15 minutes of the
initial call. Dive operations were conducted but were unsuccessful because
of the depth of the water. The surviving members of the family - the mother
and two daughters - were put in contact with a trauma intervention team.
The search continues. [Kevin Hendricks, ACR, LAME]

02-338 - Upper Delaware S&RR (NY/PA) - Drowning

On the evening of July 13th, seven-year-old J.E. and his
ten-year-old sister and thirteen-year-old brother were playing on the shore
of the Delaware River in the Kittatinny Minisink Campground. J.E. was
swimming and wading in the river with his sister and a cousin. The two
older children became separated from J.E. because of the current; when
they returned to the area where he had been, he was gone. The children
called for help and rangers were summoned. When they arrived, they found
that four to six people were already searching for the boy. One of the
snorkelers found J.E. but was unable to retrieve him. A diver found him
and brought him to the surface; he was transferred to a canoe and brought
to shore, where CPR was begun. J.E. was taken to a hospital in Port
Jervis, New York, where he was pronounced dead by ER physicians. [Cliff
Daniels, SPR, UPDE]

02-339 - Upper Delaware S&RR (NY/PA) - Drowning

G.G. and H.S. arrived at the Highland access on the
afternoon of July 6th and went into the river to cool off. Both entered at
the end of the ramp. G.G. subsequently returned to shore, then attempted to
rejoin H.S. in the river. This time he stepped into deep water and began
to panic. He called to H.S. for help, but H.S. was unable to help him to
shore. G.G. then went under. Visitor Gennadiy Unigovski entered the river,
found G.G., and brought him to shore, where he and other bystanders began
CPR. Rangers and local officers responded and G.G. was taken to the
hospital. He was pronounced dead there by doctors. [Cliff Daniels, SPR,
UPDE]

02-340 - Blue Ridge Parkway (NC/TN) - MVA with Fatality

J.K., 65, of Tucker, Georgia, died on July 12th from injuries
sustained in a motorcycle accident that occurred on the parkway on May
12th. His passenger, J.G., sustained only minor injuries. The case
ranger is supervisory park ranger Terry Morris. [John Garrison, LES, BLRI]

[Additional reports pending. . . . ]

FIRE MANAGEMENT

National Fire Situation

Preparedness Level 5

Initial attack was light nationwide on Friday, Saturday and Sunday.
Although there were 426 new starts over the three-day period, only six
became large fires; meanwhile, another dozen large fires were contained.
The most significant large fires are generally in Oregon, except for the
McNally Fire in the Sequoia National Forest in California.

Three members of a Lassen National Forest engine crew were killed and two
others were injured when their engine went off a road in the middle of the
night and rolled down a slope. They had been working on the Stanza fire
outside of Happy Camp, California.

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

Three area command teams are in the field - Mann's team has been assigned
to southeast Oregon to manage the large fires there, the Williams-Rhodes
team is assigned to management of large fires on the Malheur and Ochoco
National Forests in Oregon, and Ribar's team is managing fires in southwest
Oregon.

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

                  Sat   Sun   Mon   Tue   Wed   Thu   Fri   Sat   Sun
Date              7/20  7/21  7/22  7/23  7/24  7/25  7/26  7/27  7/28

Crews             516   520   568   646   674   628   658   651   682
Engines           1,006 1,013 1,175 1,057 1,078 1,012 1,021 1,040 1,024
Helicopters       144   147   153   175   197   153   175   187   175
Air Tankers       5     7     13    13    15    10    10    10    4
Overhead          4,104 4,830 4,391 4,320 4,887 4,546 4,378 4,591 5,284
Area Commands     2     2     2     3     3     3     3     3     3
Type 1 IMT        10    11    10    11    10    9     6     6     9
Type 2 IMT        15    14    12    14    15    13    14    14    11
T1/T2 S/IMT *     4     4     4     4     3     4     4     3     3
Fire Use IMT            1     1     1     1     1     1     1     1     1

* Type 1 and Type 2 state incident management teams
# Information not available

National Fire Warnings and Watches

NIFC has issued a RED FLAG WARNING for strong north winds for southwest
Oregon.

Park Fire Situation

Sequoia NP - The McNalley Fire has burned 67,500 acres and is 30%
contained. According to the fire information officer, most of the activity
today and on coming days will be on the fire's north flank. They foresee no
threats to giant sequoia groves or to the park.

Yellowstone NP - Due to heavy rains again on Saturday and the excellent
work completed by suppression personnel, only minimal resources remain
assigned to the Broad Fire. An infrared flight on Saturday morning
determined that all smokes were deep within the perimeter.  A medium
helicopter with rappel module and a light helicopter with crew remain
assigned, as well as miscellaneous overhead. IR will be flown regularly.
The Brimstone Fire has burned a tenth of an acre on the east shore of Lake
Yellowstone in heavy lodgepole and subalpine fir. Initial attack was made
by the park contract Alouette III helicopter and four firefighters,
subsequently supported by four helirappellers.  The fire is currently
contained and in mopup phase. The Cottonwood, Forest, Sink, Jones, Red,
Howard and Moose Fires all remain in patrol status

Mesa Verde NP - The Cowboy Wayne, Cedar Tree and Zubia lightning-caused
fires (a tenth of an acre each) have been contained and controlled.

Zion NP - As of Saturday, the Hop Valley Fire had burned one acre and was
staffed with a squad of ten firefighters with helicopter support. Land
ownership had not been determined, as there are several land owners within
the immediate area.  Containment was predicted for that evening, but there
was still potential for growth.

[NICC Incident Management Situation Report, 7/27-9]

PARKS AND PEOPLE

Tonto NM (AZ) ? The park is seeking a full performance, level one
commissioned ranger at the GS-9 level for a lateral reassignment. The
person will serve as the primary field ranger in the visitor protection
program. Duties will include front and backcountry patrols and
archeological site monitoring, interpretive services, air quality
monitoring, and cultural and natural resource management projects. This
position has primary 6 (c) designation. Occupancy of government housing is
required. The 1,120-acre park is located in an upper Sonoran desert
environment in central Arizona, 125 miles east of Phoenix and 30 miles
northwest of Globe. Outdoor recreation opportunities are plentiful, with
boating and fishing at nearby Roosevelt Lake and hiking in the surrounding
Tonto National Forest. Questions about this position should be directed to
Susan Hughes, chief of Interpretation and Visitor Services, at
928-467-2241. If you are interested, send a SF-171, OF-612, or resume and
your most recent SF-50 to administrative officer Lupe Carrasco at HC 02 Box
4602, Roosevelt, Arizona. Applications must be received no later than close
of business on August 9th to be considered. [Susan Hughes, TONT]

Montezuma Castle NM (AZ) - The park is extending the recruitment period for
a GS-025-09 permanent protection ranger until August 5th. The position is
currently being advertised through USA Jobs as vacancy announcement
SOAR-02-36. The position is located at Montezuma Well, a detached unit of
Montezuma Castle National Monument.  For more information, contact Sherry
Wood at 928-567-5276 ext. 222. [Steve Sandell, MOCA]

                               *  *  *  *  *

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

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