NATIONAL PARK SERVICE
                           MORNING REPORT

To:         All National Park Service Areas and Offices

From:       Division of Ranger Activities, Washington Office

Day/Date:   Wednesday, August 28, 2002

INCIDENTS

02-392 - Great Smoky Mountains NP (TN/NC) - Follow-up: Serious Employee
Injury

Firefighter Carly Pearson, 26, from Maryville, Tennessee, sustained a
serious back injury while on assignment to a fire in Oregon on Saturday,
August 17th, and has since undergone surgery and is recuperating. The
park has set up a fund to collect contributions for Carly. Send them to
Great Smoky Mountains National Park, c/o Leon Konz, Fire Management
Officer, 107 Park Headquarters Road, Gatlinburg, TN 37738. Please make
checks payable to E&AA (NPS Employee and Alumni Association). Questions
should be directed to Leon at 865-436-1247. [Nancy Gray, PIO, GRSM]

02-421 - Glen Canyon NRA (UT/AZ) - Drowning; Carbon Monoxide Poisoning

On the afternoon of August 17th, park dispatch received a call reporting
that a nine-year-old girl had drowned in the Halls Creek Bay area of the
park. Family members were conducting CPR when Halls Crossing SDR Steve
Luckesen arrived on scene, but they were not successful. The girl was
reportedly washing her hair alongside a beached 26-foot Searay cabin
cruiser, utilizing the warm water from the exhaust port while the
generator was running. A girlfriend who was also washing her hair there
left to eat lunch. The victim was found to be missing shortly thereafter
and subsequently located in two-and-a-half feet of water next to the
boat. The victim's girlfriend was later treated at the Bullfrog Clinic
for carbon monoxide poisoning. An hour after oxygen therapy was begun,
her monoxide level registered at 18%. The victim's blood carbon monoxide
level was later found to be 39%. This brings the total known carbon
monoxide related fatalities within the park since 1994 to twelve. [Cindy
Ott-Jones, CR, GLCA]

02-422 - Lake Mead NRA (NV/AZ) - Multiple Drownings

During a two-week period between late July and early August, there were
six drownings in the park. Four of the bodies were not immediately
recovered. On August 13th and 14th, the park employed an independent
contractor, the Bureau of Reclamation's ROV (remote operating vessel)
and deep water divers to recover two of the victims - a father and son -
in 175 feet of water (incident 02-337). On August 25th, two fishermen
found a body floating in Boulder Basin, tentatively identified as one of
the two bodies still missing. The coroner's office is currently
identifying the victim. [Scott Hinson, SSA, LAME]

02-423 - Everglades NP (FL) - Diving Accident with Fatality

On the afternoon of August 25th, United States Coast Guard Station
Islamorada contacted Everglades dispatch and asked for assistance with
an injured diver with CPR in progress. The private vessel transporting
the diver had been directed by the Coast Guard via radio to meet rangers
at the Flamingo Marina. The victim apparently experienced problems soon
after he began a dive in the Gulf of Mexico. His two companions reported
that he'd entered the water with full dive gear with the exception of
his swim fins. The boat was anchored in a strong current; before he
could retrieve his fins from the boat, he had drifted 50 to 60 feet
away. He managed to ditch his dive gear and call to his companions for
help, but by the time they reached him, he had gone underwater. He was
pulled back on the boat and CPR was begun. Rangers and concession
employees assisted with resuscitation efforts after the boat docked and
continued until the victim was pronounced dead by Miami-Dade Fire Rescue
paramedics. He was held at Flamingo until airlifted by the Monroe County
Sheriff's coroner to Key West. A preliminary cause of death is
undetermined, awaiting medical examiners report. [CRO, EVER]

02-424 - Independence NHP (PA) - Fatality; Cause Unknown

Ranger Matthew Davis was notified of an unconscious woman lying on the
sidewalk on Fourth Street north of Chestnut Street just before midnight
on August 20th. Davis found the woman, judged to be in her 30s, lying on
her back, her eyes open and fixed. There were no obvious signs of trauma
or abuse. Rangers Jacquelyn Bryant, Michael Valora and Doug Murphy
joined Davis and began CPR. Philadelphia FD personnel took over
resuscitation attempts, but without luck. A preliminary investigation
indicated that she'd been dead an hour or two, but she wasn't at that
location at 11:35 p.m. when rangers had last patrolled the area. The
case has been turned over to city detectives. [Ian Crane, DR, INDE]

[Additional reports pending . . . ]

FIRE MANAGEMENT

National Fire Situation

Preparedness Level 5

Initial attack was moderate in the Northwest and eastern Great Basin
yesterday, but light elsewhere. Three of the 217 newly-reported fires
became large fires; one large fire was contained. Some highlights from
today's report:

*   There was no change in the size of the Biscuit Fire on the Siskiyou
and Six Rivers NF's yesterday. Containment is still forecast for
Saturday.

*   The 150,696 McNally Fire on the Sequoia and Inyo NF's is now 97%
contained; full containment is predicted for tomorrow.

*   The Lakes Fire has burned 3,000 acres on the Santa Fe National
Forest; Hefner's Type 1 team is assigned. The fire continues to burn
actively. Residents of Seven Springs and Thompson Ridge and visitors at
Fenton Lake State Park have been evacuated.

*   Humphrey's Type 1 team is managing the Pack Rat Fire on the Coconino
National Forest. This fire has burned 1,445 acres and is reported to be
very active. It spotted across containment lines on the northeast
perimeter yesterday. A guest ranch has been evacuated; 137 residences in
the Washington Park area are threatened.

Very high to extreme fire indices were reported in the following states:

*   Continued from last report - Arizona, California, Colorado, Idaho,
Kansas, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, North Dakota, Oregon, Utah,
Washington and Wyoming. 
*   Added since last report - None.
*   Removed since last report - Nebraska, South Dakota.

National Resource Commitments

Day             Tue     Wed     Thu     Fri     Sat     Sun     Mon     Tue
Date            8/20    8/21    8/22    8/23    8/24    8/25    8/26    8/27
===============================================================================
                    
Crews           538     532     567     449     435     399     374     386
Engines         1,040   959     936     773     772     746     583     648
Helicopters     162     150     157     138     147     146     130     143
Air Tankers     0       1       1       0       0       1       1       1
Overhead        4,660   4,591   4,699   4,142   4,006   3,891   3,542   3,787
Area Commands   3       3       3       2       2       2       2       2
Type 1 IMT      8       7       7       7       5       6       7       7
Type 2 IMT      8       7       7       8       8       9       8       8
T1/T2 S/IMT *   5       3       0       0       0       0       0       0
Fire Use IMT    2       3       3       3       3       3       3       3
    
* Type 1 and Type 2 state incident management teams
# Information not available

National Fire Warnings and Watches

NICC has posted the following for today:

*   A RED FLAG WARNING for gusty northeast to east winds and poor overnight relative 
humidity recovery for southwestern Oregon.
*   A RED FLAG WARNING for gusty north to northeast winds, low relative humidity and poor 
overnight relative humidity recovery for the northern Sacramento Valley and surrounding 
foothills and the Eldorado and Tahoe National Forests.
*   A FIRE WEATHER WATCH for strong southwest winds, low relative humidity and very 
high fire danger for northwestern Arizona.
*   A FIRE WEATHER WATCH for strong southwest winds, dry fuels and isolated to widely 
scattered dry thunderstorms for eastern Utah and western Colorado/

Park Fire Situation

Yellowstone NP (WY/MT/ID) - Three new lightning starts have been
reported. The Daly Fire was contained and the Harebell and Basin Fires -
each a tenth of an acre - have been declared wildland fire use fires.
The Phlox Fire is showing some activity, but the acreage has not
increased.

Glacier NP (MT) - The Kishenehn Fire was started by lightning on August
25th. It will be flown to see if it's still active. The Continental and
Soldier Fires - each a tenth of an acre - are smoldering.

Sequoia and Kings Canyon NP's (CA) - The Palisade Fire, a new lightning
start, has burned 70 acres between Middle and Deer Meadows. State I and
II of a wildland fire implementation plan are being developed. The
45-acre Slide Fire is still active and is being managed along with
another fire for wildland fire use. The 20-acre Bubbs Creek Fire has
been contained.

Yosemite NP (CA) - No significant changes have been reported on the
several wildland fire use fires currently burning in the park.

Additional Information

For additional information on all fires, check the following web sites:

Map of fire locations - http://www.nifc.gov/fireinfo/firemap.html 
Details on all current major fires - http://www.nifc.gov/news/sitreprt.pdf 
Fire news and fire year in perspective - http://www.nifc.gov/fireinfo/nfn.html. 

[NICC Incident Management Situation Report; Judy Chetwin, Fire Information Desk, NIFC]

INTERCHANGE

C&O Canal NHP (MD/DC) - The park has two excess boats that are available
to any interested parks. The first is a 16-foot Avon inflatable with a
trailer and 50 hp Evinrude motor and jet foot; the other is a 16-foot
Duracraft aluminum boat with a trailer and 60 hp Johnson motor and jet
foot. Both boats need minor repairs, but were running last year. Contact
DR Dwight Dixon at 301-714-2236.

*  *  *  *  *

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

--- ### ---