Buck Island Reef National Monument (VI)
Boat Fire and Rescue
The commercial fishing vessel Mona Queen, a 44-foot Thompson
trawler, was passing through park waters on April 23rd while returning
to Gallows Bay after spending the day fishing in the Caribbean Sea.
While underway, the captain, T."F."D., began to smell smoke.
He cut the engines and discovered a fire in the engine compartment.
T.D. and a second person on board emptied two of the boat's three fire
extinguishers before the fire became too large. Both men jumped
overboard and were rescued by other nearby fishermen. Rangers responded
along with personnel from Virgin Islands PD, Virgin Islands Fire
Service, Virgin Islands DP&NR, and the Coast Guard. When they
arrived, they found that the Mona Queen, which had about 800
gallons of diesel fuel onboard, was fully engulfed in flame. A float
pump was utilized to knock the fire down sufficiently to make it
possible to tow the vessel toward the shore, where a VIFS engine was
waiting. The fire was extinguished by about 8:30 p.m. No one was
injured, but the boat and cargo (100 pounds of lobster and five boxes of
fish) were a total loss. There was only minimal resource damage.
[Submitted by Mark Hnat, Park Ranger]
Yosemite National Park (CA)
Special Event: Director's Visit and Congressional Hearing
On Monday, April 21st, Director Mainella and Representatives
Radanovich (CA), Nunez (CA) and Christensen (Virgin Islands) arrived in
Yosemite for field hearings to be conducted the next day by the House
Subcommittee on National Parks, Recreation and Public Lands. The weather
was unseasonably cold and stormy and chain controls went into effect on
the Wawona and Big Oak Flat roads. Both roads ended up being closed by
multiple accidents for several hours during the afternoon and evening.
Director Mainella was diverted in via the El Portal road below the snow.
Special agents provided protection during her transportation to the park
and at a dinner that night at the Ahwahnee with the Representatives,
Deputy Director Jones, Regional Director Jarvis, Superintend Tollefson,
and several park partners. Also attending was Eric Ruff, director of
communications for Secretary Norton, who was in the park working on the
development of messaging strategies for significant park issues. During
the night, rangers and SAR team members searched until after midnight
for a Danish man lost in the snow storm without overnight gear five
miles up the Little Yosemite Valley trail. The following morning was
clear and the field hearings were held in the visitor center auditorium
after Director Mainella and Congressman Radanovich met with local school
groups on the Village Mall. Testimony was taken from Director Mainella,
local businesspersons, special interest groups, and the park
concessionaire. All went smoothly in spite of the fact that a group of
about 40 demonstrators dressed in jail stripes organized by the American
Land Rights Association marched and chanted under the conditions of a
special use permit in a designated First Amendment area in front of the
visitor center. The event was well covered by the media, with an ABC
network and three local station television camera crews and at least
eight newspaper reporters. The park and the concessionaire, Yosemite
Concession Services, also hosted several exhibits and programs on the
mall that were related to Earth Day. The incident was managed under the
incident command system utilizing the park special response team and
other park staff to provide protection services to the director and the
representatives, deal with the media, and to manage the demonstration.
Don Coelho was the IC. For more information, go to http://
www.modbee.com/local/story/6599361p-7538777c.html and see the
related story on InsideNPS.
[Submitted by Don Coelho, Deputy Chief
Ranger and IC]
FIRE MANAGEMENT
National Interagency Fire Center
NIFC Situation Report - Thursday, April 24, 2003
Preparedness Level 2
Initial attack was again light on Wednesday. Commitments to the Columbia Response incident remained the same as yesterday.
Fire Danger
| State |
4/18 |
4/21 |
4/22 |
4/23 |
4/24 |
| Arizona |
-- |
-- |
-- |
VH |
VH |
| Colorado |
VH |
-- |
-- |
-- |
-- |
| Connecticut |
-- |
-- |
-- |
VH |
-- |
| Indiana |
-- |
-- |
-- |
-- |
VH |
| New Mexico |
-- |
VH |
-- |
VH |
-- |
VH — Very high
EX — Extreme
VX — Very high to extreme
National Resource Commitments
| Day |
4/16 |
4/17 |
4/18 * |
4/21 |
4/22 |
4/23 |
4/24 |
| Crews |
172 |
155 |
155 |
93 |
83 |
74 |
74 |
| Engines |
132 |
62 |
62 |
12 |
23 |
27 |
27 |
| Helicopters |
8 |
8 |
8 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
2 |
| Air Tankers |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
| Overhead |
2,149 |
1,784 |
1,784 |
1,849 |
1,718 |
1,675 |
1,656 |
* Numbers did not change from Thursday to Friday.
National Team Commitments
| State |
Type Team |
Team IC |
Incident/Fire |
Acres |
Percent Contain |
Est Full Contain |
| TX |
T2 |
Crisman |
" |
" |
" |
" |
| TX |
T2 |
Morcum |
" |
" |
" |
" |
| TX |
T2 |
Raley |
" |
" |
" |
" |
| TX |
T2 |
Dietrich |
" |
" |
" |
" |
Submission standards for the Morning Report can be found on the left side of the front page of InsideNPS. All reports should be submitted via email to Bill Halainen at Delaware Water Gap NRA, with a copy to your regional office and a copy to Dennis Burnett in Division of Law Enforcement and Emergency Services, WASO.
Prepared by the Division of Law Enforcement and Emergency Services, WASO, with the cooperation and support of Delaware Water Gap NRA.