INCIDENTS

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Grand Teton National Park (WY)
Two Climbing Rescues on the Middle Teton

Three members of an outdoor club from Provo, Utah, became stranded while attempting to climb the Middle Teton on Saturday, June 7th. Two separate parties from the group were trying to "race" each other to the summit of the Middle Teton on separate routes when one of the parties got off route and became stranded on precipitous and icy cliffs. The climbing party of J.J. and P.J., both 28, ended up near Ellingwood Couloir. The second climbing party of Adam Dover, 27, and Steve Risenmay, 26, could not safely descend the Southwest Couloir when Dover became exhausted. Risenmay left Dover, eventually locating park rangers who had begun a rescue of the J.-J. party. Unfortunately, one report gave inaccurate details as to the physical condition and situation of Dover, claiming Dover was hypothermic and unresponsive (he was neither). This caused rangers to redirect rescue efforts from the J.-J. party in order to reach Dover first. The two simultaneous rescues began on Saturday afternoon and lasted well into Sunday, as rangers worked continually throughout the night. The rescue of Dover required multiple lowerings over hard-packed snow from the Southwest Couloir. The rescue staff stayed with Dover overnight, monitoring his medical condition and providing him with food, water and shelter. Dover was assisted to the trailhead Sunday morning. The rescue of the J.-J. party required the set up of difficult, consecutive lowerings and limited down-climbing belays to descend over 1800 feet over ice-covered rocks in darkness. J.J. and P.J. were able to hike out on their own after being rescued from the Ellingwood Couloir. The two parties failed to properly plan for the climbs, did not know where they were on the mountain, were not prepared for the terrain in which they wandered, and were not properly equipped for the nature of their proposed climbs. Their predicament, coupled with erroneous information, prompted two full scale, highly technical rescues involving ten rangers. This rescue was the fourth major search and rescue in the park this year. IC for the incident was Brandon Torres.
[Submitted by Bill Holda, Acting Chief Ranger]

Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area (PA)
Rescue of Kayaker

On the evening of June 23rd, an inexperienced kayaker overturned on Big Bushkill Creek west of the bridge on Route 209. The incident was reported by his daughter, who was awaiting his arrival at the bridge when she saw his empty kayak coming down the creek. Rangers organized a hasty search of the creek between 209 and Winona Falls Road. After nearly two hours of searching, the found the 59-year-old man stranded on an island in the creek. A rope system was used to bring him to shore. He was chilled but otherwise uninjured. He was wearing a lifejacket at the time of the incident.
[Submitted by Phil Selleck, Chief Ranger]

FIRE MANAGEMENT

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National Interagency Fire Center
NIFC Situation Report - Thursday, June 26, 2003

Preparedness Level 2

Ninety-seven new fires were reported yesterday. Three large fires — two in the Southwest and one in Alaska — were contained.

Fire Danger

Day	6/21	6/22	6/23	6/24	6/25	6/26
Alaska	VX	VX	VX	VX	--	VX
Arizona	VX	VX	VX	VX	VX	VX
California	VX	--	--	--	--	--
Colorado	VX	VX	VX	VX	VX	VX
Nevada	VX	VX	VX	VX	VX	VX
N. Hampshire	--	--	--	VX	VX	VX
New Mexico	VX	VX	VX	VX	VX	VX
Oklahoma	--	VX	VX	VX	VX	VX
Oregon	--	--	--	--	VX	--
Texas	VX	VX	VX	VX	VX	VX
Utah	VX	VX	VX	VX	VX	VX

VH — Very high
EX — Extreme
VX — Very high to extreme

Fire Weather Watches and Warnings

No watches or warnings have been posted for today.

National Resource Commitments

Day	6/20	6/21	6/22	6/23	6/24	6/25	6/26
Crews	132	135	130	131	135	130	155
Engines	180	164	122	123	85	110	163
Helicopters	34	39	31	41	36	46	48
Air Tankers	2	1	1	2	0	0	1
Overhead	993	1,129	1,192	1,288	805	1,571	1,686

National Team Commitments

State	Type Team	Team IC	Fire/Location	Acres	Percent Contain	Est Full Contain
AZ	T1	Humphrey	Aspen Fire Coronado NF	30,200	35%	UNK
AZ	T1	Oltrogge	Picture Fire Tonto NF	12,665	85%	6/26
AZ	T2	Raley	Helen 2 Fire Saguaro NP	3,100	40%	6/28
AZ	T2	Bradley	Ash Fire Coronado NF	564	100%	CND
NM	T2	Mullinex	Jenny Fire Gila NF	3,500	NR	UNK
AK	T2	McKnight	Sand Creek Fire State Lands	41,211	0%	UNK
NM	FUM	Goheen	Dry Lakes Complex Gila NF	32,800	NR	UNK
AZ	FUM	Kitchen	Powell Fire Grand Canyon NP	830	0%	UNK
NM	FUM	Goheen	Seco Fire Gila NF	5,000	5%	UNK

Saguaro National Park (AZ)
Helen 2 Fire (Wildland Fire)

On Wednesday afternoon at 4:00 p.m., dry lightning strikes ignited the Helen #2 Fire located in the Rincon Mountains north of Helen's Dome and west of Spud Rock. The fire is at an elevation of 7,300 - 8,400 feet and is burning on the ground in oak/pine and mixed coniferous forests (full report)
6/25 High winds the past two days, and no recovery of relative humidity during the evenings have resulted in very active fire behavior. These events compromised the east flank of the fire resulting in a sizeable increase in acres burned. The fire is located in steep, difficult terrain. Minor injuries, including several ankle injuries, have been reported to date.
Status
Trailheads Closed: Douglas Spring Trailhead and Parking Lot (at the east end of Speedway Blvd) will be closed due to helicopter support operations. However, the Douglas Spring Trail will be open up to the Douglas Spring Campground and can be accessed from the Wildhorse Trailhead. Trails Closed: Douglas Spring Trail from Douglas Spring Campground south Turkey Creek Trail Trails Partially Closed: Manning Camp Trail east of Grass Shack Campground Cow Head Saddle Trail east of Cow Head Saddle Heartbreak Ridge/Arizona Trail north of Rincon Creek Trail Italian Springs Trail south of the Forest Service boundary Campgrounds Closed: Manning Camp Campground Spud Rock Spring Campground
Acreage: 887
Resources Committed: 2 Type II Helicopters 1 Type III Helicopter 12Hotshot crews 9Hand crews Total of 580 personnel on scene
Estimated containment date: Estimated 6/28/2003[Submitted by Chuck Scott, chuck_scott@nps.gov, 520 733-5130]

Grand Canyon National Park (AZ)
Powell Fire

The lightning-caused Powell Fire has burned 830 acres. Cook's fire use management team is assigned. The fire is burning in timber with heavy ground fuels. Yesterday, fire was observed spreading on the surface, with creeping, backing and isolated uphill runs. Resource commitments were as follows:

• Firefighters and overhead — 42
• Engines — 0
• Helicopters — 0

PARKS AND PEOPLE

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Alaska Region
Passing of Les Arnberger

Leslie Arnberger, retired ranger and superintendent, died on June 23rd in Alamogordo, New Mexico. He was 79 years old. He is survived by his wife Gail, sons Rob (regional director in Alaska) and Bennett Arnberger, daughter Susan Nichols, seven grandchildren and five great grandchildren.

Les Arnberger was a WWII veteran, flying 36 bombing missions for the Air Force. His NPS career began as a seasonal ranger at Grand Canyon. His first permanent ranger appointment was at Casa Grande, also in Arizona.

He represented the NPS as the first Department of the Interior management trainee in 1949-50. From there, he became the park naturalist for the old Southwest Monuments Group, based in Globe, Arizona.

Les and his family moved to the Blue Ridge Parkway in the mid-1950s when he became that park's first permanent staff naturalist.

He headed up the studies for inclusion of new parks into the National Park System, working on the plans for Canyonlands, Padre Island, Glen Canyon, Guadalupe Mountains, Fort Bowie, Fort Davis, and Amistad. In 1962,

Les moved to Santa Fe as the assistant regional director for resource planning. In 1964, he was selected to go to Princeton as Princeton Fellow for Public Affairs. Les joined the ranks of park superintendents in 1965 at Point Reyes National Seashore and went on to serve as superintendent at Cape Cod National Seashore and Yosemite National Park.

In between these assignments, he worked in the Washington Headquarters Office as deputy assistant director for park operations, and, in 1972, received the distinguished service award.

Les Arnberger retired in 1980 as the ARD for operations in Southwest Region, and remained in Santa Fe until moving to Alamogordo several years ago.

There will not be a public memorial service in New Mexico. Later this year, Les Arnberger will be laid to rest in the small cemetery at South Rim of the Grand Canyon.

The Arnberger family would appreciate hearing from Les and Gail's friends. Their Alamogordo address is 912 Sherwood, Alamogordo, NM 88310. Condolences can also be sent to Rob Arnberger at 12431 Clippership Drive, Anchorage, AK 99515.
[Submitted by Kayci Cook]

Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument (AZ)
Rangers Honored for Task Force Efforts

The 18th Annual Crime in Arizona Conference, sponsored by the Law Enforcement Coordinating Committee (LECC) and the U.S. Attorney's Office, was held in Prescott, Arizona, on May 29th. Aside from the sessions on the most current crime prevention issues which are presented, the LECC honors the men and women who on a daily basis risk their lives to ensure the safety of all Arizona citizens. The guest speaker at this year's awards presentation was Asa Hutchinson, Under Secretary for Border and Transportation Security. One of this year's prestigious awards was presented to the Border Anti-Narcotic Nework (BANN), whose membership consists of the Pima County Sheriff's Department (Ajo District), U.S. Customs Service, National Park Service (Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument), Tohono O'odham Nation, U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, Arizona Department of Public Safety and the Bureau of Land Management. The leadership of BANN voted unanimously to have this year's award presented posthumously in honor of Ranger Kristopher Eggle. Kris' parents, Bob and Bonnie Eggle, traveled from Cadillac, Michigan, to accept the award from U.S. Attorney Paul Charlton. Also, acknowledged in the award were former Organ Pipe Chief Ranger Dale Thompson and Rangers Bo Stone, Brian Fields, Matt Walls, Carl Pearson, and Adam Kelsey.
[Submitted by Dwayne Collier, Arizona State Coordinator]

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.