INCIDENTS

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Denali National Park & Preserve (AK)
Body of 1969 Climbing Victim Believed Found

On Friday, June 25th, a climbing party discovered the well-preserved remains of a deceased climber at the 17,200-foot camp on the West Buttress route on Mt. McKinley. The climbing party reported its find to mountaineering ranger Gordy Kito on Sunday. Upon further investigation, it appeared that the remains were buried in a sleeping bag and carefully covered with rocks. Kito and his patrol carefully exhumed the frozen body on Monday. The body was placed in a litter on Tuesday evening and ground crews completed a rope lowering from the 17,200-foot camp to the 14,200-foot ranger camp. The NPS-contracted Lama helicopter was to fly the body from the 14,200-foot camp to Talkeetna yesterday, where it was to be transferred to the control of the state medical examiner. Due to the location of the body and the style of equipment, rangers believe that they know the identity of the individual, but positive identification cannot be made until dental records are obtained. The remains are believed to be those of G.C. of Cody, Wyoming, who died of high altitude pulmonary edema at the 17,200-foot camp on June 19, 1969. G.C., who was 32 years old at the time of his death, was a member of a six-man expedition that began an ascent of Mt. McKinley on June 6, 1969. According to the expedition log, G.C. started showing signs of illness on June 17. His teammates assisted him with their limited supplies of oxygen and various medications, but G.C. ultimately succumbed to pulmonary edema. His teammates decided to bury G.C. at the 17,200-foot camp, as that had reportedly been his wish. At the request of the state medical examiners office and the Alaska State Troopers, the body must be legally identified and therefore removed from its current position. Typically, the National Park Service recovers all bodies left on the mountain, assuming the recovery can be done safely.  Today, with better technology, improved aircraft support, and skilled ranger staff, recovery of such remains is a low risk endeavor.
[Submitted by Maureen McLaughlin, Public Information Officer]

National Park of American Samoa (AS)
Armed Assault on NPS Employees

A research team comprised of NPS, USGS and Hawaii Department of Land and Natural Resource personnel was conducting coral disease research at several locations around Tutuila Island on June 15th.  While the divers were in the water and about 100 yards from shore, the NPS boat operator heard a car honking on shore.  He noticed a man standing next to a white pickup truck making gestures as though he wanted the researches to leave the area.  Since the divers were due to surface within the next ten minutes, the boat operator did not want to move the boat from his position to determine what the person on shore was trying to communicate.  He continued to focus on the dive operation, when a few minutes later he noticed the same individual walk from a house with what was later determined to be a shotgun.  The individual walked down to the shore, pointed the shotgun at the boat, and fired. The boat operator recalled the divers, got them on board, approached and conversed in Samoan with the individual, then departed the area. The Department of Public Safety, Criminal Investigation & Intelligence Bureau, is investigating the incident with assistance from NPS special agents.
[Submitted by Doug Neighbor, Superintendent]

New River Gorge National River (WV)
Girl Drowns in Keeney's Rapid

A 15-year-old girl from Staunton, Virginia, was rafting the New River Gorge with a commercial guide service on the afternoon of June 29th when the raft she was in flipped in the middle of Keeney's Rapid. Raft guides were able to get all the passengers back into the raft except for the girl, who was swept downstream, pulled underwater, and pinned against a large rock. Raft guides trained in swift water rescue took immediate action, but the force of the water was too great to make a rapid extrication possible. Additional rescuers soon arrived, including Fayette County swift water rescue team members and a local ambulance company. Due to the technical nature of this Class V rapid and the high water level (about seven feet above normal at the Thurmond gauge), it took rescuers about two hours to free the girl's body. This is the first rafting fatality on the New River this year. The girl was traveling with a licensed commercial outfitter and an experienced guide. She was wearing a life jacket and helmet at the time the accident occurred. A follow-up investigation is underway.
[Submitted by Gary Hartley, Chief Ranger]

Blue Ridge Parkway
Follow-up on Plane Crash

On June 28th, Atlanta Aircraft Recovery removed the wreckage of the plane that crashed near Rattlesnake Lodge on June 26th. As previously noted, the pilot was not hurt; the injured passenger remains in stable condition and is expected to make a full recovery. Weather is considered to have been a contributing factor.
[Submitted by Chief Ranger's Office]

FIRE MANAGEMENT

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National Interagency Fire Center
NIFC Situation Report Highlights — Thursday, July 1, 2004

Preparedness Level 3

The preparedness level has gone up one step. Preparedness Level 3 goes into effect when the following conditions are met: Two or more geographic areas experiencing incidents requiring a major commitment of national resources. Additional resources are being ordered and mobilized through NICC. Incident management teams are committed in two or more areas, or 275 crews are committed nationally.

About 300 new fires were reported on Wednesday. Initial attack was moderate in the western Great Basin and southern California and light elsewhere. Eight new large fires were reported; two others were contained.

Very high to extreme fire indices were reported in Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Texas and Utah.

Warnings and Watches

A RED FLAG WARNING has been posted today for strong northeast to east winds in portions of north, central and eastern interior Alaska.

National Resource Commitments

Day	Fri	Sat	Sun	Mon	Tue	Wed	Thu
Date	6/25	6/26	6/27	6/28	6/29	6/30	7/1
Crews	130	149	135	145	169	156	184
Engines	142	197	171	187	225	244	325
Helicopters	65	69	74	81	88	88	84
Air Tankers	1	1	0	0	0	0	0
Overhead	409	404	365	532	793	1,035	1,049

National/State Team Commitments

Newly listed fires (on this report) appear below in boldface. Fires are sorted by type of team; teams are listed in alphabetical order within each type by the IC's last name.

ST	AGCY	TM	IC	Fire/Location	6/29	7/1	%	Est
AZ	USFS	1	Oltrogge	Nuttall Fire Coronado NF	206	800	5	UNK
AZ	USFS	1	Whitney	Willow Fire Tonto NF	23,000	32,000	5	UNK
WA	USFS	2	Berndt/ Andring	Pot Peak Fire Ok.-Wenatchee NF	100	1,900	0	UNK
UT	BLM	2	Broyles	Square Complex Cedar City FO	16,000	18,235	90	7/1
NV	USFS	2	Brunner	Cole Complex Hum.-Toy. NF	3,088	2,833	100	CND
AK	BLM	2	Jandt	Solstice Complex Upper Yukon Zone	231,740	287,627	NR	UNK
AK	State	2	Kurth	Taylor Complex Tok Area Forestry	218,150	278,994	NR	UNK
AK	State	2	Stegmier	Boundary Fire Fairbanks Area	---	75,000	0	UNK
WA	USFS	FU	Cook	Freezeout Fire Ok.-Wenatchee NF	150	150	15	UNK

Further Information

This report is meant to present just highlights of the current fire situation. Two other NIFC sites provide much greater detail:

Full NIFC Situation Report (PDF file) — http://www.nifc.gov/news/sitreprt.pdf
National Fire News — http://www.nifc.gov/fireinfo/nfn.html

Information on NPS Fire and Aviation Management (FAM) and on park fires can be found at:

FAM — http://www.nps.gov/fire
Park fires — http://www.nps.gov/fire/news

OPERATIONAL NOTES

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Fire and Aviation Management
NPS Fire And Aviation Background Materials Now Available

Announcing a new section on InsideNPS Fire & Aviation...Background Materials.

Background Materials is a library of NPS-specific as well as interagency fire information from the national level that includes:

• Briefing Papers
• Fact Sheets
• Questions & Answers (Q&As)
• Talking Points
• White Papers
• Key Messages & Supporting Points
• Other documents - documents that have been included for informational purposes that may not fit into established categories (i.e. Division Vision, NMAC Strategy), whereupon review, the reader would be able to pick up key points, elements of talking points, etc.

Sources for the various types of information on Background Materials include:

• National Park Service (NPS)
• National Interagency Fire Center (NIFC)
• National Multi Agency Coordination Group (NMAC)
• National Wildfire Coordinating Group (NWCG)
• Department of the Interior (DOI)
• Office of Wildland Fire Coordination (OWFC)
• Wildland Fire Leadership Council (WFLC)

Partner Agencies

• USDA Forest Service (USDAFS)
• Bureau of Land Management (BLM)
• Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA)
• US Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS)
• National Association of State Foresters (NASF)
• United States Fire Administration (USFA)

Note: Only national-level information will be posted to this web section, and as it is available.

Check it out at http://inside.nps.gov/programs/firematerials to learn more about Background Materials!

Comments are welcome. Send to: roberta_d'amico@nps.gov and /or tina_boehle@nps.gov
[Submitted by Roberta D'Amico or Tina Boehle, roberta_d'amico@nps.gov or tina_boehle@nps.gov, 208-387-5239 or 208-387-5875] More Information...

PARKS AND PEOPLE

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Abraham Lincoln Birthplace National Historic Site (KY)
GS-025-11 Supervisory Park Ranger (Lateral)

Abraham Lincoln Birthplace NHS is seeking an experienced candidate for lateral transfer to GS-11 supervisory park ranger (chief, interpretation and resource management) position.  The person in this position:  

• Serves as an active member of the park's management team;
• Directs park operations in the areas of research, protection, educational programming, resource management, visitor use management and interpretive programs;
• Supervises three (3) permanent full time GS-025/9 park rangers (Interpretation), up to 2.5 FTE temporary positions (Interpretation), and volunteers and other cooperators;
• Essentially serves as "Chief Ranger" providing resource protection and visitor use services; and
• Administers special use permits, cooperative agreements, environmental and cultural resource compliance documentation and memorandum-of-understandings.

Abraham Lincoln Birthplace NHS consists of two units ten miles apart in central Kentucky.  The park receives approximate 235,000 visitors annually.  The Abraham Lincoln Boyhood Home (Knob Creek) Unit was recently added and offers numerous challenges especially regarding interpretation, protection, and resource management.  While the park is generally rural in nature, nearby communities of Hodgenville, Elizabethtown and Louisville offer all amenities.  Housing opportunities in the community are ample with a low to moderate cost of living.  For more information, contact superintendent Ken Apschnikat via email or at 270-358-3137.
[Submitted by Superintendent's Office]

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.