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NATIONAL PARK SERVICE MORNING REPORT Tuesday, September 2, 2014 INCIDENTS Lake Roosevelt NRA Strong Windstorm Strikes Park On August 2nd, the third windstorm in as many weeks hit Lake Roosevelt, leading to numerous calls for help from boaters and causing significant damage and a wildland fire. Staff from the park, the Colville Confederated Tribes and the Spokane Tribe of Indians responded to numerous calls of boaters in distress and property damage from wind gusts as high as 50 mph that created waves up to seven feet high. Miraculously, no one was injured or hurt inside the recreation area. Boaters were plucked out of the lake and swamped vessels were de-watered. Numerous trees were blown down in campgrounds, damaging several travel trailers, and the park sustained thousands of dollars of damage to boat docks and anchor systems. A lightning strike from the storm started a fire inside the park downstream of the Enterprise Boat-in Campground. The Enterprise Fire was in steep and rough terrain. Responding rangers did a GAR assessment to size up the fire safely. A Type III incident command team was brought in to manage the multiagency effort, including NPS staff from Lake Roosevelt and North Cascades and personnel from the Forest Service, the Washington State Department of Natural Resources and the Stevens County Volunteer Fire Department. Concentrated aerial operations and successful burnout efforts kept the fire from moving from a heavily timbered area into several homes and structures in the adjacent wildland/urban interface. During aerial operations, a five-mile section of the
Columbia River was closed by the superintendent and the U.S. Coast Guard
utilizing the “captain of the port” authority. Park rangers utilized
vessels to enforce this safety zone so fixed wing aircraft and
helicopters could dip water for suppression activities. They also
transported firefighters across the water to and from the burned areas,
and stayed close in case an evacuation was necessary. [Marty Huseman, Chief Ranger] Yellowstone NP Cause Of Concession Employee's Death Determined An autopsy has been completed on a Yellowstone concession employee whose body was found in the Old Faithful area earlier this week. The autopsy determined that the cause of death was suicide. K.“K.”W. was reported missing after failing to meet a family member on August 26th and after missing several shifts at work. After a brief search that evening, the body of the 21-year-old Twin Bridges, Montana, woman was found in the Old Faithful Lodge area. [Al Nash, Public Affairs Officer] OTHER NEWS The following stories are among those in today's webpage editions of InsideNPS (available to NPS employees only) and the Morning Report (available to all readers): Death Valley NP - For decades, scientists have been trying to determine what force has been slowly moving hundreds of rocks - some weighing as much as 700 pounds - across the flat, dry surface of Racetrack Playa, leaving trails behind them. Researchers recently found the answer. Today's Almanac - Thunderstorms with high winds and heavy rain are expected to develop along and ahead of a cold front from the Tennessee Valley to upstate New York. A new tropical storm has formed in the Gulf of Mexico. Natural Sounds and Night Skies Division - The Natural Sounds and Night Skies Division launched a traffic noise outreach project this summer at Glacier National Park and Devils Tower National Monument. Heritage Preservation Assistance Programs - Through innovative planning and outreach strategies, National Heritage Areas and their partners have promoted creative and comprehensive approaches to conservation. Canaveral NS - Canaveral National Seashore recently hosted a gathering of international and regional sea turtle coordinators and others in the continuing effort to protect sea turtles globally. Office of the Associate Director for Information Resources - John Peterson, who first conceived of InsideNPS and other significant NPS online programs, is retiring in September after over 30 years with the National Park Service. To see the full text of these stories, readers should go to one or the other of the following sites: NPS employees - HYPERLINK "http://inside.nps.gov/index.cfm?handler=index" http://inside.nps.gov/index.cfm?handler=index Non-NPS employees - HYPERLINK "http://www.nps.gov/morningreport/" http://www.nps.gov/morningreport/ The Morning Report is produced by the Office of Communications with the support of the Office of the Associate Director for Information Resources. Edited by Bill Halainen ( HYPERLINK "mailto:Bill_Halainen@contractor.nps.gov" Bill_Halainen@contractor.nps.gov). --- ### --- |