RANGER ACTIVITIES DIVISION
MORNING REPORT
Attention: Directorate
Regional and Park Chief Rangers, USPP, BIFC, FLETC
CC: RAD Information Net
Day/date: Monday, July 8, 1991
INCIDENTS
91-263 - Denali (Alaska) - Rescue
On July 3rd, K.W., 28, of Warsaw, Poland, left a
climbing partner and attempted to reach the summit of Mount
McKinley alone. Weather conditions deteriorated, though, and
Wiecha became trapped near the summit with minimal survival gear.
Searchers spotted him at the 19,800-foot level on the afternoon
of the 6th. K.W. was lying on the snow near a crevasse, where
he had apparently taken refuge, and waved to the plane.
Rescuers in a high-altitude helicopter first tried to drop a
bundle with a tent and other survival gear to K.W., but the
bundle rolled by him and crashed 2,000 feet down the mountain.
The helicopter then flew rangers Daryl Miller and Jim Phillips
to a landing spot at 19,500 feet. The rangers climbed to the
19,800-foot level and lowered K.W. to the drop-off point, where
the helicopter picked him up early on the 7th. K.W. is listed
in serious but stable condition in a hospital in Anchorage.
[Telephone report from Steve Holder, RAD/ARO, 7/7; John Enders,
Associated Press, 7/7]
91-264 - Blue Ridge (North Carolina/Virginia) - Suicide
On the afternoon of July 4th, L.C.C., a 33-year-old
patient at Catawba Mental Hospital, jumped from the Roanoke
River Bridge to her death. L.C.C. was on an outing with her
mother at the time. They had walked on the Fisherman's Trail
and returned when she ran onto the bridge and jumped off.
Rangers Richard Morefield, Don Coleman and Ed Clark
investigated the incident. [CompuServe message from Glenda Hess,
BLRI, 7/5]
91-265 - Lincoln Home (Illinois) - Special Event
The 11th annual Lincolnfest celebration was held in an 18block
area of downtown Springfield around the park on June 29th and
30th. Three rangers from Jefferson NEM were detailed to the
site to assist the park's enforcement staff with crowd control
and visitor and resource protection. About 18,500 visitors came
to the park during the twoday period, and officials estimated
overall festival attendance at 185,000. High heat and humidity
led to a number of incidents of heat exhaustion, and rangers
also handled a number of accidents, thefts and drug, alcohol and
disorderly conduct incidents. [Kathy DeHart, CR, LIHO, via
CompuServe message from Tom Thompson, RAD/MWRO, 7/5]
[More pending incident reports tomorrow...]
FIRE ACTIVITY
1) ACTIVITY LEVEL Planning Level II
2) FIRE SUMMARY
State Agency Area Fire 7/7 7/8 Status
AK NPS Denali * B664 8,000 NR NEC
* B514 (Slippery) 60 NR NEC
* B515 (Clone) 30 NR NEC
* B648 (Otter Creek) 200 NR NEC
* B649 (Sprucefish) 600 NR NEC
Yukon-Charlie * B339 (Erickson) 16,720 NR NEC
Gates of Arctic * B436 (Kobuk River) 600 NR NEC
* B616 25 NR NEC
BLM Tanana Zone * B542 5,670 5,670 DM
BIA Up. Yukon Zone * B381 41,882 NEC
Southwest Area B613 T2 3,896 3,896 CN 7/12
FWS Up. Yukon Zone * B460 32,750 32,750 NEC
Southwest Area * B559 800 5,700 NEC
AK Up. Yukon Zone B564 2,990 2,990 NEC
Tanana Zone B492 T2 17,510 17,510 NEC
* 113415 1,410 1,500 NEC
Southwest Area B552 T2 22,329 22,329 NEC
B402 T2 8,350 10,100 CN 7/15
WA WA State * Rock Creek T2 500 500 CN
* Beehive 2 200 200 NR
WY NPS Yellowstone NP * Pelican 150 250 CN 7/10
CO USFS Grand Mesa NF * Mill Creek 243 243 CN 7/8
Alaska also has 20 fires under modified suppression strategy for
92,169 acres and 63 fires under limited suppression for 241,110 acres.
NOTES:
Fires - Asterisk indicates newly reported fire (on this report).
T1 and T2 indicate assigned Type I and Type II Teams.
Status - The following abbreviations are employed:
* NR No report received * MS Modified suppression strategy
* CN Contained * MN Being monitored
* CL Controlled * NEC No estimate of containment
* CS Confinement strategy * DM Demobed
3) 1990/1991 COMPARATIVE ACTIVITY SUMMARY
Fires Acres
1990 (Year-to-date) 35,009 892,642
1991 (Year-to-date) 36,652 987,913
1990-1991 (% difference) + 5% + 11%
4) FIRE NARRATIVES
Yellowstone (Wyoming)
Pelican Fire - The lightningcaused fire was discovered on the
north side of Pelican Valley and attacked by a ranger who was on
horse patrol on the evening of the 4th. No activity was seen on
the morning of the 5th, but a patrol was called in later that
afternoon to assist on the fire. As of last night, about 250
acres of spruce and Douglas fir had burned, and the fire was
about 35% contained. Crews had built 120 chains of line about
half with fireline explosives due to the lack of firefighters
and had about 500 chains left to be completed. Current
commitments include 114 firefighters (26 NPS) and 42 overhead
(30 NPS), two Type II helicopters and an air tanker. The cost
to date is estimated at $110,000. A local dayuse trail had been
closed, but the impact on visitors is not considered to be
significant.
Denali (Alaska)
B664 Fire - The 8,000acre fire was started by lightning on July
4th and is uncontrolled. The fire, which is burning in black
spruce, is located about 12 miles from Kantishna and is heading
to the northwest. The fire is unmanned.
B649 (Sprucefish) Fire - The lightningcaused fire started on the
3rd and slowed considerably when it ran into last year's burn.
The fire is unmanned.
Gates of the Arctic (Alaska)
B436 (Kobuk River) Fire - Lightning started the fire on June 25th.
It is unmanned and uncontrolled.
5) ANALYSIS - There were increases in both humancaused and
lightningcaused fires throughout the West over the weekend.
Cooler weather in western Alaska has allowed crews to make
progress, but high winds in the east caused erratic fire
behavior.
6) PROGNOSIS - The potential for fire activity continues because
of high temperatures and thunderstorms. No resource shortages
are anticipated.
[Fire Management Situation Report, NIFCC Intelligence Section,
0736 EDT, 7/8; NICC Daily Situation Report, 7/7]
STAFF STATUS
Division Chief: No leave or travel scheduled.
Branch of Resource & Visitor Protection: Lee at DARE national
convention, Winston-Salem, NC (7/9-7/14).
Branch of Fire & Aviation: Bristol on AL (7/3-7/12); Farrel at
wildland/urban interface meeting, Washington, DC (7/8-7/12);
Rutter at FFS budget conference, Washington, DC (7/8-7/12); Gale
at Yosemite fire review report meeting, Phoenix, AZ (7/9-7/10).
Prepared by WASO Division of Ranger Activities
Telephone: FTS 268-4874/6039 or 202-208-4874/6039
Telefax: FTS 268-5977 or 202-208-5977
CompuServe: WASO-RANGER (Branch of R&VP); WASO-FIRE-WO (Branch of Fire)
SEAdog: 1/650