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