RANGER ACTIVITIES DIVISION
MORNING REPORT
Attention: Directorate
Regional and Park Chief Rangers, USPP, BIFC, FLETC
CC: RAD Information Net
Day/date: Thursday, August 1, 1991
INCIDENTS
91-308 - Olympic (Washington) - Followup on Oil Spill
As of yesterday, oil was continuing to arrive on park beaches in
scattered patches and in consistencies ranging from a light
sheen to tar balls. The southern portions of Shi Shi beach and
the northern side of Point of the Arches were reported to be the
most heavily oiled shore areas. Tar-like oil is on beaches
between Duck Point and the Ozette River. Cleanup efforts were
underway north of Cape Alava. Rialto Beach had very small
amounts of oil, and Yellow Banks had not been patrolled. The
main body of oil was said to be moving rather rapidly towards
the Grays Harbor area and was still about 10 miles offshore.
The oil was described as being comprised of "large patches of
oil connected by (a) rainbow sheen with numerous tar balls
intermixed." Ribbons of oil which separated from the main slick
were still appearing all along the coastline. A total of 950
birds had been brought to the cleaning station at Neah Bay by
Tuesday night; of these, about 350 were dead. Many more birds
are expected over the next several days. The NPS is operating a
helicopter for bird pickup and transport to Neah Bay, and a
second treatment center for bird cleanup is being established at
La Push to handle birds coming in on the southern beaches.
Treated birds are being taken to St. Edward State Park on the
northeast shore of Lake Washington for final cleanup.
Volunteers wishing to assist with bird washing should call
1-800-222-4737. Several oiled sea otters have been seen in the
Cape Alava area, but have so far eluded capture. The following
areas in the park are now closed to the public the shoreline
from Sand Point north to the Makah Reservation, the Cape Alava
trail and Ozette Campground. [Cat Hoffman, Information Officer,
Tenyo Maru ICS Team, via telefax from RAD/PNRO, 7/31]
91-356 - Chattahoochee (Georgia) - Burglary Arrests
On July 7th, ranger Delugach found evidence that the
Chattahoochee Outdoor Center building had been forcibly entered
and also saw three individuals in the area who were acting
suspiciously. Rangers interviewed the trio and two other
suspects; one of the five confessed to breaking and entering and
implicated another member of the group. Numerous items were
taken from the building, but all were recovered by rangers. The
two suspects were arrested on July 8th, and charged with felony
burglary in Federal court in Atlanta the following day.
[Telefax from Ken Garvin, CR, CHAT, 7/31]
91-357 - Everglades (Florida)- Rescue
At about 2:00 p.m. on the 27th, a severe thunderstorm which
passed over Rabbit Key produced winds over 60 mph and seas of
from five to six feet, dropped almost four and a half inches of
rain in 45 minutes, damaged homes and property, and injured
three people seriously enough to warrant hospitalization.
Ranger Chuck Noll was caught in the storm while on boat patrol
off the key in the Gulf of Mexico. Noll put himself at great
risk by exposing himself and his vessel to the storm in order to
locate and direct several other boats to safety. After the
storm had passed, Noll found a capsized 18-foot Wellcraft boat
with four people - S.B., 38, his son T.B., 7, D.M.,
44, and his son C.M., 15 clinging to the hull. Noll
rescued the four, then helped S.B. and D.M. right and bail
out the boat. Noll then towed the boat into the Gulf Coast
Ranger Station. The party told Noll that they had fired
distress flares in attempts to attract a passing boat and an
airplane before Noll's arrival, and that they were beginning to
give up hope when he appeared. [Telefax from Mark Lewis, LES,
EVER, 7/31]
91-358 - Lake Meredith (Texas) - Threats Against Ranger
On July 30th, M.M. entered park headquarters in Fritch,
Texas, and asked to see superintendent Pat McCrary in order to
complain about one of the Lake Meredith rangers. M.M.
subsequently told McCrary that ranger Bob Gravestock and a Texas
game warden had recently conducted an illegal search of his boat
and had otherwise been harassing him. M.M. then launched a
personal attack on Gravestock and stated that he would "take
care of the problem" and get both Gravestock and the warden.
M.M. repeated his threats as he left the building. Texas
Department of Safety offices and local FBI agents were contacted;
Gravestock, the warden, and all local enforcement were apprised
of the threats. On July 31st, FBI agents interviewed McCrary,
Gravestock and the warden, then departed to interview M.M..
The investigation continues. [Pat McCrary, Superintendent, LAMR,
via CompuServe message from Jim Radney, LES, RAD/SWRO, 7/31]
FIRE ACTIVITY
1) ACTIVITY LEVEL Planning Level II
2) FIRE SUMMARY
State Agency Area Fire 7/31 8/1 Status
ID BLM Boise Dist. * Boise Front #3 1,000 NEC
* Hilltops 100 NEC
NV BLM Winemucca Dist. Midas 1,000 1,000 CN
CA USFS Shasta-Trinity NF * Squaw 150 NEC
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) 40,676 2,756,664
1991 (Year-to-date) 43,106 1,767,106
1990-1991 (% difference) + 6% 36%
4) ANALYSIS - Very high fire indices are being reported at many
locations throughout the West, and initial attack activity is
increasing in most areas.
5) PROGNOSIS - Initial attack activity is expected to increase.
No resource shortages are anticipated.
[Fire Management Situation Report, NIFCC Intelligence Section,
8/1]
OPERATIONAL NOTES
1) CBS Evening News with Dan Rather will probably be running a
segment on rangers and law enforcement on the Friday evening
news. The story is being shot at FLETC, Big Bend and elsewhere.
STAFF STATUS
Division Chief (Acting): Martin on Pearl Harbor 50th anniversary
pre-planning site visit, Honolulu, Hawaii (7/31-8/7).
Branch of Resource & Visitor Protection: Schamp on annual leave
(7/29-8/2); Sisto on annual leave (8/1-8/2).
Branch of Fire & Aviation: Farrel reviewing structural fire
protection of buildings at San Antonio and LBJ in Texas
(7/29-8/1); Gale on Pearl Harbor 50th anniversary pre-planning
site visit, Honolulu, Hawaii (7/31-8/3); Broyles at NWCG training
working team meeting, Tacoma, Washington (7/30-8/3); Spruill on
aviation review of several parks in RMR (7/29-8/2).
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