RANGER ACTIVITIES DIVISION
MORNING REPORT
Attention: Directorate
Regional and Park Chief Rangers, USPP, BIFC, FLETC
CC: RAD Information Net
Day/date: Friday, August 2, 1991
INCIDENTS
91-308 - Olympic (Washington) - Followup on Oil Spill
The main oil slick has been moving in a southerly direction at a
rate of about ten miles per day, but has broken up over the last
two days and spread over a wide area. The southern end of the
spill was located yesterday about ten miles off the coast of
Ocean City; large areas of sheen were reported off Cape Alava,
Destruction Island, and the northern end of Norwegian Memorial.
Helicopters were having difficulty locating and guiding skimmers
to patches of oil on the ocean surface because of fog. The
skimmers have recovered about 35,000 gallons of mixed fuel oil
and water so far, but only about ten percent of that amount is
oil. It's estimated that twothirds of the Tenyo Maru's fuel oil
is still on board the ship. The Canadian sub will be checking
the hull shortly. The oil has not spread to any beaches beyond
those previously reported. Cleanup crews have completed work
over a six mile area from Watts Point to Cape Flattery and along
the shores of the Sooes River. Work at Shi Shi Beach and Cape
Alava is continuing. A total of 1,260 birds 630 of them dead
had been brought to the Neah Bay cleanup station by 8:00 pm on
Wednesday, but the number brought in yesterday decreased
noticeably. The La Push bird treatment center is now in
operation. Although at least two oiled otters were seen in the
first days of the spill, relocation and capture of otters has
been unsuccessful. A whale was found beached in Makah Bay on
Wednesday, and marine mammal experts were to examine it
yesterday. The Ozette Campground has been reopened, but the
shoreline from Sand Point north to the Makah Reservation and the
Cape Alava trail are still closed to the public. A total of 220
people 74 of them from the NPS are now working on spillrelated
operations. [Telefax from Cat Hoffman, Information Officer,
Tenyo Maru ICS Team, 8/1; report from John Donahue, OEA/NPS, 8/1]
91-359 - Blue Ridge (North Carolina/Virginia) - Burglary Arrests
During the early morning hours of July 31st, three concession
employees at the Peaks of Otter Lodge were arrested by rangers
Paula Wells and Gene Parker for stealing food from the lodge's
kitchen freezer and delivery area. Such thefts had apparently
been going on for some time. The thieves took prime steaks,
crab legs, lobsters and shrimp valued at between $6,000 and
$8,000. An additional accomplice was later arrested in Bedford,
Virginia. All four are currently in the Bedford jail.
[CompuServe message from Howard Parr, CR, BLRI, 8/1]
91-360 - Great Smokies (Tennessee/North Carolina) - Successful
Search
On July 28th, H.B. and his son M.B. were dropped off at
Newfound Gap for an extended hike in the park. When they failed
to return as scheduled on the evening of the 30th, H.B.'s wife
called rangers at midnight and advised them that they were
overdue. Investigators determined that the pair had spent the
night of the 28th at Ice Water Spring and the night of the 29th
at Tricorner Knob, and that they had received permission from
the park to hike from there crosscountry from Mount Guyot to
Ramsey Prong Creek and then on up Ramsey Cascade Trail.
Accordingly, a hasty search of the trail was conducted on the
morning of the 31st. When it proved fruitless, a team of four
rangers began hiking up the Ramsey Cascade drainages that
afternoon while another pair descended from Mount Guyot. Both
teams found footprints around night fall, and tracked the pair
through the day yesterday. They were found in good condition at
3:00 p.m. and escorted out of the backcountry. [Telephone
reports from Steve Smith, RAD/SERO, 8/1 and 8/2]
91-361 - Chattahoochee (Georgia) - Car Clouting Arrests
Because of auto breakins which were taking place in the Johnson
Ferry Unit, the park established a surveillance operation there
recently. Late on the afternoon of July 14th, these efforts
paid off when ranger Lloyd Morris arrested three men for
entering a locked vehicle. The men - T.M., 34,
M.M., 31, and S.K., 28 were charged with
auto burglary, possession of stolen property and possession of
burglary tools. Three stolen credit cards, which had been used
to make up to $900 in purchases, and $500 worth of stolen items
were recovered. Two days later, the three men appeared before a
federal magistrate in Atlanta; each was placed on a $5,000
secured bond. Based on physical evidence, rangers determined
that the three men may have been involved in numerous auto
burglaries throughout the United States. The Secret Service was
called in for assistance because of its jurisdiction over crimes
involving high amounts of credit card theft. At present, it
appears that the trio has stolen up to $2,000,000 worth of items
nationwide. Their method of operation was to open a locked or
unlocked vehicle, steal one or two credit cards and/or checks
from the rear of checkbooks, then lock up the vehicle to give
the illusion that it hadn't been entered. Any other park with
similar auto larceny cases should call district ranger Anthony
Roybal at 404-952-0370, 404-399-8080, or FTS 331-7230. [Telefax and
phone report from Ken Garvin, CR, CHAT, 8/1]
91-362 - Gulf Islands (Florida/Mississippi) - Burglary Arrests
On the morning of July 9th, rangers discovered that the Johnson
Beach Snack Shack, a concession store in Perdido Key in the
Florida District, had been burglarized during the previous night
and that about $3,200 worth of merchandise had been taken,
including 37 cases of beer, 60 cartons of cigarettes, 55
cigarette lighters, 28 fourpacks of wine coolers, 10 snorkel and
mask sets, 70 pairs of swim goggles, 30 large beach towels, 60
"Gulf Island National Seashore" tshirts, 36 tiedyed clothing
items, 150 pairs ofsunglasses and a dozen cans of Off insect
repellant. All merchandise was marked with standard stickon
grocery labels. Also taken was a microwave oven, a power
inflator and a box of vendor invoices for the previous
threemonth period. Entry was apparently gained by cutting the
locks on the outer steel security bar gates and then forcing
open the inner wooden doors. On July 26th, local authorities
received an anonymous telephone tip naming some juvenile
suspects. Rangers and local deputies obtained a state search
warrant on the residence of a local juvenile a few days later;
on the 31st, rangers Will Reynolds and Nick Stavroplus joined
deputies in executing the warrant. They found 21 of the Gulf
Island tshirts, seven tie-dyed shirts and cans of Off in the
house. The juvenile said that he was just storing the property
for three other juveniles who delivered it to his secondstory
bedroom via the rooftop and back window on the early hours of
July 9th. His fee for storing the items was two cartons of
cigarettes. The juvenile, who is 17 years old, has been
certified as an adult, and also has grand theft auto charges
pending against him. Warrants are outstanding for the other
three juveniles, all of whom are also 17 years old. The groups
is suspected in a rash of larcenies in the local area involving
tourists staying in condos and motels. [CompuServe message from
Gene Phillips, CR, GUIS, 8/1]
FIRE ACTIVITY
1) ACTIVITY LEVEL Planning Level II
2) FIRE SUMMARY
State Agency Area Fire 8/1 8/2 Status
ID BLM Boise Dist. Boise Front #3 1,000 1,583 CN
Hilltops 100 115 CN
CA USFS Shasta-Trinity NF Squaw 150 184 CN
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
*** Not available today ***
4) ANALYSIS - Initial attack efforts have been successful in
controlling fires started by lightning from the storm system
which recently moved through the West. Very high indices are
still being reported throughout the area, though.
5) PROGNOSIS - Initial attack activity is expected to continue.
No resource shortages anticipated.
[Fire Management Situation Report, NIFCC Intelligence Section,
8/2]
OPERATIONAL NOTES
1) Joe Smith of Great Smokies has been selected as the new NIBRS
(National Incident Based Reporting System) coordinator here in
Ranger Activities. Joe has been a ranger since 1968, and has
worked at Cape Hatteras, Gettysburg, National Capital Parks,
Acadia, Glen Canyon, Point Reyes, Olympic and Great Smokies. He
will EOD on August 11th.
STAFF STATUS
Division Chief (Acting): Martin on Pearl Harbor 50th anniversary
preplanning 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