RANGER ACTIVITIES DIVISION
MORNING REPORT
Attention: Directorate
Regional and Park Chief Rangers, USPP, BIFC, FLETC
CC: RAD Information Net
Day/date: Thursday, September 5, 1991
INCIDENTS
91-410 - Cape Cod (Massachusetts) - Followup on Hurricane Bob
Cleanup work in the park has largely been completed. A total of
18 people from other parks were called in to help on the
incident. All but two of the outofpark personnel returned home
by August 31st. As many as 45 park employees assisted on
planning, procurement, assessments, cleanup or repair during the
incident. The total cost for cleanup efforts alone, excluding
base salaries, was about $60,000 as of the end of August.
According to a recent postincident evaluation, over 40% of all
NPS buildings were impacted, virtually all bike and foot trails,
and over 100 miles of secondary roads were impassable due to
downed trees. Many primary roads were also blocked, and
electrical lines and electricity were knocked out to all park
residences, offices and visitor facilities in some cases for
nearly a week. The hurricane also damaged a number of historic
buildings, felled a significant number of park trees, and caused
widespread desiccation and defoliation of deciduous trees and
shrubs. The incident command team was put in place before the
storm hit and operated through the end of the month. [Telefax
from Dennis Burnett, CACO, 9/4]
91-413 - Delaware Water Gap (New Jersey/Pennsylvania) - Followup on
Assault
S.A. of Nazareth, Pennsylvania, has been arraigned on
seven CFR violations and one felony count of assault on a
federal officer with a deadly weapon for her attack on ranger
Franklin Wade on August 16th. S.A. was arraigned before a
federal magistrate judge in Newark and released on a $5,000 bond
(10% cash) on the assault charge pending indictment by the U.S.
attorney's office. [Bob Wilson, LES, DEWA, via CompuServe
message from Bob Reid, LES, RAD/MARO, 9/4]
91-451 - New River Gorge (West Virginia) - Marijuana Seizure
Rangers and Fayette County deputies harvested 72 marijuana
plants from the park's boundary on August 31st. The plants were
being intensively cultivated and had a total estimated value of
$144,000. Information leading to the discovery of this
plantation was obtained by the joint drug task force of which
the park is a member. During the operation, the park's drug dog,
Kiwi, alerted on $2,400 in cash, and it was later found that the
bills were covered with cocaine residue. The money was
accordingly seized. The person who possessed the money was
arrested and also charged with possession of a stolen vehicle.
[Telefax from Bill Blake, CR, NERI, 9/3]
91-452 - Natchez Trace (Mississippi/Alabama/Tennessee) - Rescue
At about 5:00 p.m. on August 24th, C.P. of Columbia,
Tennessee, and a juvenile female companion were climbing on a
rock bluff adjacent to Jackson Falls. C.P. attempted to jump
to a tree limb and swing down, but missed and fell approximately
30 feet, fracturing a vertebra in his lower back. Ranger Tim
Morgan and member of a local rescue unit stabilized C.P. and
carried him out to a point where he could be airlifted to
Vanderbilt Hospital in Nashville. C.P.'s companion was too
frightened to climb down from the bluff, so was lowered by rope
to the trail below. Later that evening, Morgan discovered that
C.P.'s 1978 Ford Mustang had been stolen from the Jackson
Falls parking area. A BOLO was issued and the stolen vehicle
was entered in NCIC. The vehicle had been locked and left for a
relative to pick up at C.P.'s request. [Telefax from Len
Weems, Acting CR, NATR, 8/26]
91-453 - Shenandoah (Virginia) - Car Clouting Arrests
Over a period of several days toward the end of August,
approximately 20 vehicle breakins and larcenies occurred in the
park. During the subsequent investigation, two possible
suspects A.C. and A.C., both 19 and
residents of Harrisonburg, Virginia and a suspect vehicle a
white 1978 Ford Mustang (Virginia QPN183) were identified. On
the afternoon of August 23rd, rangers contacted one of the two
suspects at Swift Run entrance station, where he had sought
medical attention for a bee sting. He consented to a search of
the vehicle, and rangers subsequently found and seized several
items which had been reported as stolen in the breakins. Both
A.C. and A.C. were then arrested and interviewed. One of
the men confessed to their involvement in approximately 15 of
the larcenies. Several screwdrivers, a coat hanger and a rubber
hammer wrapped with tape were also recovered. The pair employed
various MO's, including punching out locks, breaking windows,
and jimmying locks with the coat hanger and screwdriver. In
most cases, they passed up valuables and took only cash or
credit cards along with miscellaneous items. Most of the
property taken had been left in plain view, while some had been
hidden under the vehicles' front seats. Most of the larcenies
occurred in the late afternoon or early evening hours. [Telefax
from Glen Knight, SHEN, 8/26]
91-454 - Wrangell-St. Elias (Alaska) - Fatality
W.B., 52, of Homer, Alaska, was hunting Dall sheep
in the park on August 24th when he began experiencing difficulty
in breathing. W.B., who was alone at the time, managed to
walk to the hunting camp where his companions were waiting,
arriving at about 10:00 p.m. His friends attempted to assist
him, but W.B. lapsed into unconsciousness and died at 3:30
a.m. It took W.B.'s companions two days to move the body
two miles to Sheep Lake. The park was notified on the 28th, but
was unable to fly to the lake because of extreme winds. A
contract helicopter transported a ranger and a state trooper to
the scene the following day to investigate the death and remove
the body. [CompuServe message from RAD/ARO, 9/3]
91-455 - Grand Canyon (Arizona) - Attempted Suicide
Rangers contacted a number of employees at a party in the
Coulter Hall dormitory regarding consumption of alcohol by
minors at 1:30 a.m. on August 22nd. Citations were issued and a
large quantity of alcohol was voluntarily destroyed by the
participants in the party. As the rangers left the building, a
pregnant, 19-year-old female jumped from a second story window.
She had been one of the persons who had just been cited, and
reportedly decided to kill herself. She fell over 25 feet,
landed on rocks and cement, and was knocked unconscious.
Rangers Keith Lober and Brian Smith, both of whom are paramedics
and were involved in the initial contact, provided advanced life
support along with park EMT's. The woman was taken by park
ambulance to the Grand Canyon clinic. Miraculously, she
received only minor injuries. Since she continued to express a
strong desire to kill herself, she was taken by ambulance to
Flagstaff and involuntarily admitted to a mental health/crisis
unit. [Cindy Wadsworth, GRCA, via CompuServe message from Carl
Christensen, RAD/WRO, 9/3]
91-456 - San Juan (Puerto Rico) - Homicide
Early on the evening of August 26th, A.A., 31, of San
Juan, was shot and killed at the entrance to the La Perla area.
A.A., a known drug addict with a criminal record, was shot
five times. FBI investigators believe that the shooting was
drug-related. The murder was one of six which occurred in the
city within a 24hour period. [Telefax from Madeline Yordan,
SAJU, 8/28]
91-457 - Chattahoochee River (Georgia) - Drowning
Early on the afternoon of August 24th, D.W., 41, of Atlanta,
Georgia, and two companions entered the river at Powers Island
for a twohour float trip to Paces Mill. Around 5:00 p.m., the
raft became stuck in a shallow area, and Wares stepped out to
push it off. The raft cleared and moved down the river before
D.W. could get back on board. The last his companions saw of
him, D.W. was sitting down in the shallow area. About a half
hour later, D.W.' body was found by other rafters floating in
the river at the southeast tip of Long Island. CPR was begun
and continued until D.W. was pronounced dead at a local
hospital at 6:35 p.m. The medical examiner has determined that
D.W. drowned. D.W. was reported to have been highly
intoxicated at the time, and was not wearing a flotation device.
[Ken Garvin, CR, CHAT, via telefax from Steve Alscher, LES,
RAD/SERO, 9/28]
91-458 - New River Gorge (West Virginia) - Search and Rescue
Rangers received a report of four missing male juveniles,
ranging in age from 11 to 16, on the evening of August 31st.
The four had last been seen on the Gauley River above a section
of Class VI whitewater known as Pillow Rock. Rangers began an
urgent search for the group and found them stranded on a rock in
the river at 3:00 a.m. the following morning. An effective
night rescue was carried out and all parties were safely brought
to shore. [Telefax from Bill Blake, CR, NERI, 9/3]
91-459 - New River Gorge (West Virginia) - Rescue
On Labor Day weekend, P.D., 34, of Oak Hill, West Virginia,
slipped and fell approximately 35 feet near Styrofoam Falls on
Dunlop Creek and suffered severe head injuries and other medical
complications. The park mobilized its search and rescue team
and effected a successful rescue. P.D. was medevaced by
helicopter to Charleston, West Virginia, where she is currently
listed in critical condition. [Telefax from Bill Blake, CR,
NERI, 9/3]
91-460 - Blue Ridge Parkway (North Carolina/Virginia) - Falling
Fatality
Just after noon on September 1st, S.S., 54, of
McLeansville, North Carolina, died from injuries suffered when
she fell from the top of a 50-foot cliff in the park.
Preliminary investigation by rangers indicates that the fall was
accidental. Her husband was nearby at the time of the incident.
[Telefax from Steve Alscher, LES, RAD/SERO, 9/4]
91-461 - Grand Teton (Wyoming) - Fatality to Contractor Employee
B.B., 44, of Nampa, Idaho, an employee of a subcontractor
testing asphalt on the new road to string lake, was killed on
the morning of September 4th. A tractor trailer with a full
load of asphalt accidentally backed over B.B., killing him
instantly. The contractor on the construction project is HK
Construction of Idaho Falls, Idaho; the subcontractor which
employed B.B. was Intermountain Materials Testing of Boise,
Idaho. An investigation is underway. [Telefax from Don Coelho,
GRTE, 9/4]
91-462 - Indiana Dunes (Indiana) - Homicide
Local police officers found the body of an unidentified male on
the shoulder of the new entrance road to West Branch just before
midnight on August 23rd. The victim had been shot at the site
and had wounds to his head, neck, arm and hip. An
investigation is underway. [Dick Littlefield, CR, INDU, via
CompuServe message from Tom Thompson, RAD/MWRO, 9/4]
91-463 - Sunset Crater (Arizona) - Misuse of Golden Eagle Passport
A Golden Eagle passport was confiscated on September 2nd after
rangers determined that it was being misused. A young German
visitor asked about Golden Eagles and what they were used for,
then became excited when she realized the card's value. Upon
further questioning, it was learned that her parents had
purchased the card from an international organization in Germany,
and then sent it to her in the United States. Although she'd
only used it once, the unsigned passport showed signs of heavy
use. [Dennis Vasquez, SUCR, via CompuServe message from Bonnie
Winslow, RAD/SWRO, 9/3]
FIRE ACTIVITY
1) ACTIVITY LEVEL Planning Level II
2) FIRE SUMMARY
State Agency Area Fire 9/4 9/5 Status
MN NPS Voyageurs NP Lucille Lake 370 430 CN 9/6
Net Lake 510 510 CN 9/5
WA USFS Wall.-Whit. NF Twin Lakes T2 130 101 CN
BLM Spokane Dist. Chelan Butte 2,400 2,464 CN
MO Little Missouri
Grasslands Little Missouri 800 501 CN
ID USFS Payette NF * Rush Creek 5,000 CN 9/15
UT BLM Cedar City Dist. * Big 200 CN 9/5
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) 55,630 4,386,528
1991 (Year-to-date) 61,583 2,020,184
19901-991 (% difference) + 11% 117%
4) FIRE ACTIVITY 147 fires for 857 acres reported in the past
24 hours.
5) FIRE NARRATIVES
Voyageurs (Minnesota)
Efforts to control the two principal fires in the park were
hampered by temperatures of up to 90 degrees and steady winds
with gusts to 18 mph. A line of thunderstorms passed through
the area late on September 2nd and dropped about a third of an
inch of rain on the fire, which should help to knock it down.
The Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources has provided airtanker
drops on the fires.
* Lucille Lake Fire The fire did not increase in size yesterday;
the change in acreage is due to remapping. Efforts are underway to
fully control the fire, which is 70% contained. There are 36 people
on the fire.
* Net Lake Fire Lines were reinforced on the south and west
sides of the fire yesterday, and a slopover on the west side was
extinguished. The fire is about 50% contained. There are 70 firefighters
and overhead personnel deployed on the fire.
All other fires are now under control. Only minimal patrol
efforts and rehab activity will be taking place on them today.
6) ANALYSIS - There were several new starts from lightning
activity in Nevada yesterday. Some holdover fires are being
discovered in the Great Basin, Northwest and Northern Rockies
due to warmer and drier weather conditions.
7) PROGNOSIS - The potential exists for an increase in fires from
predicted dry lightning and holdovers.
[Fire Management Situation Report, NIFCC Intelligence Section,
9/5]
STAFF STATUS
Division Chief (Acting): Martin on annual leave (8/31-9/8).
Branch of Resource & Visitor Protection: Schamp on annual leave
(9/3-9/6); Lee instructing at WinstonSalem State University, NC
(9/3-9/6).
Branch of Fire & Aviation: Farrel on structural fire review,
Rapid City, SD (9/3-9/6); Gale at DOI interregional fire
coordinator meeting, Minneapolis, MN (9/4-9/5); Norum at fire
behavior steering committee meeting, Portland, OR (9/4-9/6).
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