- Subject: NPS Morning Report - Friday, April 26, 1996
- Date: Fri, 26 Apr 1996
NATIONAL PARK SERVICE
MORNING REPORT
To: All National Park Service Areas and Offices
From: Division of Ranger Activities, Washington Office
Day/Date: Friday, April 26, 1996
Broadcast: By 1000 ET
INCIDENTS
96-161 - Fort Smith (Arkansas) - Follow-up on Tornado Impacts
Crews are making significant progress in post-tornado recovery efforts. Park
staff and personnel from Chickasaw, Buffalo River, Pea Ridge and Hot Springs
have utilized heavy equipment loaned by those parks to stabilize buildings
and clear most of the downed tree debris on the main grounds. They will now
move on to Belle Point. The park expects to release protection rangers from
other parks this weekend. Cost estimates of damages are being formulated.
The park expects to reopen on Monday with limited public services. [Flo Six,
MWFDO]
96-168 - National Capital Parks East (D.C.) - Resource Violation
Park Police officer David Dyer is investigating the illegal dumping of about
five square feet of concrete in Fort Circle Park. On the afternoon of April
22nd, a concrete truck owned by Opportunity Concrete was seen backing into
the park and depositing the concrete. The operator then washed down the
truck's delivery chute and mixing drum. Neighbors reported the incident, and
Dyer responded. He identified the driver, placed him in the area at the time
of the incident, and is proceeding with prosecution. The area has long been
plagued by incidents of illegal dumping. Through the cooperation of
neighbors and the NPS, significant strides have been made in resolving the
problem and in prosecuting responsible parties. [Bill Lynch, LES, NCFDO]
96-169 - Kings Mountain (South Carolina) - Oil Spill
On the afternoon of April 23rd, a park neighbor came to headquarters to
complain about strong chemical odors and discoloration of his well water,
which had caused him to break out with a skin rash. Superintendent Andrew
Loveless alerted the county emergency preparedness office and the
superintendent of the nearby state park. An immediate inspection confirmed a
leak in Colonial Pipeline's 40-inch steel gasoline line just inside the state
park boundary. Oil was found to be flowing downhill out of and away from the
two parks. The incident brought response personnel from three counties in
two states, including the pipeline repair team. Cleanup operations,
including removal of contaminated soil and water, will be conducted. The
state's health and environmental office is investigating. Although the line
had been leaking for some time, the low level of discharge prevented serious
contamination of Kings Creek, the park's northwest boundary, downstream from
the spill point. [Andrew Loveless, Superintendent, KIMO]
FIRE ACTIVITY
NATIONAL PREPAREDNESS LEVEL - LEVEL II
LARGE FIRE SUMMARY
% Est
State Unit Fire IMT 4/24 4/26 Con Con
NM Mescalero Agency Chino Well T1 7,100 7,100 75 4/26
Santa Fe NF * Dome T2 - 125 0 NEC
State * Rest Area -- - 2,000 100 CND
AZ Fort Apache Agency * White Sprg. Cx T2 - 4,017 30 4/28
Coronado NF * Clark Peak T2 - 600 10 NEC
NC N.C. Nat. Forests Fish Pond T1 550 350 100 NEC
TX State * North Memphis -- - 9,600 0 4/25
CA Sand Diego RU Sheep -- 1,325 1,325 100 CND
Heading Notes
Unit -- Agency = BIA area; NF = national forest; RU = CA state resource
or ranger unit; RD = state ranger district; District = BLM
district; NWR = USFWS wildlife refuge
Fire -- * = newly reported fire (on this report); Cx = complex; LSS =
limited suppression strategy; CSS = containment suppression
strategy
IMT -- T1 = Type 1; T2 = Type II; ST = State Team
% Con -- Percent of fire contained
Est Con -- Estimated containment date; NEC = no estimated date of
containment; CND = fully contained; NR = no report
FIRE NARRATIVES
New River Gorge NR - The park has two fires going, neither of them named yet.
At the time of the report yesterday morning, one was about 15 acres, the
other about 40 acres. Ten park employees and two Forest Service crews were
committed.
Santa Fe NF - The fire exhibits extreme behavior yesterday, spotting up to
three-quarters of a mile in heavy mixed conifer and Ponderosa pine. Current
concerns are threats to archeological sites and to Bandelier NM.
FIRES AND ACRES BURNED
NPS BIA BLM FWS States USFS Total
Number 2 1 1 0 165 12 181
Acres Burned 275 1,927 1 0 14,521 865 17,589
COMMITTED RESOURCES
Crews Engines Helicopters Airtankers Overhead
Federal 80 51 12 8 484
Non-federal 21 16 2 2 125
CURRENT SITUATION
Fire activity increased again in the Southwest yesterday, necessitating the
mobilization of another Type II IMT. Activity also increased in the South
and southern California. Resource mobilization through NICC increased
significantly.
NATIONAL OUTLOOK
Fire activity is expected to continue in the Southwest until a break in the
weather occurs. Arizona will experience near record high temperatures again
today.
[NICC Incident Management Situation Report, 4/26]
RESOURCE MANAGEMENT
No submissions.
OPERATIONAL NOTES
Park Operations Restructuring - Associate Director, Park Operations and
Education Maureen Finnerty and all operations division chiefs held a meeting
earlier this month to develop a team management concept in response to the
Servicewide restructuring process. A policy council has been established
which consists of the division chiefs, the manager of Harpers Ferry Center,
and the staff assistant to the associate director. Chairing the group will
be Chris Andress, chief of the Ranger Activities Division. Other members
will be added from divisions outside of operations and from the field as
circumstances warrant. The members of the group will spend time focusing on
"big picture" issues, and will co-locate to facilitate communications,
relinquish much of their divisions' day-to-day activities to support staff,
share assets, and promote new ways of doing business. A non-policy group,
chaired by Rick Gale, deputy chief of Ranger Activities, was also formed. It
will consist of two members of the policy council, program mangers from each
of the WASO offices and program centers, and representatives from the field
and other WASO divisions as appropriate. The group will focus on the more
immediate issues of determining what work will be done and by whom and what
tasks won't be done due to the constraints imposed by downsizing. It will
also determine the most efficient use of available resources, assure that
needed programs are included in division and center responsibilities, and
make recommendations to the policy council on the most effective and
efficient manner in which to communicate operations information to the field
directors' offices, SSOs and field areas. [Bob Whitman, SA, AD/PO&E]
MEMORANDA
No submissions.
EXCHANGE
Jet Skis - Chickasaw would like to hear from any areas utilizing jet skis for
any ranger operations. They're particularly interested in evaluations of
their usefulness and techniques for keeping the equipment dry. Contact Len
Weems at NP-CHIC.
OBSERVATIONS
Today's observation comes from a 1950s collection of park and conservation
related quotes published by the Department of Interior. Can anyone identify
Senator Wagner by state and tenure in the Senate?
"The conservation movement has so long been identified with the perpetuation
of things that its spiritual and idealistic content has been overlooked. To
my mind, that constitutes its very essence. Conservation expresses
generosity towards future generations, as opposed to the selfishness of the
older and rejected policy. It represents economy in the use of our physical
heritage, as opposed to the destructive extravagance of the old system. It
cultivates love of beauty in nature and subordinates utilitarian objectives.
Above all, it represents to me not only the conservation of our physical
heritage, but the preservation and development of our spiritual energies."
Senator Robert F. Wagner
Distribution of the Morning Report is through a mailing list managed by park,
office and/or field area cc:Mail hub coordinators. Please address requests
for the Morning Report to your servicing hub coordinator.
Prepared by the Division of Ranger Activities, WASO, with the cooperation and
support of Delaware Water Gap NRA.
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