- Subject: NPS Morning Report - Tuesday, July 2, 1996
- Date: Tues, 2 Jul 1996
NATIONAL PARK SERVICE
MORNING REPORT
To: All National Park Service Areas and Offices
From: Division of Ranger Activities, Washington Office
Day/Date: Tuesday, July 2, 1996
Broadcast: By 1000 ET
INCIDENTS
96-330 - Denali (Alaska) - Search in Progress
A search is currently underway for two missing mountaineers on Mount Hunter,
a 14,573-foot peak near Mount McKinley. J.H., 28, of Madison,
Wisconsin, and C.D., 27, of Seattle, Washington, began their climb
early on Saturday, June 22nd. They were attempting a new route, and expected
to be gone only four days. They carried neither a tent nor sleeping bags,
depending instead on bivvy sacks and their parkas for shelter. When they
failed to return on the 27th, rangers began the search for them. The Alaska
all-risk incident management team was called in to manage the search the next
day. Poor weather conditions permitted only limited air searches through
Saturday, but observers were placed at three locations on the Kahiltna
Glacier to check their most likely descent routes. The weather cleared on
Sunday, which allowed air searchers to log about 18 hours of flight time in
helicopters and fixed-wing aircraft. No sign of the climbers was found.
Three climbers were flown to the plateau below the summit of Mount Hunter to
check that area more thoroughly. Air operations were to resume yesterday.
About 30 people are currently involved in the search effort. J.D. Swed is
IC. [Kris Fister, IO, IMT]
96-331 - Natchez Trace (Mississippi/Alabama/Tennessee) - Homicide
Ranger Charles Cuvelier was patrolling within the Ridgeland District when he
came upon a set of tire tracks leading off the paved road. Investigation led
to the discovery of the body of E.W., of Brandon, Mississippi, who
was killed by a gunshot to the head. No suspects or motive have been
determined. E.W.'s vehicle had been found in Vicksburg the previous
evening, and blood had been discovered in it. Rangers, county deputies and
FBI agents are investigating. [Tim Francis, ACR, NATR]
96-332 - Mojave (California) - MVA with Fatality
Three brothers from Italy were traveling through the park on the night of
June 16th when the driver swerved to avoid an animal, lost control of the
Chevrolet Corsica, went off the road, and overturned. A.G., 33, was
thrown from his rear seat through the back window and killed. His brothers
sustained minor injuries. A.G. was not wearing a seatbelt. [Mary Martin,
Superintendent, MOJA]
96-333 - Little River Canyon (Alabama) - Falling Fatality
On June 29th, rangers were flagged down by visitors who said that there'd
been a falling accident at the railroad trestle at the southern end of the
park. They found that L.B., 19, of Cedar Bluff, Alabama, had
fallen about 30 feet from the top of the trestle to the rocks below. L.B.
was pronounced dead at the scene. Alcohol is believed to have been a
contributing factor. [Dwight Dixon, CR, LIRI]
96-334 - St. Croix (Wisconsin/Minnesota) - Drowning
A.K., 61, was inner-tubing with his family on the St. Croix on June
28th when he overshot his landing spot and attempted to swim back to shore.
He did not make it, and disappeared underwater. A multi-agency search was
begun, and his body was found the following day. High water levels and a
strong current were contributing factors. [Joe Hudick, Acting CR, SACN]
96-335 - St. Croix (Wisconsin/Minnesota) - Possible Drowning
Visitors rock climbing in the Dells area over the weekend observed a body in
the river. County officers recovered the body of a man who'd been in the
water about two days. He had no identification on him, and there have been
no reports of missing persons in the area. Their was no obvious indication
of the cause of death. An autopsy is to be performed. [JT Townsend, MWFDO]
FIRE ACTIVITY
NATIONAL PREPAREDNESS LEVEL - Level III
LARGE FIRE SUMMARY
% Est
State Unit Fire IMT 7/1 7/2 Con Con
CA San Bernadino NF Bee T1 7,600 8,723 0 NEC
* Juan Diego Flats T1 - 500 0 NEC
Angeles NF Bichota Cx T2 1,500 1,800 40 7/3
Riverside RU Circle -- 1,143 1,143 100 CND
AZ Kaibab NF Bridger Cx T2 49,000 50,000 60 7/2
NV Las Vegas District Deer -- 1,000 774 100 CND
WA Spokane District Juniper -- 11,000 11,000 100 CND
UT Fishlake NF Pole Creek T2 7,700 7,742 100 CND
ID Boise District Sinker Butte -- 8,527 8,527 100 CND
AK Statewide 32 limited
suppression fires -- 365,002 356,853 -- --
ON Thunder Bay, Ontario Graham Cx T1 6,730 6,730 80 NEC
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 HIGHLIGHTS
San Bernadino NF - Severe weather conditions and extreme fire behavior
continue to hinder suppression efforts on the Bee fire. The fire blew out in
several places near the Pine Cove area yesterday, forcing the evacuation of
that community.
FIRES AND ACRES BURNED
NPS BIA BLM FWS States USFS Total
Number 3 8 19 0 149 35 214
Acres Burned 3 4 133 0 1,547 1,807 3,494
COMMITTED RESOURCES
Crews Engines Helicopters Airtankers Overhead
Federal 161 246 54 11 313
Non-federal 11 9 7 3 39
CURRENT SITUATION
Significant progress was made yesterday on all fires except those in southern
California. Mobilization of resources to that area through NICC continues.
NATIONAL OUTLOOK
Warmer and drier conditions over much of the West will increase the chances
for fires, as will activities associated with the upcoming holiday.
[NICC Incident Management Situation Report, 7/2]
RESOURCE MANAGEMENT
No submissions.
OPERATIONAL NOTES
Fire Shelters - Investigations of several entrapments over the past few
months have revealed that a number of fire shelters currently in use are out
of date or have had defects in their manufacture and were recalled some time
ago. The only fire shelters now acceptable are those manufactured by Anchor
Industries under various contract numbers between 1983 and 1996, and by
Weckworth/Langdon in 1995. All fire shelters manufactured since 1995 are
marked as in compliance with NFPA 1977. Do not purchase any new fire
shelters with are not in compliance with this regulation. [Doug Erskine,
Fire and Aviation Management, Boise]
Uniform Name Tag Orders - Many parks are using credit cards to order uniform
name tags from Reeves, the company that supplies them under the uniform
contract, but are not providing their organization codes, credit card
numbers, credit card expiration dates, or the names of the card holders.
That information must be provided for prompt completion of orders. [Bill
Halainen, Uniform Committee Chair, DEWA]
MEMORANDA
"Budget Impacts Workgroup," signed June 28th by Maureen Finnerty, associate
director, park operations and education, and sent to the superintendents of
MORA, YELL, DETO, SAAN, JODA, CUYA, GUIS, DEWA, GETT, GATE, DENA and LACL,
with copies to appropriate field directors. Reply due July 22nd. Solicits
information from specified parks in order to "assemble as accurate a picture
as possible on the impacts of diminishing budget resources on park
operations, and to make recommendations on Servicewide approaches to deal
with this issue."
EXCHANGE
No submissions.
UPCOMING IN CONGRESS
The following activities will be taking place in Congress during coming weeks
on matters pertaining to the National Park Service. For inquiries regarding
legislation pertaining to the NPS, please visit the Office of Legislative and
Congressional Affairs Website at http://www.nps.gov/legal, or contact the
main office at 202-208-5883/5656 and ask to be forwarded to the appropriate
legislative specialist.
July 9
House Resources' Subcommittee on National Parks, Forests and Lands (Hansen):
Hearing on H.R. 3155, study for potential designation of Wekiva River,
Seminole Creek and Rock Springs Run in Florida as wild and scenic rivers;
H.R. 3405, study for potential designation of Sudbury, Assabet and Concord
Rivers in Massachusetts as wild and scenic rivers.
July 16
House Resources' Subcommittee on National Parks, Forests and Lands (Hansen):
Hearing on H.R. 3298, to provide for the establishment of an
intergovernmental council at Voyageurs NP; H.R. 3470, to enhance the
conservation and protection of the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness and
Voyageurs NP.
July 18
Senate Energy and Natural Resources' Subcommittee on Parks, Historic
Preservation and Recreation (Campbell): Hearing on S. 988, protection of
Oregon Inlet (transfer for jetty and sand transfer system at Cape Hatteras
NS); S. 1805, Voyageurs NP Accessibility and Partnership Act.
July 25
Senate Energy and Natural Resources' Subcommittee on Parks, Historic
Preservation and Recreation (Campbell): Hearing on S. 1699, to establish the
National Cave and Karst Research Institute in New Mexico; S. 1737, the
Yellowstone Protection Act (addresses the Clarks Fork of the Yellowstone Wild
and Scenic River and the Absaroka-Beartooth National Wilderness Area); S.
1809, Aleutian World War II national historic areas.
House Resources' Subcommittee on National Parks, Forests and Lands (Hansen):
Hearing on H.R. 3099, to establish the Washita Battlefield National
Historical Site in Oklahoma.
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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