- Subject: NPS Morning Report - Friday, July 19, 1996
- Date: Fri, 19 Jul 1996
NATIONAL PARK SERVICE
MORNING REPORT
To: All National Park Service Areas and Offices
From: Division of Ranger Activities, Washington Office
Day/Date: Friday, July 19, 1996
Broadcast: By 1000 ET
INCIDENTS
96-340 - Cape Hatteras (North Carolina) - Follow-up on Hurricane Bertha
The hurricane had no significant impacts on the park. Some more dune line
was washed out and it took some time for the state to clear off the roads on
the north end of Ocracoke Island; structural damage was limited to a few
missing shingles and some damaged gutters. Normal visitor access and
services returned quickly due to the efforts of all the park's employees, who
returned promptly after the storm's passage and worked together to put
everything back in order. [Bob Woody, CI&VS, CAHA]
96-370 - Glacier Bay (Alaska) - Follow-up on Assault
On Monday, July 15th, five park employees and ten Tlingit natives from Hoonah
visited several archeological sites located within Dundas Bay. While in the
area, an unidentified, armed male approached and threatened a member of the
group at gunpoint, then disappeared into the woods. Five rangers from the
Alaska special events team (Jim Hannah, team leader) arrived in the park on
Wednesday, accompanied by an FBI adviser and J.D. Swed, IC of the field
area's all-risk incident management team. They were joined by a state
trooper. The team launched an investigation into the incident, and soon
identified a suspect. Subsequent investigation raised concerns about the
suspect's mental stability and about both officer and suspect safety in any
potential encounter. The area where the assault occurred is heavily
vegetated and only accessible by air or water. The land area in Dundas Bay
has been closed to public use until further notice. Boats may continue to
use the bay, but the public is cautioned not to go ashore. Notices to this
effect have been posted in area communities. Media attention is now being
focused on the incident. [Kevin Apgar, PIO, GLBA]
96-376 - Atlanta Area Parks (Georgia) - Follow-up on Olympic Incident
Preparations continue and are accelerating for today's opening of the summer
Olympics in Atlanta. A total of 166 people are currently assigned to the
incident team, and another 78 volunteers are assisting the three affected
parks (MLK, KEMO, CHAT) with a variety of duties, ranging from living history
demonstrations to sales desk staffing. Among the upcoming activities are:
o the passage Olympic torch through Martin Luther King tonight, with the
NPS leading the passage through Dr. King's neighborhood;
o the arrival of President Clinton tomorrow, with staff at Chattahoochee
assisting in security along a portion of the president's travel route;
and
o a visit to Martin Luther King by the president of Slovenia this
afternoon.
There is a heightened level of concern regarding safety and security measures
at NPS units following recent reports of potential disruptive activities in
the Atlanta area and the new of the explosion of the TWA jetliner. All
security activities are being coordinated through a joint coordination
center; the incident management team has a liaison to that center. [Olympic
IMT]
96-392 - Hawaii Volcanoes (Hawaii) - Geothermal Burn
A ten-year-old boy from Costa Mesa, California, apparently wandered off a
park trail near the Sulfur Banks parking lot and slipped chest deep into a
steaming earth crack just after noon on July 17th. Rangers responded and
provided emergency medical assistance. He was subsequently taken to a
hospital in Hilo with second degree burns over his lower body. The
temperature in the steam crack was between 140 and 145 degrees. [Yvette
Ruan, CR, HAVO]
96-393 - Golden Gate (California) - Rescue
On June 18th, maintenance workers Brad Benson and Louis Mitchell were on the
end of Muni Pier when they were advised of a drowning in progress. Benson
and local resident M.C. swam to the elderly subject. They were
unable to hold the victim's head above water, however, and he soon lost
consciousness. Park Police officers soon arrived on scene and noted that the
man was spitting up sea water and blood. Mounted Park Police patrol officer
CJ Ross, who is also a certified climbing instructor, used the rope from his
mount to assist fellow officers in their efforts to pull the victim to
safety. Since the victim started to spit up water and gasp for air, CPR was
not initiated. City paramedics arrived and treated the man for ingestion of
sea water and hypothermia. The victim was in his 70s, was fully clothed, and
had his wallet inside a zip-locked bag. He was treated as a possible suicide
risk. [Lt. Kevin Hay, CIB, GOGA/PSAF]
96-394 - Buffalo (Arkansas) - Armed Assault
A party of adults and children were canoeing a stretch of the river west of
Tyler Bend at sunset on July 16th when they head several gunshots from a
bluff overlooking the river. They immediately noticed splashes in the water
within 15 feet of their canoe, realized that they were being shot at, and
took cover on the shore. They yelled towards the bluff, and were answered by
one more shot fired in their direction. No one was injured. Rangers
received the report the next day and recovered several .22 caliber shell
casings from the area. They also made plaster casts of footprints found on
the bluff. The investigation is continuing. [Bob Howard, LES, BUFF]
96-395 - National Capital Parks Central (D.C.) - Demonstration
Approximately 25 people participated in a rally in front of the Department of
Interior on July 18th, protesting a bill which would transfer two man-made
islands in the Anacostia River from the NPS to the District. The city plans
to permit a developer to create a $150 million children's educational and
entertainment park on the site. Environmentalists are opposed, saying that
the plan would adversely affect the habitat for birds and wildlife. Jon
Sellers, an organizer for Greenpeace, was arrested by Park Police officers
and charged with a CFR violation. The remainder of the group dispersed
without incident. [Bill Lynch, LES, NCSSO]
96-396 - Organ Pipe Cactus (Arizona) - Resource Violation
Early on the morning of July 14th, Border Patrol agents informed rangers that
a man and woman in a brown GMC Jimmy with Ontario plates asked for park
information and for directions to Quitobaquito Springs. A few hours later,
visitors returning from those springs reported that two people from the
described vehicle were collecting turtles there. Rangers contacted Karen
Fortyn and John Rene Bilodeau. The pair informed the rangers that they were
photographing turtles, not collecting them, but had six snakes in their
vehicle. Fortyn showed rangers a copy of an Arizona state collecting permit
and said that the reptiles had been collected near the city of Ajo and on the
Tohono O'odahm reservation. The snakes, collecting tools and containers were
seized and mandatory appearance violation notices were issued. Further
investigation revealed that the two had violated the conditions of their
permit by keeping specimens not identified on the permit and by collecting
outside of the permitted area. Hotel and gas receipts showed that they'd
travelled throughout west Texas, and information on an air shipping company
that handles wildlife was also found during the search. The investigation
continues. [M. Baldree, PR, ORPI]
96-397 - Fort McHenry (Maryland) - Special Event
On July 11th, Vice President Al Gore flew by helicopter to the park, then
motorcaded into Baltimore for a private fund raiser. Fort McHenry and
Hampton rangers assisted the Secret Service with site security. The park was
closed to the public for about three hours during the event. [Hugh Manar,
Acting CR, FOMC]
FIRE ACTIVITY
NATIONAL PREPAREDNESS LEVEL - Level III
LARGE FIRE/INCIDENT SUMMARY
% Est
State Unit Fire/Incident IMT 7/18 7/19 Con Con
MT State * Electric Mtn. -- - 320 20 7/19
* Exit 216 -- - 100 0 NEC
WY Wind River Agency * Railroad #2 -- - 350 30 7/19
OR State East Fork -- 500 400 100 CND
Street Canyon -- 1,250 1,250 100 CND
NV Elko District Cole Creek -- 350 600 100 CND
AK Statewide 27 LSS fires -- 342,066 342,165 -- --
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; LPS = limited
protection status
FIRE NARRATIVES
Wildcat Fire, Zion NP - Although not listed above because of its modest size
(50 acres) and status as a prescribed natural fire, the fire has some
significance because it has led to closures of sections of the West Rim
trail, and has caused the park to limit access to the Telephone Canyon loop
trail to day hikers. The fire is being allowed to take its course.
FIRES AND ACRES BURNED
NPS BIA BLM FWS States USFS Total
Number 2 9 20 2 66 43 142
Acres Burned 1 438 579 359 510 32 1,919
COMMITTED RESOURCES
Crews Engines Helicopters Airtankers Overhead
Federal 31 79 25 0 137
Non-federal 16 8 3 0 12
COMPARATIVE SUMMARY
CY 1996 Five Year Average
Year-to-Date Year-to-Date
Number of Fires 73,710 45,719
Acres Burned 2,965,944 1,168,511
CURRENT SITUATION
Fire activity increased yesterday in the Rockies, but was moderate elsewhere.
Several fires were contained. Resource mobilization through NICC remained
minimal.
NATIONAL OUTLOOK
Fire activity may increase because of continuing thunderstorms and detection
of holdover fires.
[NICC Incident Management Situation Report, 7/19; Denny Davies, FIO, ZION]
RESOURCE MANAGEMENT
Report pending.
OPERATIONAL NOTES
Report pending.
MEMORANDA
No submissions.
EXCHANGE
No submissions.
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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