- Subject: NPS Morning Report - Friday, July 26, 1996
- Date: Fri, 26 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 26, 1996
Broadcast: By 1000 ET
INCIDENTS
96-414 - Glacier (Montana) - Bear Mauling
F.S., 45, of Keene, New Hampshire, and his hiking partner, Anthony
Iovino, encountered a grizzly on the Piegan Pass trail about two miles west
of the pass on the afternoon of July 24th. The bear charged the two men from
a distance of about 20 yards, and they both dropped to the ground and went
into fetal positions. The bear bit F.S. on the right wrist and forearm,
inflicting four puncture wounds, then disappeared. F.S. estimates that
the attack lasted no longer than three seconds. Neither F.S. nor Iovino
saw a cub or cubs with the bear. The two men hiked out to their vehicle at
Siyeh Bend and drove 15 miles to the St. Mary visitor center, where they
reported the incident and received emergency medical treatment from rangers.
Shlauter was then taken to a hospital in Browning for additional medical
treatment. Because of this incident, the park has temporarily closed the
Piegan Pass trail from Siyeh Bend to Feather Plume Falls, the Baring Basin
trail at Sunrift Gorge, and the spur trail from Jackson Glacier overlook to
the Piegan Pass trail. [Steve Frye, CR, GLAC]
96-415 - Appalachian Trail (Georgia-Maine) - Arrest; Mental Evaluation
On the night of June 26th, a couple camping at the Alex Kennedy shelter four
miles south of Boiling Springs, Pennsylvania, was awakened by someone
standing at the open end of their three-sided shelter, shouting that he was
W.L., the owner of the trail, and that they'd better move on. The
couple had heard of the Shenandoah murders, but nothing of W.L., who has
been living on the trail for the past several years and has a long record of
harassing hikers. When they shined their light on him and their dog barked,
he disappeared. They were quite frightened and did not sleep the rest of the
night. They left the next morning and reported the incident at the ATC
office in Boiling Springs. Appalachian Trail chief ranger Bob Gray filed a
complaint against W.L., obtained a warrant from the U.S. magistrate, then
arrested W.L. with the assistance of the Pennsylvania state police. The
magistrate had W.L. committed for mental evaluation; since there are few
federal facilities that can handle mentally ill prisoners, he was flown to
Los Angeles for the evaluation. He was also interviewed by the FBI in
connection with the Shenandoah homicides, but is not a suspect. He will be
returned to Pennsylvania for trial in August. [Bob Gray, CR, APTR]
96-416 - Lake Chelan (Washington) - Aircraft Crash
A Cessna 152 crashed during takeoff from the Stehekin airport in the park on
July 23rd. When park personnel arrived on scene, the plane was fully
engulfed in flames and had started a quarter-acre wildfire. The pilot, Dr.
Paul Anderson, received third degree burns over about ten percent of his
body. He was flown by Chelan Airways to Lake Chelan Community Hospital, then
transferred to a hospital in Seattle. [Pete Cowan, CR, NOCA]
96-417 - Castillo de San Marcos (Florida) - Special Event
A ceremony recreating the 1763 Spanish turnover of Florida to the British was
held in the park on July 20th. Reenactors participated in the two
ceremonies, which drew a total of 2,200 visitors. Turner Broadcasting System
filmed the event for a broadcast this coming October. [C. Dale, CR, CASA]
FIRE ACTIVITY
NATIONAL PREPAREDNESS LEVEL - Level II
LARGE FIRE/INCIDENT SUMMARY
% Est
State Unit Fire/Incident IMT 7/25 7/26 Con Con
CO Craig District Twin Buttes T2 1,400 1,400 100 CND
Grand Jct. District Hatchet T2 2,195 3,987 10 7/28
San Juan NF Disappointment T2 3,600 3,840 100 CND
Grand Mesa-Uncompahgre
-Gunnison NF Telephone T2 970 1,075 0 NEC
UT Moab District * East Carbon T2 - 800 0 NEC
Zion NP Wildcat T2 6,700 6,765 70 7/26
ID Boise NF Curtis Creek -- 414 414 49 7/29
Shoshone District * Davis Mountain -- - 2,200 5 7/26
* Queens Crown -- - 250 60 7/26
* Glendale -- - 150 100 CND
NV Las Vegas District Gass Peak -- 600 600 100 CND
Winnemucca District Rock Hill -- 2,000 6,000 100 CND
Flat Creek T2 2,500 11,300 20 7/27
Elko District Izzen -- 600 800 100 CND
Battle Mtn. District * Dry -- - 800 30 7/26
CA Lassen Volcanic NP Crater Butte T2 100 270 25 7/27
Plumas NF * Madalanna T2 - 3,000 10 NEC
MT Helena NF * Lower Coxcy T2 - 150 0 7/27
AZ AZ Strip District * Magotsu T2 - NR NR NR
San Carlos Agency * South Summit T2 - 209 100 CND
OR Vale District Jackson Ranch -- 800 750 100 CND
Simmons Gulch -- 250 250 100 CND
Burns District * Skull Creek -- - 800 0 NEC
Spokane District * Sprague #2 -- - 1,920 100 CND
AK Statewide 30 fires -- 432,407 435,555 -- NSS
GA NPS - Atlanta Area Olympics 96 T2 - - - -
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/INCIDENT NARRATIVES
Wildcat Fire, Zion NP - The fire was initially contained at 6 p.m. on July
24th, but escaped containment yesterday. Mop-up has been completed on the
north flank and fire lines have been rehabilitated. Burnout operations are
continuing in heavy fuels and isolated pockets.
Crater Butte Fire, Lassen Volcanic NP - Torching has caused spotting
problems.
Olympics 96 Incident, Atlanta Area Parks - Management of the incident will
transfer this weekend from the team currently in place under IC Bob Panko
(EVER) to a team under IC Gordon Wissinger (NATR). A meeting to redelegate
authority will be held with the three park superintendents at Kennesaw
Mountain on Sunday afternoon. Arrangements have been made to place four
cameras in Martin Luther King to cover the women's marathon on Sunday
morning.
NUMBER OF NEW FIRES (THREE DAY TREND)
NPS BIA BLM FWS States USFS Total
Tuesday, 7/23 6 9 16 0 94 50 175
Wednesday, 7/24 3 16 45 0 110 50 224
Thursday, 7/25 8 17 46 2 59 78 210
TOTAL COMMITTED RESOURCES (THREE DAY TREND)
Crews Engines Helicopters Airtankers Overhead
Tuesday, 7/23 69 115 37 6 335
Wednesday, 7/24 108 212 43 9 288
Thursday, 7/25 114 213 48 17 426
CURRENT SITUATION
Fire activity increased in many Western states yesterday. Type II teams were
committed to fires in the northern Rockies, northern California, the
Southwest and the Great Basin. Resource mobilization through NICC has
increased.
NATIONAL OUTLOOK
NICC has posted a FIRE WEATHER WATCH for dry lightning in central Oregon.
Dry lightning and holdover fires form the past few days will cause an
increase in fire activity in the West.
[NICC Incident Management Situation Report, 7/26; Nancy Gray, IO, Olympics 96
Incident, 7/25; Steve Robinson, IO, Wildcat Fire, ZION, 7/25]
RESOURCE MANAGEMENT
No submissions.
OPERATIONAL NOTES
NPS Risk Management Council - An NPS risk management council has been formed
which will serve as a bridge between field operations and the WASO Division
of Risk Management. The officers are Mark Seely (chair), Jay Cable (vice
chair), and Jasmin Baylosia (recording secretary). The development of the
council is an important step toward improving employee safety and health; it
represents a much better way of doing business and should result in much
closer ties and better communications between WASO and field operations. See
"Memoranda" (below) for the council's charter. [Dick Powers, Chief,
DRM/WASO]
Firefighting Questionnaire (Second Notice) - As part of the interagency
management review team report following the investigation of the South Canyon
fire in 1994, a contract was let to Tri-Data Corporation to analyze the
current culture of wildland firefighting and to make recommendations for
changes to that culture which might result in a safer firefighting
environment for all. An extensive questionnaire was developed by Tri-Data
and, through random sampling techniques, sent to more than 2800 firefighters
throughout the United States. More than 260 NPS firefighters have received
the questionnaire. Although this is the busy season for recipients of this
questionnaire, which is somewhat long and daunting, Tri-Data needs as many
responses as possible in order to obtain the best possible data from a widely
diverse group of firefighters. NPS recipients are strongly encouraged to
find the time to thoroughly answer the questions. Your comments will help
form the basis for developing future firefighting culture paradigms. [Rick
Gale, RAD/WASO]
MEMORANDA
"Risk Management Council Charter," signed in late July by Maureen Finnerty,
associate director for park operations and education. See "Operational
Notes" above for background information. The full text of the charter
follows:
Purposes
[The] purpose of Risk Management in the National Park Service is to make the
National Park Service a safer place for people, property, and other
resources.
[The] purpose of the Risk Management Council is to work collaboratively to
develop national risk management policies and guidelines serving as a conduit
for all National Park Service constituents for information, concerns, and
issues.
Function
The primary function of the Risk Management Council is to be an advocate for
improving risk management and provide direction on Servicewide issues. The
Council will seek input from parks and central offices, and will provide
assistance to the National Park Service Division of Risk Management and the
Associate Director for Park Operations and Education. Specifically the group
will accomplish the following:
o Serve as a source of information and communication regarding all risk
management procedures and their overall impact and effectiveness.
Advise and provide input for the development of policy, program
formulation, directions, standards, and risk management programs.
o Serve as a liaison with Field Areas, clusters, and other NPS groups.
Participate actively on Servicewide task forces and special
assignments.
o Actively identify future impacts to risk management from legislation,
trends, technological changes, etc. The Council will select and
prioritize issues for the development of solutions. The Council will
recommend actions for management implementation. The Council will
encourage the implementation of the Risk Management Strategic Plan and
update and revise it as necessary.
Membership and Term of Service
The Risk Management Council shall consist of a core membership of eight
individuals (one risk manager representing each of the seven field areas and
the Chief, Division of Risk Management) and six individuals who would serve
two year terms:
1 - Servicewide Maintenance Advisory Group designee
1 - NPS Chief Ranger or designee
1 - Field-base risk management officer
2 - From management (superintendents, field director's office, DASHO, etc.)
1 - Individual selected by Associate Director, Park Operations and Education
Terms would be staggered to ensure continuity. A chairperson, vice-
chairperson, and recording secretary will be selected by council members for
one year appointments. The vice chairperson will serve as chairperson in the
year following selection as vice chair.
Meetings
Two formal Risk Management Council meetings will be scheduled per year; the
majority of communication will be accomplished through phone calls and
cc:mail. A portion of the travel costs must be borne by the Field Area.
Formal meetings of the Advisory Council will be open, however only council
members have a vote in decision making. At the end of each meeting, a date
and location for the next meeting will be set.
Meeting Agendas
The Risk Management Council will transmit electronically notification of
upcoming Risk Management Council meetings to all Council members three weeks
prior to a scheduled meeting, to afford the opportunity to place an issue or
concern on the meeting agenda. Any employee within the National Park Service
may place an issue or concern on the agenda for Risk Management Council
consideration by working through their representative to the Council. Final
meeting agendas will be prepared and transmitted electronically by the Risk
Management Council chairperson to all Council members at least 10 working
days before a council meeting is scheduled.
Meeting Minutes
Minutes shall be kept during all meetings, shall be reviewed by Risk
Management Council members at the end of the meeting, shall be transmitted to
the Associate Director for Park Operations and Education the week following
Council meetings, and shall be distributed as approved.
Subcommittees
Subcommittees will be established to address issues identified by the Risk
Management Council. With the concurrence of the appropriate superintendent,
the Chief of Division of Risk Management may secure the services of any
employee within the National Park Service for purposes of issue briefing or
temporary subcommittee participation. Networking with Field Area and Cluster
Advisory groups will be critical to the success of the Risk Management
Council and subcommittee efforts.
Recommendations
Recommendations of the Risk Management Council shall be made by consensus,
and will be forwarded to the Associate Director, Park Operations and
Education through the Chief, Division of Risk Management.
EXCHANGE
Livestock Gates - Fossil Buttes would like to hear from any park with plans
for or experience with a one-way livestock gate - the kind also used in
livestock traps. They're looking for a gate that can be used to assist them
when chasing cows out of the park. Contact Andy Banta at NP-FOBU.
OBSERVATIONS
The following "Observation" was sent along by Alan Ragins in Southwest SSO:
"The boundary between recreation and science, like the rest of the boundaries
between park and forest, animal and plant, tame and wild, exists only in the
imperfections of the human mind."
Conservationist Aldo Leopold
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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