- Subject: NPS Morning Report - Monday, August 5, 1996
- Date: Mon, 5 Aug 1996
NATIONAL PARK SERVICE
MORNING REPORT
To: All National Park Service Areas and Offices
From: Division of Ranger Activities, Washington Office
Day/Date: Monday, August 5, 1996
Broadcast: By 1000 ET
INCIDENTS
96-418 - Sequoia-Kings Canyon (California) - Follow-up on Search for Ranger
The search for seasonal ranger Randy Morgenson was scaled back over the
weekend due to the lack of any clues as to his whereabouts. The park will
station one person at Bench Lake to interview hikers, and others will conduct
intermittent patrols through the search area. Critical incident stress
debriefings were held over the weekend for all employees involved in the
search. [Debbie Bird, CR, SEKI]
96-427 - Gettysburg (Pennsylvania) - Follow-up on Death of Employee
A memorial ceremony for John Andrews, 43, who died of a heart attack last
Thursday, will be held tomorrow evening at 7 p.m. at St. John's Lutheran
Church in Gettysburg. John was a graduate of Colorado State University and
had been with the National Park Service for 22 years. He started as a
seasonal park aid at Assateague Island in 1974, then worked as a seasonal
park technician at Salem Maritime. Following a short tour as a forestry
technician for the Forest Service, he returned to the NPS in 1977 to take a
permanent position at Colonial. He took a position as a supervisory park
ranger at Gettysburg in 1981, eventually becoming supervisor of interpretive
operations, which includes the park's licensed guide program. John was
tireless in his efforts to forge ties between the community and the park, and
was active in the community. He will be remembered for his forthright
manner, unfailing sense of humor, high professional standards, strong work
ethic, and constant smile; he will also be remembered as a teacher, mentor
and outstanding role model. Donations in John's memory can be made to Main
Street Gettysburg. Condolences should be sent to D.A.
[Brion FitzGerald, GETT; Bill Halainen, DEWA]
96-429 - Grand Canyon (Arizona) - Airplane Crash with Fatality
At about 10:20 a.m. on August 2nd, park visitors along West Rim Drive
reported having seen an airplane disappear into the canyon near Pima Point.
A park helicopter located the burning aircraft at the base of a cliff 2,500
feet below the canyon rim. Rangers were able to reach the crash site
following a difficult climb, and confirmed that the pilot and sole occupant
had been killed. The aircraft was largely consumed by the fire. It's
thought to have been a privately-owned 1980 Mooney en route from California
to Kansas. Positive identification has not yet been made. There were severe
thunderstorms in the area at the time of the crash. [Charlie Peterson,
Acting CR, GRCA]
96-430 - Great Basin (Nevada) - Search and Rescue
Four children, ranging in age from eight to twelve years old, were reported
overdue at their Wheeler Peak campground site on August 1st. One of the four
children had a history of asthma and was without his inhaler. The four were
last seen at the campsite around 6 p.m.; their intention was to walk to
Lehman Creek to cool off. The park was notified at 8:45 p.m. A hasty search
was conducted, but proved fruitless. Additional rangers joined the search,
and the four children were found about a half mile downstream from the
campground at 11:15 p.m. All were in good condition. [Lisa Nielsen, AO,
GRBA]
96-431 - Mesa Verde (Colorado) - Search
On July 31st, rangers responded to a report of two juveniles missing from an
"at risk" youth group staying at the park's campground. They had taken their
packs with them and hadn't been seen since the previous night. Since one of
the missing persons had a serious medical condition and did not have his
medication with him, a search was begun within the park and the surrounding
area, and Civil Air Patrol and dog teams were called in. Before they
arrived, however, the park received a call from their parents, saying that
the two were in Chinle, Arizona, about 150 miles from the park. [D. Fuller,
Dispatch, MEVE]
96-432 - Mesa Verde (Colorado) - Assault
Ranger Zack Rogers responded to a report of an assault at Far View Terrace on
July 17th. A concession employee had attacked another employee when he was
asked to assist with clearing tables. A.Y. struck H.J.
with his fist, beat him with a long-handled squeegee, then left the area.
H.J. sustained cuts to his head, nose and hands. An extensive search was
conducted, but no sign of A.Y. was found. A summons has been issued to
A.Y., who lives in nearby Cortez, Colorado. [D. Fuller, Dispatch, MEVE]
96-433 - Glen Canyon (Arizona/Utah) - Assault
Rangers arrested 49-year-old D.A. for assaulting a woman at Lone Rock
Beach on the afternoon of July 31st. Investigation revealed that a felony
warrant had been issued by Yavapai County for his extradition on charges of
sexual contact with minors. D.A. has a history of violence, weapons
violations, and molestation of children. Following his arrest, D.A. told
rangers he was HIV positive, but this was not confirmed by medical testing.
Such claims are becoming an issue with prisoners seeking release when
charged. [David Sandbakken, LES, GLCA]
96-434 - Death Valley (California) - Assault
Rangers received a report of an assault with a deadly weapon in a park
housing area occupied primarily by Timbisha tribal members on the afternoon
of July 27th. An argument had broken out between two individuals which
resulted in the victim being struck in the face with a rifle and shot twice.
The alleged assailant, R.K., chased the victim back to his residence,
but had departed from the area by the time rangers arrived on scene. R.K.
has a previous criminal history for assaulting law enforcement officers, and
had recently threatened park law enforcement personnel. Information
indicated that R.K. had returned to his residence after the assault and
was armed. Park personnel established a perimeter and evacuated surrounding
homes while waiting for Inyo County deputies to arrive. A tactical unit was
requested, but the county advised that they wouldn't be available for six
hours. When deputies arrived, the incident was turned over to them due to
the nature of the park's jurisdiction. Due to limited resources, they opted
to wait R.K. out. R.K. was still at large at the time of the report
last Thursday afternoon. [CRO, DEVA]
96-435 - Biscayne (Florida) - Special Event
The annual, two-day-long recreational lobster mini-season was held in the
park on July 24th and 25th. The event attracts thousands of boaters from
Fort Lauderdale to Key Largo. Rangers and Coast Guard personnel contacted
the occupants of 453 vessels, wrote 15 violation notices, and issued 118
warnings. Rangers also recovered a stolen vessel valued at $70,000.
[Kimberly Mayo, IC, BISC]
96-436 - Mount Rushmore (South Dakota) - Special Event
Today marks the official beginning of the annual Sturgis Motorcycle Rally,
and traffic through the park was heavy over the weekend. The event, which
runs trhough Sunday, August 11th, traditionally has a significant impact on
all five parks in the Black Hills area. Updates to follow. [Mike Pflaum,
CR, MORU]
[Additional reports pending...]
FIRE ACTIVITY
NATIONAL PREPAREDNESS LEVEL - Level III
LARGE FIRE/INCIDENT SUMMARY
% Est
State Unit Fire/Incident IMT 8/2 8/5 Con Con
OR Deschutes NF Jefferson T1 3,648 3,648 100 CND
Vale District Bogus Creek -- 57,000 57,000 100 CND
* Oxbow -- - 300 100 CND
* Morgan Creek -- - 360 100 CND
Prineville District * Magic Lantern -- - 400 100 CND
Burns District Kiger -- 250 4,000 100 CND
* Peanut Lake -- - 160 100 CND
Ochoco NF * Box Canyon -- - 550 95 8/4
WA Umatilla NF Tallow Tail T2 60 60 100 CND
UT Salt Lake District South of Delle -- 1,200 1,200 100 CND
* N. Stansbury Cx T2 - 3,915 100 CND
* Teddy Bears -- - 1,000 80 8/5
* Pilot -- - 1,200 70 NEC
Richfield District * Leamington Cx T1 - 80,000 15 NEC
Cedar City District * Honey Boy T2 - 7,425 25 NEC
Fishlake NF * Adelaide Cx T2 - 4,240 0 NEC
State Camp Floyd -- 2,500 5,010 95 8/6
Uinta NF * Sterling -- - 200 10 8/6
ID Boise District Yote Butte -- 1,500 5,000 100 CND
* Antelope -- - 4,000 100 CND
Idaho Falls District * Merkley -- - 600 100 CND
SoCent Idaho District Walcott Lake -- 6,000 9,300 100 CND
East Salmon Dam -- 400 400 100 CND
Sawtooth NF * Lynn -- - 1,775 80 8/4
State * Craigmont Cx -- - 1,200 90 8/4
CA Seq.-Kings Canyon NP Castle Cx -- 1,390 1,698 100 CND
Sequoia NF Borel T1 800 2,500 100 CND
Madera-Mariposa RU Stumpfield -- 700 2,770 85 NEC
San Diego RU Barrett -- 750 750 100 CND
San Bernadino RU Pioneer -- 150 150 100 CND
Sonoma RU Cavedale -- 2,098 2,087 100 CND
Amador-El Dorado RU * Scott -- 4,000 9,280 100 CND
NV Elko District * Division T2 - 27,000 15 8/7
WY Big Horn NF * West Pass T2 - 700 30 8/7
Rawlins District * Pyramid -- - 125 90 8/5
Casper District * Geary Dome -- - 22,400 100 CND
CO Grand Jct. District * Bear Canyon -- - 122 100 CND
Craig District * Baking Powder -- - 125 100 CND
* Adam -- - 240 90 8/5
* O'Pinion T2 - 4,850 50 8/7
* Three Springs 2 -- - 2,100 100 CND
MT Crow Agency * Tullock Creek -- - 400 100 CND
* Dunmore -- - 1,500 100 CND
* Colfax -- - 1,500 100 CND
* Toluca -- - 8,000 100 CND
Flathead Agency * Ferry Basin 2 -- - 500 100 CND
State * Timberman -- - 110 100 CND
Miles City District * Buffalo -- - 360 100 CND
* Pine Grove -- - 150 100 CND
* Hampton Butte -- - 1,350 100 CND
AK Statewide 24 fires -- 458,305 458,305 -- 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
Olympics 96 Incident, Atlanta Area Parks - Demobilization has begun. Many
law enforcement rangers will begin demobilizing from the incident tomorrow
afternoon; full operational responsibility will be returned to the three
parks on Wednesday. Operating hours for park facilities at Martin Luther
King and Kennesaw Mountain are being scaled back. Activities over the past
four days include the following:
o Martin Luther King - VIP visits to the park continued - on August 1st,
the prime minister of Jamaica and members of the U.S. men's basketball
team; on August 2nd, the prime minister and crown prince of the
Netherlands. Rangers provided crowd and traffic control for the men's
marathon on August 4th, and responded to a variety of incidents in or
adjacent to the park during the period, including an apparent robbery,
a stabbing, a hit and run accident, a domestic quarrel, and several
instances of public intoxication. The park will host the torch
lighting for the 1996 Paralympic Games this morning.
o Kennesaw Mountain - On the evening of July 31st, living history
reenactors reported hearing five gunshots from a car which passed by on
a highway about 300 yards from their encampment. Rangers are assisting
county police in the investigation; additional security measures were
also taken. Living history demonstrations continued throughout the
period, as did VIP visits.
o Chattahoochee - The king of Sweden visited the park on August 2nd.
Secret Service agents borrowed bicycles from the park to accompany him
while he toured some of the park's trails.
NUMBER OF NEW FIRES (FOUR DAY TREND)
NPS BIA BLM FWS States USFS Total
Thursday, 8/1 1 14 85 1 87 134 322
Friday, 8/2 3 19 47 0 97 204 394
Saturday, 8/3 1 9 40 0 50 59 159
Sunday, 8/4 0 13 17 1 33 41 105
TOTAL COMMITTED RESOURCES (FOUR DAY TREND)
Crews Engines Helicopters Airtankers Overhead
Thursday, 8/1 213 536 64 24 717
Friday, 8/2 313 461 80 42 1,061
Saturday, 8/3 221 442 96 24 583
Sunday, 8/4 203 380 82 8 542
CURRENT SITUATION
Fire activity increased significantly over the weekend and continued
yesterday in the eastern Great Basin and Rockies. Substantial progress was
made on most large fires; containment objectives were met on many of them.
Mobilization through NICC yesterday remained steady.
NATIONAL OUTLOOK
NICC has posted FIRE WEATHER WATCHES for gusty winds and low relative
humidities for the east slopes of the Rockies, the high plains of Montana,
southeast Oregon, southern Idaho, southwest Wyoming, northeast California,
northern Nevada and the northwestern half of Utah.
There is considerable potential for increased fire activity in all these
areas.
[NICC Incident Management Situation Report, 8/3-5; Cheri Anderson, IO,
Olympics 96 Incident, 8/2-4]
RESOURCE MANAGEMENT
No submissions.
OPERATIONAL NOTES
Special Park Uses - Many people have asked for an electronic version of the
Service's standard special use permit form (Form 10-114). Such a form is now
available, formatted in WordPerfect 5.1 for a LaserJet III printer. If you'd
like a copy of this form, send a message to Dennis Burnett in WASO Ranger
Activities (Dennis Burnett at NP-WASO-POPS). The subject of the message
should read exactly as follows: SUP FORM. No actual message is necessary.
The form is two pages long and can be set up for two-sided printing. [Dick
Young, Special Park Uses Coordinator, RAD/WASO @ COLO]
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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