- Subject: NPS Morning Report - Wednesday, September 4, 1996
- Date: Wed, 4 Sep 1996
NATIONAL PARK SERVICE
MORNING REPORT
To: All National Park Service Areas and Offices
From: Division of Ranger Activities, Washington Office
Day/Date: Wednesday, September 4, 1996
Broadcast: By 1000 ET
INCIDENTS
96-510 - East Coast Areas - Follow-up on Hurricane Edouard
Two additional reports have been received on the impacts of the hurricane:
o Acadia - A few trees were downed and surf was high, but the park was
otherwise spared due to the hurricane's turn out to sea. There were
many surf watchers in the park, particularly at Thunder Hole and on the
Schoodic Peninsula. Many visitors/campers left the park early on the
Labor Day weekend, but Saturday and most of Sunday were nonetheless
busy.
o Fire Island - The park experienced some high winds and a little
erosion, but nothing more than a normal off-shore storm would have
caused. The primary impact was economic, as the park concession lost a
good deal of business.
[Don Weir, CR, FIIS; Rob Yates, DR, ACAD]
96-511 - East Coast Areas - Follow-up on Hurricane Fran
Hurricane Fran, now a powerful category III storm, continues its steady
progress toward the East Coast. Current projections call for land fall
between northern Florida and North Carolina, most likely just south of Fort
Sumter. Parks north of central Florida are continuing to complete necessary
preparations; parks to the south have reopened:
o Cape Canaveral - The park, Kennedy Space Center and Patrick Air Force
Base went into condition III of their hurricane plan yesterday morning.
This condition goes into effect when a hurricane is predicted to make
landfall within 48 hours. Although forecasters don't believe that the
hurricane will hit the area directly, it will be close enough to not
take chances. Storm force winds and tidal surge are in any case
probable. The park will probably be closed on Thursday. Bill DeHart
is IC.
o Castillo de San Marcos/Fort Matanzas - Phase II of the hurricane plan
has been initiated. All buildings have been shuttered and secured,
boats removed, the fee booth and office gear secured. If conditions
warrant, the curatorial collection and archives will be moved out of
the area by rental trucks this afternoon. Castillo remains open for
visitation, but Fort Matanzas is closed due to the termination of ferry
service.
o Cumberland Island - The park has put its hurricane plan into effect.
The park was closed to visitors, effective yesterday at 5 p.m. All
campers will be required to leave the island no later than the 10:15
a.m. ferry this morning. All staff residing on the island will be
required to leave by 5 p.m. this afternoon. Chief ranger Newt Sikes is
IC.
o Fort Sumter - The park has implemented its hurricane emergency
operations plan. Fort Moultrie, Charles Pinckney and Fort Sumter will
remain open today as final emergency preparations are completed. All
facilities will probably be closed early on Thursday. Superintendent
John Tucker is IC.
o Biscayne - The park's IMT has determined that the threat to south
Florida has decreased to the point where reopening is warranted. The
visitor center should be open by 10 a.m., Elliott and Adams Keys by
noon.
o Everglades - The park closed yesterday afternoon, but reopened this
morning due to the northward passage of the hurricane.
[Bill DeHart, CR, CANA; C.L. Dale, CR, CASA; Newt Sikes, CR, CUIS; John
Tucker, Superintendent, FOSU; Roberta D'Amico, IO, EVER; Gary Bremen, IO,
BISC]
96-513 - Great Smokies (North Carolina/Tennessee) - Horseback Riding Fatality
J.T., 39, of Hartford, Tennessee, was horseback riding with a group
of friends along the Big Creek trail when he and his horse apparently fell
about 25 feet from a bridge into the creek. According to his companions, who
did not witness the accident, J.T. became separated from them after dark as
they were riding back to the trailhead. After waiting awhile, they retraced
their route and searched for him for about two hours before contacting
rangers around 11:30 p.m. Ranger Paul Williams discovered J.T.'s body near
his horse, which was standing in four-and-a-half feet of water about two
miles from the trailhead. He had suffered massive head injuries and expired.
His horse received lacerations, bumps, bruises and an apparent shoulder
injury, but was able to walk out. [Jason Houck, CR, GRSM]
96-514 - Chickasaw (Oklahoma) - Rescue
On the afternoon of August 29th, S.B. and M.C. were
swept off a low water bridge by fast-moving creek waters, but were able to
swim to a nearby sandbar. Rangers were notified and began rescue efforts.
When the rangers arrived, they found that S.B. had attempted to swim
across the creek to safety, but had instead been swept further downstream and
was clinging to a tree in the water. Park landscape architect Ken Ruhnke,
who was first on scene, waded out in the fast-moving waters to S.B.;
ranger Karen Rogal and contract specialist Rosalind Jones attached a rope to
a tree and hauled Ruhnke and S.B. to shore. Rangers John Bandurski, Allen
Hill and Steve Buxton, with the aid of a local fireman, set up a scree
evacuation to extricate M.C. from the sandbar. Hill descended 100 feet
to the victim and helped her to safety. Both women were uninjured. Alcohol
is thought to have been a factor in the incident. Unusually heavy rains in
the area over a period of several days had caused rivers and streams to rise
above normal levels. [Len Weems, CR, CHIC]
[Additional reports pending...]
FIRE ACTIVITY
NATIONAL PREPAREDNESS LEVEL - Level V
LARGE FIRE/INCIDENT SUMMARY
% Est
State Unit Fire/Incident IMT 9/3 9/4 Con Con
OR Umatilla NF Bull T2 8,500 9,533 100 CND
Tower T1 48,050 50,200 70 9/9
Summit T1 37,000 37,000 80 9/6
Wallowa-Whitman NF Salt Cx T1 68,925 68,925 75 9/5
Willamette NF Moolack Cx T2 11,715 11,715 60 9/8
Umpqua NF Spring T1 12,968 13,869 50 9/12
ID Payette NF Fall/Goose Cx T2 485 485 98 9/4
Salmon-Challis NF Bridge T1 12,000 12,000 1 10/10
Idaho Panhandle NF Lakeview T2 270 270 80 NEC
UT State Golden Spike -- 7,400 9,600 70 9/5
Dixie NF Wet Sandy Cx -- 635 369 15 9/5
CA Yosemite NP Ackerson Cx T1 57,486 57,976 95 9/4
Angeles NF Biedebach T2 510 685 60 9/4
CO Craig District * Hogback -- - 120 90 9/4
WY Bridger-Teton NF * Aspen Hollow T2 - 580 1 9/10
Big Horn NF Stockwell T2 1,000 1,000 80 NEC
AK Statewide 11 fires -- 342,783 342,783 -- NSS
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
NPS FIRE NARRATIVES
Ackerson Complex, Yosemite - Extensive firing out operations have been
conducted over the past few days. A spot fire occurred near Camp Mather on
Sunday, but was quickly contained by aircraft. Mop-up has been completed on
several sections of the fire and fireline rehabilitation is progressing.
Closures are essentially the same as previously reported in the Morning
Report. As of yesterday, over 1200 firefighters and overhead were still
committed to the fire, along with 20 engines, three bulldozers, a dozen
helicopter and four water tenders.
NUMBER OF NEW FIRES (FIVE DAY TREND)
NPS BIA BLM FWS States USFS Total
Friday, 8/30 1 2 20 0 58 97 178
Saturday, 8/31 0 3 17 0 54 67 141
Sunday, 9/1 3 72 30 0 53 52 147
Monday, 9/2 0 4 14 0 34 62 114
Tuesday, 9/3 2 4 8 0 61 44 119
TOTAL COMMITTED RESOURCES (FIVE DAY TREND)
Crews Engines Helicopters Airtankers Overhead
Friday, 8/30 602 805 167 25 3,091
Saturday, 8/31 563 776 171 20 2,961
Sunday, 9/1 621 729 162 13 2,481
Monday, 9/2 481 548 154 16 1,873
Tuesday, 9/3 403 353 123 3 2,457
CURRENT SITUATION
Initial attack activity was light in most areas yesterday. Several large
fires were contained, and substantial progress was made on others. Resource
mobilization through NICC has moderated. Demobilization and reassignments
are continuing.
NATIONAL OUTLOOK
NICC has posted RED FLAG WARNINGS for strong southwest winds and low relative
humidities in northern and central California, eastern Idaho, and western
Wyoming, and FIRE WEATHER WATCHES for the same conditions in south-central
Oregon, Nevada, central Wyoming, western and northern Utah, and northwest
Colorado.
[NICC Incident Management Situation Report, 9/4; Hal Grovert, YOSE, 9/3]
RESOURCE MANAGEMENT
No submissions.
OPERATIONAL NOTES
NPS-53, Special Park Uses Guideline - On August 26th, the draft of NPS-53 and
its accompanying procedures manual were made available for comment. At that
time, a 30-day turnaround time for comments was specified. It has since
become evident that this is not enough time for an adequate review of such a
large document, particularly one with effects as complex and far-reaching as
this guideline. The comment period has therefore been extended to a full 60
days. Comments are now due by November 15th. They should be returned to
Dick S Young via cc:Mail, or via mail to Dick Young, Colonial NHP, PO Box
210, Yorktown, VA 23690. If you're replying by cc:Mail, do NOT send back the
entire document(s), but rather send your comments indexed to chapter or
appendix number, page number and paragraph. Every comment received will be
brought to the attention of the task force convened for the review.
Questions should be directed to Dick Young at 757-898-7846. [Dick Young,
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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