- Subject: NPS Morning Report - Thursday, September 5, 1996
- Date: Thurs, 5 Sep 1996
NATIONAL PARK SERVICE
MORNING REPORT
To: All National Park Service Areas and Offices
From: Division of Ranger Activities, Washington Office
Day/Date: Thursday, September 5, 1996
Broadcast: By 1000 ET
INCIDENTS
96-493 - Bryce Canyon (Utah) - Follow-up on Employee Death
A college donation fund has been established for J.W., the daughter
of ranger Michael Beaulieu, who was killed in an on-duty motor vehicle
accident on August 26th. Donations should refer to account number
193095007467 and should be sent to the Key Bank of Maine, 187 State Street,
P.O. Box 847, Presque Isle, Maine 04769. [Cheryl Schreier, BRCA]
96-511 - East Coast Areas - Follow-up on Hurricane Fran
Preparations continue in the Southeastern parks for the imminent arrival of
Hurricane Fran:
o Castillo de San Marcos/Fort Matanzas - The park is standing down from
the hurricane watch and tropical storm warning. All park operations
should be back to normal by tomorrow.
o Cumberland Island - Visitors were evacuated from the island yesterday
morning, and all park staff departed at 3:30 p.m. The park was closed
at that time. The hurricane is expected to pass by the park late this
morning, with winds between 50 and 60 mph and a tidal surge of at least
five feet.
o Fort Pulaski - The park is closed. A mandatory evacuation is in effect
for the coastal islands of Chatham County, Georgia, and will remain in
effect until the area is no longer within the hurricane warning zone.
Local enforcement agencies are allowing only emergency vehicles on the
roads. Gale force winds and heavy rain are expected as of about 1 p.m.
o Fort Sumter/Charles Pinckney/Moores Creek - The three parks will be
closed until the storm passes. Emergency preparedness actions for all
three parks have been fully implemented.
o NPS/FLETC - The Federal Law Enforcement Training Center will not be
evacuated (except for the facility in Charleston). Students are going
to ride out the storm on site, and classes will continue. Hurricane
force winds are expected by early afternoon.
o Cape Lookout - The park has been closed and evacuated. Headquarters
will close at 10 a.m.
o Cape Hatteras/Wright Brothers/Fort Raleigh - The group is in the
process of preparing for the hurricane. Gale force winds are expected
by 5 p.m. today. Ocracoke Island was ordered evacuated by the county
at 5 p.m. yesterday afternoon. The evacuation process went smoothly,
continuing through the night and ending this morning. Park facilities
on Ocracoke will be secured by noon. Campgrounds at Cape Point/
Hatteras Island and Oregon Inlet/Bodie Island will close at noon. Park
facilities on Bodie and Hatteras Islands are currently being secured.
Visitor centers on those two islands and at Wright Brothers and Fort
Raleigh will remain open for public information and routine business.
No ocean overwash has yet occurred, and none is expected until the high
tide cycle early on Friday morning.
[Chuck Harris, CR, CALO; C.L. Dale, CR, CASA; Newt Sikes, CR, CUIS; John
Breen, FOPU; John Tucker, FOSU/CHPI/MOCA; Darlene Koontz, NPS/FLETC; Bob
Woody, CI&VS, CAHA]
96-515 - Blue Ridge (North Carolina/Tennessee) - Stolen Vehicle; Arrest
While on routine patrol late on the evening of August 30th, rangers Darius
Jones and Shannon Maness found a vehicle in the parking lot of the Folk Art
Center, which was closed at the time. The sole occupant was Nancy Snyder,
54, of Winston-Salem, North Carolina. A records check indicated that the
vehicle had been stolen from Hillsville, Virginia, three days previously.
The vehicle also contained property which had been stolen from Maggie Valley,
North Carolina. Snyder alleged that she had been kidnapped and raped, but
was found in the driver's seat with keys in her possession. There was no
evidence that any other subject was involved. Snyder was accordingly
arrested for vehicle theft. [Jim Fox, BLRI]
96-516 - Chickamauga/Chattanooga (Georgia) - MVA with Fatality
V.R., 55, of Rossville, Georgia, died on August 29th from injuries
sustained in a motor vehicle accident which occurred in the park on August
14th. V.R. was driving a 1985 Cadillac southbound on U.S. 27 through the
park on the evening of the 14th when she crossed the centerline, veered back
across the southbound lane onto the road shoulder, then went into the woods
and struck a tree. Speed was not a factor. [Sam Weddle, CR, CHCH]
FIRE ACTIVITY
NATIONAL PREPAREDNESS LEVEL - Level V
LARGE FIRE/INCIDENT SUMMARY
% Est
State Unit Fire/Incident IMT 9/4 9/5 Con Con
OR Umatilla NF Tower T1 50,200 50,650 75 9/9
Summit T1 37,000 37,000 90 9/6
Wallowa-Whitman NF Salt Cx T2 68,925 68,925 75 9/5
Willamette NF Moolack Cx T2 11,715 11,715 80 9/8
Umpqua NF Spring T1 13,869 13,869 75 9/12
MT Custer NF Shepard Mtn. T2 600 1,200 10 NEC
ID Payette NF Fall/Goose Cx T2 485 485 100 CND
Salmon-Challis NF Bridge T1 12,000 12,000 0 10/10
UT State Golden Spike -- 9,600 12,800 90 9/5
Dixie NF Wet Sandy Cx -- 369 353 50 9/5
CA Yosemite NP Ackerson Cx T1 57,976 59,070 100 CND
Angeles NF Biedebach T2 685 698 100 CND
CO Craig District Hogback -- 120 175 100 CND
WY Bridger-Teton NF Aspen Hollow T2 580 NR NR NR
Big Horn NF Stockwell/
Stockwell II T2 1,000 2,250 NR 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 -
NUMBER OF NEW FIRES (FIVE DAY TREND)
NPS BIA BLM FWS States USFS Total
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
Wednesday, 9/4 2 5 7 1 26 43 84
TOTAL COMMITTED RESOURCES (FIVE DAY TREND)
Crews Engines Helicopters Airtankers Overhead
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
Wednesday, 9/4 342 277 106 2 1,977
CURRENT SITUATION
Initial attack activity was low yesterday. Progress was made on most fires -
except for the Shepard Mountain and Stockwell fires. Type I teams were
ordered for both fires yesterday. A crew was overrun by a blow-up on the
former; one firefighter was injured and transported to a hospital in
Billings. A Type III helicopter crashed on the latter; the pilot received
minor injuries. Resource mobilization through NICC was moderate.
NATIONAL OUTLOOK
NICC has posted FIRE WEATHER WATCHES for gusty winds in the Sacramento Valley
in northern California, for strong southwest winds in southern Nevada, and
for gusty winds and low relative humidities in eastern Montana.
[NICC Incident Management Situation Report, 9/4; Hal Grovert, YOSE, 9/4]
RESOURCE MANAGEMENT
No submissions.
OPERATIONAL NOTES
Background Investigations - As a result of negotiations recently conducted by
Ranger Activities and the Department of the Interior with the Office of
Personnel Management, it was tentatively agreed that OPM would delegate
responsibility to the National Park Service to comply with OPM's background
investigation requirements for temporary (seasonal) law enforcement positions
for limited background investigations (LBI). This frees the NPS from the
requirement that only OPM can conduct those investigations. However, OPM
will retain audit responsibility, so it will be important that each and every
background investigation be completed in a timely, thorough manner with
proper record keeping. This delegation potentially will save the NPS
hundreds of thousands of dollars and should result in more timely
investigations. It was made clear that OPM retains the responsibility to
insure "quality control" throughout the Federal law enforcement community.
OPM would therefore not entertain a lowering of background investigation
standards for NPS seasonal law enforcement rangers beyond the LBI level.
OPM retains responsibility for conducting background investigations (BI) for
permanent law enforcement officers, but will negotiate with the NPS on
potential cost saving measures. We are looking into the most cost-effective
way to manage our new responsibility, and more information will be provided
as discussions with OPM continue. Our thanks to Bill Larson and the staff at
Mount Rainier for their assistance on this project. [Maureen Finnerty,
AD/Operations and Education, WASO]
MEMORANDA
"Interagency Incident Coordination," signed on September 4th by Associate
Director, Park Operations and Education Maureen Finnerty and sent to all
field directors:
"The United States is divided into nine interagency geographic coordination
areas for the purpose of coordinating wildland fire and all risk incidents.
Each geographic area has a board of directors that is comprised of members of
its participating agencies. These boards are responsible for establishing
and coordinating operational procedures and the mobilization of resources.
In instances where demand for resources exceeds availability the group may
form a Multiagency Coordination (MAC) Group. The MAC Group collectively
prioritizes incidents and distributes critical available resources. MAC
members have the authority to speak for their agencies and should have a
written limited delegation of authority to do so.
"The geographic coordination areas and National Park Service (NPS)
organizational boundaries have little in common. Five of the nine areas
involve more than one NPS field area. Each field area with resources in a
geographic coordination area is entitled to representation. Some field areas
have opted for direct representation while others have informally allowed
personnel from other field areas to represent their interests. Unless all
Field Directors involved in a geographic coordination area are signatories to
documents requiring line authority approval, no one individual can truly
speak as the agency's representative nor can all of the agency's resources be
mobilized. In instances where the NPS has multiple representatives sitting
on the same board of directors the situation becomes unnecessarily complex
and increases the cost and workload of all involved.
"I recommend we streamline this process. We have examined each geographic
coordination area and determined which field area has the most activity
within it. I ask that NPS have only one representative on each coordination
area board of directors and that appropriate written limited delegations of
authority be given to each representative. The [following] list displays my
recommended organization:
RECOMMENDED NPS REPRESENTATION ON GEOGRAPHIC COORDINATION AREAS
Alaska Coordination Area Alaska Field Area
Southern Coordination Area Southeast Field Area
Rocky Mountain Coordination Area Intermountain Field Area
Northern Rockies Coordination Area Intermountain Field Area
Great Basin Coordination Area Intermountain Field Area
Eastern Coordination Area Northeast Field Area
California Coordination Area Pacific West Field Area
Southwest Coordination Area Intermountain Field Area
Northwest Coordination Area Pacific West Field Area
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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