- Subject: NPS Morning Report - Tuesday, October 8, 1996
- Date: Tues, 8 Oct 1996
NATIONAL PARK SERVICE
MORNING REPORT
To: All National Park Service Areas and Offices
From: Division of Ranger Activities, Washington Office
Day/Date: Tuesday, October 8, 1996
Broadcast: By 1000 ET
INCIDENTS
96-570 - Little Bighorn (Montana) - Follow-up on Employee Murder
Detectives investigating the murder of career seasonal ranger Cliff Nelson
have determined that he was killed by birdshot from a 12-gauge shotgun, and
that two 12-gauge shotgun blasts were also fired at the high school where he
taught on the same evening. Two local residents in their late teens or early
twenties, both of whom had had problems with Nelson when in junior high, are
suspects in the case. The two had been drinking heavily on the night of the
murder and were seen in the area of his home. At this point, authorities
have only a circumstantial case, with no good physical evidence to tie the
two to the scene. The memorial service for Nelson was attended by 1200
people. [Information from Missoula newspapers, via Phil Young, SA, IMFA]
96-580 - C&O Canal (Maryland/D.C.) - Follow-up on Employee Death
Maintenance employee Nelson Griffith, 62, died last Sunday morning while
felling a tree along the towpath in the vicinity of Lock Five. Efforts were
made to resuscitate him by rangers, maintenance employees and Park Police
officers, but were unsuccessful. Nelson had worked on the canal since the
park's establishment in 1971. The work that he was engaged in at the time of
his death was directly related to park repair and restoration efforts
following the two major floods that struck the park this year. He is
survived by his wife, Shirley, and by three daughters and a son. Funeral
arrangements are currently being made and will be passed along as soon as
they are completed. The employee assistance program has been activated to
assist both family members and park employees in dealing with his death. The
park received valuable and timely assistance from staff at Shenandoah and
Colonial in notifying and assisting family members until the superintendent
and chief of maintenance at C&O could personally contact them. [Kevin
FitzGerald, CHOH]
96-581 - FLETC (Georgia) - Follow-up on Serious Employee Injury
Park Police officer Richard Holman, 25, of Long Island, New York, succumbed
to the injuries sustained in Friday's motor vehicle accident on Sunday,
October 6th. He is survived by his parents and his fiance. He was appointed
to the Park Police in July and was scheduled to graduate from FLETC in
November. Funeral arrangements are pending. [Bill Lynch, LES, NCSO]
96-584 - Death Valley (California) - Bus Accident with Multiple Injuries
Rangers responded to a tour bus crash on Highway 190 west of Townes Pass on
the afternoon of October 3rd. The initial report indicated that at least
four passengers had been seriously hurt. A multi-victim incident response
was begun, with the closest units 25 minutes away. Upon arrival, rangers
found a 30-passenger tour bus off the road against the side of a mountain.
The driver had lost control while descending a nine percent grade. Twenty-
two people were injured, two seriously. The cause of the crash is under
investigation. The bus has been impounded by the California Highway Patrol.
[CRO, DEVA]
96-585 - Southeast Parks - Hurricane/Tropical Storm Josephine
Hurricane Josephine came ashore last night in northern Florida, was
downgraded to a tropical storm, and is now moving up the East Coast as a
significant storm with heavy rains and high winds. Two reports have been
received so far on the effects of its passage:
o Gulf Islands - The storm passed to the south and east of the park.
Although seas were rough on the Mississippi Sound, no evacuations were
ordered.
o Castillo de San Marcos/Fort Matanzas - The park put its hurricane plan
into effect. Park facilities were secured and all staff except for law
enforcement rangers were released yesterday morning. At the time of
the report yesterday afternoon, the park was receiving moderate to
heavy rains and a severe thunderstorm and tornado watch was in effect.
Some surrounding areas were flooded.
o Fort Frederica - Tropical storm force winds were forecast for the area
for early today. The park has received almost a full week of rain,
which has softened the ground to such an extent that many pine trees
are expected to fall. Plans yesterday therefore called for closure of
the park today due to danger from falling trees and limbs.
[Skip Prange, Acting CR, GUIS; C.L. Dale, CR, CASA; Ray Morris, CR, FOFR]
96-586 - Petrified Forest (Arizona) - Falling Fatality
On Thursday, October 4th, a visitor reported witnessing an elderly man fall
from a cliff at Blue Mesa. Rangers Greg Caffey and Debbie Krueger arrived on
scene and found R.K., 82, lying face down 40 feet below a sandstone
outcropping. R.K.'s nephew was with him. CPR was begun by park staff and
continued for about an hour by a local ambulance company, but proved
fruitless. According to witness statements, R.K. was walking out onto the
outcropping so his nephew could take a picture of him when he stumbled, got
up, walked further out on the outcropping, then stumbled again and fell
backwards over the edge. He apparently fell head first and suffered massive
internal injuries. [Greg Caffey, ACR, PEFO]
[Additional reports pending...]
FIRE ACTIVITY
NATIONAL PREPAREDNESS LEVEL - Level II
LARGE FIRE/INCIDENT SUMMARY
Sun Mon % Est
State Unit Fire/Incident IMT 10/6 10/7 Con Con
ID Shoshone District Tip Top T2 1,000 12,000 0 10/8
UT Wasatch-Cache NF Spillway -- 479 580 15 10/9
WY Bridger-Teton NF Fayette T2 450 4,500 0 NEC
MT Crow Agency * Cabins -- - 600 100 CND
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
NUMBER OF NEW FIRES (FIVE DAY TREND)
NPS BIA BLM FWS States USFS Total
Thursday, 10/3 2 0 4 0 34 9 49
Friday, 10/4 0 0 5 0 19 4 28
Saturday, 10/5 2 1 1 0 25 7 36
Sunday, 10/6 0 3 0 0 34 8 45
Monday, 10/7 0 4 2 0 40 28 74
TOTAL COMMITTED RESOURCES (FIVE DAY TREND)
Crews Engines Helicopters Airtankers Overhead
Thursday, 10/3 31 45 17 1 142
Friday, 10/4 13 44 9 1 75
Saturday, 10/5 6 37 7 0 45
Sunday, 10/6 26 86 11 7 94
Monday, 10/7 28 89 18 5 128
CURRENT SITUATION
Fire activity continued in the easter Great Basin yesterday; resource
mobilization through NICC was moderate.
NATIONAL OUTLOOK
A strong upper level ridge centered over western Nevada will bring
unseasonably warm and dry weather from the Great Basin to the Pacific coast,
with some areas recording near record high temperatures.
[NICC Incident Management Situation Report]
OPERATIONAL NOTES
Big South Fork Lawsuit Court Decision - In January, 1994, rangers from Big
South Fork NRA responded to a request for assistance from the local sheriff's
office for an incident underway just outside of the boundaries of the park.
The rangers responded under the authority of an existing memorandum of
understanding with the sheriff's department. The subject of the law
enforcement incident was subsequently killed by sheriff's deputies. A
lawsuit was filed by the family of the deceased in U.S. District Court
(Eastern District of Tennessee) against the county, the sheriff and his
deputies, the NPS, and the rangers individually. In July, 1995, the district
court judge denied the request of the U.S. attorney to substitute the United
States as defendant in place of the rangers. He ruled that the rangers,
responding outside park boundaries to a request for emergency assistance
under a written reciprocal agreement with the local law enforcement agency,
were not acting as borrowed servants and were not acting within the scope of
their employment and were therefore not covered under the Federal Tort Claims
Act. This ruling meant that the rangers would be left in the lawsuit
individually. The Department of Justice appealed this ruling to the Sixth
Circuit Court of Appeals. On September 3rd, the Sixth Circuit issued its
ruling and reversed the decision of the district court judge. The appellate
court ruled that the district court erred and should have substituted the
United States for the rangers, thereby removing them individually from the
suit. The court of appeals found that the rangers were acting within their
scope of employment, as they were employed to enforce the laws in the park
and to provide cooperative assistance to nearby law enforcement agencies
outside park areas pursuant to the authority of 16 USC 1b. [Dennis Burnett,
RAD/WASO]
Historic Preservation Program Regulations - On October 2nd, the NPS published
the proposed rule for 36 CFR Part 61, "Procedures for State, Tribal and Local
Government Historic Preservation Programs," in the Federal Register. This
rule proposes to revise the requirements for state and local historic
preservation programs and to change the way the NPS administers these
programs. The proposed changes are intended to provide more flexibility in
state historic preservation office staffing and state historic preservation
review board membership and operations, and to carry out state historic
preservation officer responsibilities. This revision also officially
recognizes the growing role of tribal historic preservation programs. Some
of the proposed changes are necessary because of the 1992 amendments to the
National Historic Preservation Act. Other changes are proposed to reduce the
regulatory burden on, and provide more flexibility for NPS, state and local
historic preservation programs. Much of this has been done pursuant to the
President's regulatory reinvention initiative and Executive Order 12866. The
evolution and growing maturity of state and local offices in the national
historic preservation program have also eliminated the need for some of the
more detailed and restrictive requirements. Repetition, advice, and
quotations from the act are no longer needed and are removed from this
regulation. If you would like to receive an electronic copy of this proposed
rule, send a cc:Mail message to Dennis Burnett at NP-WASO-POPS (cc:Mail). In
the subject box type: 36cfr61. Nothing more is required. A copy of the
regulation will automatically be sent to you. Written comments will be
accepted through until December 2nd. All comments should be addressed to:
Chief, Heritage Preservation Services Division, National Center for Cultural
Resource Stewardship and Partnership Programs, National Park Service, P.O.
Box 37127, Washington, D.C. 20013-7127; Attention: John W. Renaud.
Comments may be faxed to 202-343-6004 or sent by electronic mail to John
Renaud at NP-WASO-HPS (cc:Mail) or John_Renaud@nps.gov (Internet). For
further information, contact John W. Renaud at 202-343-1059. [Dennis
Burnett, RAD/WASO]
MEMORANDA
No submissions.
EXCHANGE
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Prepared by the Division of Ranger Activities, WASO, with the cooperation and
support of Delaware Water Gap NRA.
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