- Subject: NPS Morning Report - Friday, August 8, 19977
- Date: Fri, 8 Aug 1997
NATIONAL PARK SERVICE
MORNING REPORT
To: All National Park Service Areas and Offices
From: Division of Ranger Activities, Washington Office
Day/Date: Friday, August 8, 1997
Broadcast: By 1000 ET
INCIDENTS
97-445 - Yellowstone NP (WY) - Explosion and Fire with Injuries
The park communications center received a 911 call at 7 p.m. on August 6th
reporting a propane explosion at a house trailer in the Old Faithful employee
trailer court. B.L., 69, an Amfac concession employee, was attempting
to relight the pilot light on a propane kitchen stove with a match when the
vapor exploded. The force of the explosion blew out the walls of the trailer
and spread fire to a back bedroom. Neighbors responded and put out the fire
with fire extinguishers before the Old Faithful fire department arrived on
scene. B.L., his wife, and two neighborhood children who were visiting them
sustained minor burns and lacerations. They were transported by ambulance to
the Old Faithful clinic for evaluation. B.L. was transferred to Lake
Hospital for observation and treatment of chest pain. The other three
patients were treated and released. [Mike Murray, ACR, YELL, 8/7]
97-446 - Yosemite NP (CA) - EMS Rescue
On July 30th, a 37-year-old visitor at Glacier Point suffered an anaphylactic
reaction from a wasp sting. Interpretive ranger/EMT Doug Nowlin found the
victim lying down and disoriented and having difficulty breathing. Ambulance
response time was about 45 minutes. Nowlin immediately injected the patient
with epinephrine, and his condition improved dramatically. He was eventually
transported to the park clinic. Nowlin's action, which probably saved the
man's life, stemmed from the park's voluntary training program, which teaches
EMT basics, including the use of epinephrine to treat anaphylaxis. [Todd
Brindle, DR, Wawona District, YOSE, 8/5]
97-447 - Yellowstone NP (WY) - Felony Theft
On the morning of July 17th, a park visitor accidentally left her purse in
her room at Canyon Lodge after checking out. The purse was turned in to the
area housekeeping office by a room inspector. By the time the purse reached
lost and found, $150 and two diamond rings with an appraised value of $15,000
were missing. Through interviews, park investigators identified a possible
suspect - an Amfac employee working as a night porter at Canyon Village.
They were able to obtain a confession from the porter and recover the missing
rings. Charges are pending with the U.S. attorney. [Mike Murray, ACR, YELL,
8/4]
97-448 - Yellowstone NP (WY) - Drug Seizure
On July 28th, an Amfac concession employee from the park reported alleged
drug activity at Canyon Village to a drug hotline in Mesa County, Colorado.
The hotline referred the caller to the park communications center, where it
was reported that another Amfac employee had just gone to Grand Junction,
Colorado, to pick up a shipment of illegal drugs. Park investigators
conducted a consent search of the suspect's room at Canyon, where they found
and seized 76 sugar cubes believed to contain LSD, eight grams of a drug
called "monkey's blood," 55 grams of marijuana, paraphernalia, and $305 in
cash. The suspect admitted that this had been his second trip to obtain
drugs for distribution. Prosecution by the U.S. attorney's office is pending
completion of drug analysis by the state crime lab. [Mike Murray, ACR, YELL,
8/4]
97-449 - Gulf Islands NS (FL/MI) - Fatality
Seasonal law enforcement ranger Larry Ward and visitor use assistant Wendy
Riles responded to a call of a young man with chest pains at the Fort Pickens
campground store on the afternoon of August 3rd. S.H., 19, of
Columbus, Ohio, told Ward that he'd been drinking the previous evening, but
that he hadn't had anything that day and was feeling better. He refused
further medical treatment. Ward assessed S.H. and found his vital signs to
be normal, but strongly encouraged S.H. to seek medical assistance to
determine what was causing the symptoms. Ward left the area, but told S.H.
that he'd be back to check him later on. About ten minutes later, dispatch
was notified that a person was lying on the ground in front of the campground
store. Ward responded and found S.H. on the ground with two local EMTs
over him. S.H. had been having convulsions and had no pulse, so they began
CPR. S.H. was flown to a hospital in Pensacola, where he was declared
dead. An autopsy is pending to determine the cause of death. [CRO, GUIS,
8/4]
97-450 - Saint Croix NSR (WI/MN) - Drug Seizure and Arrest
Rangers Turner and Hirschboeck detected the odor of burning marijuana in a
vehicle that they came upon in the Fish Hatchery parking lot on August 1st.
The driver turned over a small quantity of marijuana and a pipe. During the
search of the vehicle, Turner discovered a large plastic freezer bag
containing about a half pound of marijuana, measuring scales and plastic
bags. The operator was arrested for possession of a controlled substance
with intent to distribute and turned over to the county sheriff's department.
[Maureen Yunker, SACN, 8/5]
97-451 - Presidents Park (DC) - Demonstration Arrests
On Monday, August 4th, 13 people from the group "Democracy First" were
arrested by Park Police officers on the White House sidewalk and charged
under CFR with permit and demonstration violations. The defendants were
released after processing. [Bill Lynch, RLES, NCRO, 8/8]
FIRE ACTIVITY
NATIONAL PREPAREDNESS LEVEL - Level II
LARGE FIRE/INCIDENT SUMMARY
Wed Thu % Est
State Unit Fire/Incident IMT 8/6 8/7 Con Con
CA Los Padres NF Logan T1 21,290 36,740 45 NEC
Hopper T1 10,000 12,700 10 NEC
Sequoia NF Choke T2 160 910 2 NEC
Lassen NP * Huffer -- - 2,800 0 NEC
OR Burns District * Three Springs -- - 500 0 NEC
NV Winnemucca District Summit -- 1,600 1,600 100 CND
AZ Phoenix District * Wabayuma -- - 350 100 CND
MT Ft. Belknap District * Antelope -- - 350 100 CND
AK# Southwest Area Inowak T2 573,000 573,000 0 NEC
Galena District Simels -- 386,000 386,000 0 NEC
Paimiut T2 2,467 2,467 70 8/7
# Alaska has 52 other large fires burning for a total of 1,780,783 acres.
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
Sunday, 8/3 0 1 9 0 45 67 122
Monday, 8/4 0 4 12 0 232 41 289
Tuesday, 8/5 6 1 5 0 63 64 139
Wednesday, 8/6 7 4 9 2 69 89 180
Thursday, 8/7 44 5 28 2 45 63 187
TOTAL COMMITTED RESOURCES (FIVE DAY TREND)
Crews Engines Helicopters Airtankers Overhead
Sunday, 8/3 92 76 27 8 38
Monday, 8/4 84 108 29 28 227
Tuesday, 8/5 159 178 52 20 408
Wednesday, 8/6 198 320 65 27 615
Thursday, 8/7 91 165 40 21 242
COMPARATIVE ASSESSMENT
1997: YTD Ten Year Average: YTD
Number of fires 43,163 53,756
Acres burned 2,526,457 1,993,930
CURRENT SITUATION
Initial attack and large fire activity continued in southern California
yesterday. One new large fire and increased initial attack were reported in
the Northwest. NICC continued to process orders for aircraft, equipment,
crews and overhead to support the large fires in California. Fire indices
remain very high to extreme in California, Arizona and Nevada.
The Huffer fire at Lassen NP has now burned 2,800 acres. The fire was active
yesterday and made a two-mile run to the northeast. A total of 200
firefighters have been committed.
[NICC Incident Management Situation Report, 8/8]
RESOURCE MANAGEMENT
No submissions.
OPERATIONAL NOTES
CIRS Update - Programmers are currently beta testing the criminal incident
reporting system (CIRS) LAN version 1.02 software at Delaware Water Gap NA
and Natchez Trace Parkway. Several problems with the software were
encountered at the latter, most of which have since been fixed. One problem
still persists which concerns running the PKZIP backup/restore software from
CIRS in some NT environments. Testing is being done on the LAN version
internally on both Novell and NT servers. The software will run on stand-
alone Pcs as well, and is compatible with the new versions of cc:Mail
currently being installed. The beta test version will be sent to several
more parks during coming weeks; once programmers have corrected any
abnormalities, it will be released for full field use. Current plans call
for getting all parks on CIRS by the end of the year. If you're having any
problems with the software, please contact Bob Reid by name on cc:Mail or at
404-562-3111. System operators would like to begin 1998 by having all parks
working with CIRS and uploading their case incidents to a central computer so
that various required monthly, quarterly and annual reports can be generated
without burdening parks with hand searching and preparing the reports for
Ranger Activities. [Bob Reid, RAD/WASO @ SERO]
MEMORANDA
Director Robert Stanton posted a message to all employees on the director's
bulletin board on August 6th. Since not all employees yet receive messages
from that bulletin board, his comments are also being disseminated through
the Morning Report:
"I am extremely honored to have been nominated by President Clinton and
confirmed by the Senate to be Director of the National Park Service. I have
worked my entire Federal career for the NPS, and I am deeply dedicated to its
mission to preserve for all time America's natural and cultural treasures. I
am enthusiastic about working as Director to advance this great cause and to
advocate for the needs of the Service and for you, my friends and colleagues,
its employees.
"The core mission of the National Park Service is to conserve our national
heritage unimpaired for the enjoyment of future generations. This is the
most fundamental trust that the American people and its leaders have bestowed
upon us. As an organization, the Service can not hope to meet this
obligation without a stronger resource management and protection capability.
I will work energetically to project this need and to attract new and
substantial support for our protection efforts. I strongly support the
Service's commitment to professionalizing and diversifying its workforce -
and to providing a safe environment for employees and visitors - and I am
directing that all necessary resources be provided to support ongoing career
development initiatives. The NPS can and should act as a premier
environmental leader, modeling sustainable practices for others, helping
local communities to preserve their own heritage resources, and offering
assistance as educator and manager of places of incomparable beauty,
scientific value, and historical meaning.
"I believe a major challenge facing the Service today is to secure greater
fiscal resources to carry out its mission. My top priority - and pledge to
you - is to vigorously pursue improved funding for Park Service operations
and programs. To accomplish this, I will explore all avenues, from the
Congress on appropriations needs to civic-minded public and private interests
to forge inventive, new partnerships that are consistent with our policies
and stewardship responsibilities.
"Over the past several years, the NPS has worked to develop a strategic plan
to guide us into the immediate future. I am a proponent of performance
management and am pleased that we have in hand well-articulated goals. We
have also worked very hard to implement the NPS Restructuring Plan, and this
has produced the positive result of stimulating field-level creativity and
initiative. It is now time to complete this task, eliminate the distractions
and uncertainties of restructuring, and focus on the challenges facing the
organization. Improved, regular communications between and among us are
essential if the Service is to function efficiently. I intend to report to
you regularly each month on key issues, progress of the National Leadership
Council, and Servicewide policy matters.
"In my vision for the National Park Service: we will preserve and maintain
the resources entrusted to our care to the highest levels of quality
possible, and we will accomplish this through a highly-skilled, diverse,
dedicated and motivated staff using prudent financial management systems,
partnerships and state-of-the-art technology; our programs and services will
be available to the broadest spectrum of park visitors with specific
assurances of the availability of these services to youth and citizens with
disabilities; and we will become the most efficient, effective and respected
agency of the Federal Government.
"I am delighted, and humbled, by the responsibility to serve as the new NPS
Director, and I look forward very much to working with you."
EXCHANGE
No submissions.
OBSERVATIONS
This section, which appears intermittently in the Morning Report, contains
observations regarding the National Park Service, the System and the several
professions of park employees. Today's observation has been excerpted from a
collection of quotations entitled "John Muir: In His Own Words," compiled and
edited by Peter Browning (Great West Books, 1988).
"There is not a fragment in all nature, for every relative fragment of one
thing is a full harmonious unit in itself."
John Muir, "A Thousand-Mile Walk to
the Gulf," 1867
* * * * *
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
pertaining to receipt of 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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