- Subject: NPS Morning Report - Friday, September 19, 1997
- Date: Fri, 19 Sep 1997
NATIONAL PARK SERVICE
MORNING REPORT
To: All National Park Service Areas and Offices
From: Division of Ranger Activities, Washington Office
Day/Date: Friday, September 19, 1997
Broadcast: By 1000 ET
INCIDENTS
97-553 - Grand Canyon NP (AZ) - Follow-up on Search
The body of 40-year-old P.M. of New Orleans, Louisiana, was discovered
in the Colorado River near Tapeats Creek by passengers on a commercial river
trip on September 16th. P.M. and her husband, J.M., were both swept away in
a flash flood on Bright Angel Creek on September 11th. J.M.'s body has
not yet been found. [Public Affairs, GRCA, 9/18]
97-580 - Zion NP (UT) - Rescue
D.B., 27, of Flagstaff, Arizona, was on a solo hike about two miles
up the rain-swollen Virgin River narrows on the afternoon of September 14th
when a rush of wind alerted him to an oncoming flash flood. D.B. turned
around and raced 100 yards to a small side drainage, where he found refuge
and avoided the brunt of the rushing water. Because of the fast-flowing
water, D.B. was forced to spend the night at that location. He was lightly
dressed, but warded off cool temperatures by building a small fire and doing
exercises. Due to periodic flash floods and wildly fluctuating water flows,
rescuers were unable to reach D.B. during the morning hours of the 15th. A
helicopter was en route to his location that afternoon when the river flow
subsided enough for D.B. to alternately swim and hike out. He was examined
by a park medic and found to have suffered no injuries or ill effects from
his experience. [Dispatch, ZION, 9/18]
97-581 - Organ Pipe Cactus NM (AZ) - Search in Progress
A major inter-agency search has been underway since September 15th for 45-
year-old D.R. of California. His vehicle was found parked at a
remote trailhead. Investigation by rangers has revealed that D.R. is a
loner who pushes himself to his physical limits in desert hikes. The search
effort is focusing on the Senita Basin area. Karl Pearson is IC.
Temperatures have been over 100 degrees throughout the period. [Aniceto
Olais, CR, ORPI, 9/18]
FIRE ACTIVITY
NATIONAL PREPAREDNESS LEVEL - Level II
LARGE FIRE/INCIDENT SUMMARY
Wed Thu % Est
State Unit Fire/Incident IMT 9/16 9/17 Con Con
MT Charles Russell NWR Hubbard -- 800 800 100 CND
State TK -- 1,000 1,000 100 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
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
NUMBER OF NEW FIRES (FIVE DAY TREND)
NPS BIA BLM FWS States USFS Total
Sunday, 9/14 0 2 8 1 6 19 36
Monday, 9/15 1 2 4 1 5 24 37
Tuesday, 9/16 0 4 1 2 24 15 46
Wednesday, 9/17 15 3 4 0 110 8 140
Thursday, 9/18 0 2 0 0 57 8 67
TOTAL COMMITTED RESOURCES (FIVE DAY TREND)
Crews Engines Helicopters Airtankers Overhead
Sunday, 9/14 4 38 6 0 2
Monday, 9/15 18 49 8 0 65
Tuesday, 9/16 7 18 6 1 0
Wednesday, 9/17 6 28 3 0 13
Thursday, 9/18 3 6 9 0 3
CURRENT SITUATION
Initial attack increased in the South yesterday, but there was little
activity elsewhere. Very high to extreme fire indices were reported in
southern California, the western Great Basin and northern Rockies.
NICC has posted two FIRE WEATHER WATCHES - one for low relative humidity in
northwest Florida, the other for gusty northerly winds for coastal areas of
California from San Francisco Bay north.
[NICC Incident Management Situation Report, 9/19]
RESOURCE MANAGEMENT
No submissions.
OPERATIONAL NOTES
Housing Update - On Wednesday, September 3rd, the director issued a
memorandum to the directorate on his concerns regarding NPS employee housing
policy and practices. His memorandum also transmitted the recent report to
Congress on revised employee housing criteria, pursuant to the Omnibus Parks
and Public Lands Management Act of 1996 (PL 104-333), which was signed into
law on August 19th. The Service was directed by Congress to review and
revise, as necessary, the criteria under which the agency provides housing to
its employees and to specifically examine required occupancy. The memo also
identifies several actions which have been taken and will continue to be
implemented to ensure that mission-critical housing, where it is necessary,
is designed, constructed and maintained in a cost-effective manner. The WASO
Housing Office is in the process of developing a new director's order (DO-36)
and an accompanying housing management handbook which will contain more
specific information and direction for the field. You can obtain a copy of
the director's memorandum and the report to Congress by sending a cc:Mail
message with the words Housing Report (and nothing else) in the subject line
to Donna Compton at NP-WASO-FMD. [Donna Compton, FMD/WASO]
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
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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