- Subject: NPS Morning Report - Thursday, May 14, 1998
- Date: Thurs, 14 May 1998
NATIONAL PARK SERVICE
MORNING REPORT
To: All National Park Service Areas and Offices
From: Division of Ranger Activities, Washington Office
Day/Date: Thursday, May 14, 1998
*** NOTICE ***
All flags are to lowered to half staff tomorrow, Friday, May 15, 1998, in
commemoration of National Peace Officers' Memorial Day. Flags will return to
full staff on the morning of Saturday, May 16th.
INCIDENTS
98-202 - Big South Fork NRRA (KY/TN) - Illegal Gathering; Resource Damage
On May 8th, rangers received word that a gathering of the Rainbow Family was
being staged in the Rock Creek area of the park. Rock Creek is a prized
fishing stream and is highly sensitive environmentally. Rangers contacted
the group on the afternoon of May 9th. About 25 people had set-up camp at
the site; another 200 were expected. Camp sites had been cut out in the
woods and there was extensive resource damage. One individual took
responsibility for the damage and was issued a citation. The group was
advised to obtain a special use permit and told that they would need to leave
the Rock Creek area. As of May 12th, they had neither departed nor applied
for a permit for another location. The group size on that date was estimated
at 50 people. They were contacted shortly thereafter by a task force of
county deputies, Kentucky state police officers, a drug dog team, EMS
personnel, and 18 commissioned rangers (who happened to be in the park for a
law enforcement refresher). Although no violence was expected, it was
believed that members of the group would neither comply with the request to
move nor seek a permit for another location. Provisions had been made for a
mass arrest if compliance was not obtained. The group was contacted and
decided to move out of the park after a "group council session." Group
members packed up all of the camp, conducted some rehabilitation of the area,
then departed. This area extends across the state line into Kentucky and the
Daniel Boone National Forest. The group has camped before in the Daniel
Boone and will be contacted by Forest Service law enforcement officers at a
later date. The incident was managed under the ICS system. Ranger Tim
Grooms was IC. [F. Graham, CR, BISO, 5/13]
98-203 - Shenandoah NP (VA) - Alleged Attempted Homicide
On the evening of May 8th, L.K. of Springfield, Virginia,
reported that he'd been assaulted by two men while setting up camp along the
Appalachian Trial in the Compton Gap area. L.K. said that he fled the
area when the two men approached his camp, yelling at him to leave and firing
several shots in his direction. There were no vehicles in the area. Dense
fog, with visibility reduced to five to ten feet, hampered the immediate
response and investigation. At daybreak, rangers entered and secured the
campsite, but found nobody in the vicinity. Investigators and a tracker
searched the area; no evidence was found to validate L.K.'s story.
Investigators are planning on interviewing L.K. again. [Ginny Rousseau,
CR, SHEN, 5/11]
98-204 - Everglades NP (FL) - Burglary
The owners of Everglades National Park Boat Tours closed the concession
office at 9:02 p.m. on April 27th. The building's security camera recorded a
single person entering the cashier's office at 9:07. The camera quit
recording six seconds later. The next morning, district ranger Mike Mayer
investigated and determined that the system stopped recording because someone
had turned it off. The person or persons who entered the facility pried open
cash register drawers and removed the concession safe. A total of about $550
in cash was taken along with the $300 safe and a $40 dolly. The burglars
entered the building and each locked office by pushing back the door latch
striker with a sharp instrument, such as a pen knife. The video image is not
clear, so the security tape is being sent to the FBI for video enhancement.
The investigation continues. [Phil Selleck, LES, EVER, 5/11]
98-205 - Everglades NP (FL) - Boat Fire
A 44-foot motor-sail ketch belonging to A.B. of Key West, Florida,
caught fire while anchored near the mouth of the Broad River on the Gulf
Coast around 10 p.m. on Tuesday, May 5th. A.B. said that the fire started
below deck while he was refilling two large kerosene lamps. He had filled
and lit one, and accidentally knocked it over while filling the other.
Within minutes, flames spread up the companionway to the cockpit and ignited
the cloth bimini top. A.B. and his passenger, both uninjured, left the
burning vessel in his 16-foot power boat and radioed the Coast Guard. A
Coast Guard helicopter from Miami responded; rangers Gene Wesloh and Greg
Podany made the 30-mile boat trip to the scene from the Everglades ranger
station, arriving two hours after the fire began. The sailboat burned for
another 90 minutes before it sank. Recovery and removal of the burned
vessel, which was monitored by rangers, began on the afternoon of May 6th and
was completed on the 10th. [Gene Wesloh, ADR, Northwest District, EVER,
5/13]
98-206 - George Washington Memorial Parkway (VA) - Significant Vandalism
On May 2nd, USPP officer D.L. arrested a 38-year-old male with no
fixed address for possessing an open container of alcohol and for two felony
warrants outstanding against him. D.L. found anti-Semitic materials in
the man's possession and writing implements consistent with those used to
vandalize property within the park. The man has been charged with defacing
pubic property (hate crime). The investigation continues. [Henry Berberich,
RLES, NCRO, 5/13]
FIRE ACTIVITY
NATIONAL PREPAREDNESS LEVEL - Level II
LARGE FIRE/INCIDENT SUMMARY
Tue Wed % Est
State Unit Fire/Incident IMT 5/11 5/12 Con Con
NM Carson NF * Cedro Canyon -- - 420 NR 5/14
State * Beard T2 - NR NR NR
FL Florida NFs Boogy Jordan -- 675 xxx 90 5/12
TX State Camp Wood Hill -- 5,000 xxxxx 50 5/13
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 I; 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 (FOUR DAY TREND)
NPS BIA BLM FWS States USFS Total
Sunday, 5/10 1 0 0 0 5 16 22
Monday, 5/11 1 22 0 0 39 6 68
Tuesday, 5/12 0 0 0 0 18 5 23
Wednesday, 5/13 0 0 0 2 5 0 7
TOTAL COMMITTED RESOURCES (FOUR DAY TREND)
Crews Engines Helicopters Airtankers Overhead
Sunday, 5/10 11 18 1 0 10
Monday, 5/11 6 5 8 0 9
Tuesday, 5/12 8 33 11 0 36
Wednesday, 5/13 8 16 9 0 12
CURRENT SITUATION
An increase in fire activity in the Southwest led to the mobilization of a
Type II incident management team. Several areas in the Southwest are
reporting very high to extreme fire indices.
NICC has posted a FIRE WEATHER WATCH for gusty southwest winds in New Mexico.
[NICC Incident Management Situation Report, 5/14]
RESOURCE MANAGEMENT
No entries.
OPERATIONAL NOTES
Officer Fatalities and Body Armor - On Tuesday, May 12th, FLETC held its
annual Peace Officers Memorial Day ceremony, which is conducted in concert
with National Police Week (May 10th-16th) in Washington, D.C. The FLETC
ceremony honors those graduates who have lost their lives in the line of
duty. Seven new names were added to the existing 95 names on the memorial.
Nationwide, there were 160 law enforcement fatalities recorded in 1997,
amounting to a 20% increase from 1996. While there are many reasons for the
rising casualty rate, an analysis of available data in the past 16 years
clearly shows that 90% or more of police shootings were perpetrated with low-
to medium-energy handguns. The threat to law enforcement personnel continues
to rise with the proliferation of auto-loading pistols and high capacity
magazines. Perhaps the most alarming statistic of all is the number of law
enforcement officers who continue to tempt fate by not wearing a bullet-
resistant vest. Last year, 37 of the 66 officers who were shot and killed
were not wearing a vest at the time of their shooting despite being involved
in such high-risk activities as drug raids and vehicle stops. According to
the Law Enforcement Casualty Reduction Analysis, which charts every aspect of
officer fatalities, 42% of officer deaths since 1980 could have been
prevented if the officers had been wearing body armor. For the second year
in a row, more officers were saved by soft, concealable body armor than died
in the line of duty. Documentation shows that, as of January 1st, 2,150 law
enforcement officers' lives had been saved by wearing personal body armor
since its introduction in May, 1987. Data also reveals that accidents are
nearly as great a threat to law enforcement officers as assaults.
Fortunately, vests can help reduce the threat of injury or death from many
dangers facing law enforcement officers by providing a protective wrap
around the vital organs of the body. History shows that soft body armor is
not only bullet resistant, but has provided protection in such life-
threatening events as falls, car crashes, explosions, stabs, slashes,
punctures and several thermal threats. The facts are clear: The only vest
that ever failed in the 25-year history of body armor was the one that wasn't
worn. Wear your vest - FLETC does not want any more names added to our
memorial. [Paul Henry, Superintendent, NPS/FLETC]
MEMORANDA
No entries.
EXCHANGE
No entries.
* * * * *
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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