NATIONAL PARK SERVICE
                               MORNING REPORT

To:         All National Park Service Areas and Offices

From:       Division of Ranger Activities, Washington Office

Day/Date:   Thursday, August 6, 1998

INCIDENTS

98-465 - Denali NP&P (AK) - Airplane Crash with Fatality

C.S., 38, of Granite Bay, California, crashed his Piper PA-28 into
a ridge near Anderson Pass around 3 p.m. on August 1st.  C.S. apparently
lost visibility and became disoriented in the clouds.  An Air National Guard
helicopter located the wreckage at the an altitude of 7,200 feet on the ridge
just before 6 p.m.  The aircraft struck the ground perpendicular to the 45-
degree slope about 300 feet below the ridge top.  The helicopter landed and
National Guard parajumpers climbed down to the site and determined that the
pilot had not survived.  They had to tunnel through several feet of snow to
reach the cockpit.  Due to the extremely hazardous location, they departed
immediately thereafter.  Poor weather has made attempts to recover the body
impossible.  [Ken Kehrer, CR, DENA, 8/4]

98-466 - Rock Creek Park (DC) - Homicide

The body of 28-year-old C.M. was found by a passerby in a
wooded area of the park near Georgetown University on August 2nd.  C.M.
had been struck by a blunt object.  Foul play was evident.  The incident is
being investigated as a homicide by city police.  [Henry Berberich, RLES,
NCSO, 8/4]

98-467 - Rock Creek Park (DC) - Assist; Attempted Homicide

Park Police officer W.A. Leblanc was working radar on Piney Branch Parkway
when he heard several gunshots emanating from the area of 14th and Taylor
Streets NW.  Leblanc responded and saw F.A.-M. holding a gun and
pointing it at F.R.-C., who was lying on the ground.  F.A.-M.
fled when he saw Leblanc approaching, but was apprehended after a short foot
chase.  The case is being investigated by city police.  [Henry Berberich,
RLES, NCSO, 8/3]

98-468 - Isle Royale NP (MI) - Rescue

On the evening of August 1st, the Coast Guard station in Hancock, Michigan,
received a distress call from the 32-foot vessel "Sarah L."  The captain
reported that he'd lost both his engines, that he was adrift in Lake
Superior, and that he had six passengers on board.  He provided his position
by latitude and longitude before radio contact was lost.  The position was
ten miles into Canadian waters and about 13 miles northeast of the Gull
Islands, which sit on the park's boundary.  Both the U.S. Coast Guard and
Canadian Coast Guard asked the park to search for the "Sarah L."  The "Belle
Isle" and "Beaver" navigated in three-foot seas to the last reported location
and found the disabled boat about a mile-and-a-half away from that point
around 9:30 p.m.  The "Beaver" took the "Sarah L" under tow and brought the
boat safely in to park headquarters on Mott Island.  [Peter Armington, CR,
ISRO, 8/3]

                       [Additional reports pending...]

FIRE ACTIVITY

NATIONAL PREPAREDNESS LEVEL - Level II

LARGE FIRE/INCIDENT SUMMARY 

                                                     Tue      Wed    %  Est
State      Unit             Fire/Incident     IMT    8/4      8/5   Con Con

AZ   Grand Canyon NP        North Rim Cx      T2      970    1,297  UNK 10/15
     Coconino NF          * Sycamore          --        -      100   10 8/6
     Truxton Can. Agency  * Boundary          --        -      240  UNK NEC

CA   Pinnacles NM           Stonewall         --    1,400    2,600   55 NEC
     Tule Lake NWR          Refuge            T2    3,000    9,700   50 8/6
     State                * Sibley            --        -      200   25 NEC

WA   Wenatchee NF         * North             T2        -    4,000  UNK NEC

OK   State                  Bear Mtn. Cx      T2   10,350   10,350  100 CND

TX   Big Thicket NP         Mud               --      670      670   72 8/4
     State                * 437               --        -      300   NR NR

ID   S. Idaho District    * High Point        --        -      300   30 8/6
                     
                                  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; UNK = unknown
Est Con     Estimated containment date; NEC = no estimated date of
            containment; CND = fully contained; NR = no report

NPS FIRE NARRATIVES

Grand Canyon NP - The North Rim complex consists of a number of small,
lightning-caused fires that are being managed under the park's fire use
policy, which permits naturally occurring fires to improve the health of
forest ecosystems.  The fires are burning fuels that have been accumulating
for years, thinning out dense tree stands by killing weaker trees, and
creating small openings in the forest.  They also will benefit the ecosystem
by releasing nutrients back into the soil, reducing the possibility of
uncontrollable wildfires, improving tree growth and health, and improving
wildlife habitat.  The park remains open to visitors, but they can expect
smoke in the area.  A portion of the Point Sublime road and Widforss trail on
the North Rim have been closed for public safety reasons.

Crews completed a burnout to strengthen the black line on the Transept-Dragon
fire yesterday.  Burnout along control lines will continue tomorrow.  The
Swamp Lake fire burnout along Swamp Ridge Road has been completed and burnout
of an additional 1,077 acres on the Rainbow Plateau will begin today.  Four
crews, six engines and a helicopter have been committed.

Pinnacles NM - Slightly lower temperatures and higher relative humidity
helped containment efforts yesterday.  Fire behavior was low to moderate. 
Crews made good progress in constructing lines.  A total of 28 crews, 26
engines and five helicopters have been committed to the fire.

NUMBER OF NEW FIRES (FOUR DAY TREND) 

                    NPS    BIA      BLM     FWS    States   USFS     Total

Sunday, 8/2          0      7         8       1       50     54       120
Monday, 8/3          1      6         5       3      187     39       241
Tuesday, 8/4         3      4         5       2      299     17       330
Wednesday, 8/5       0      3         4       1      206     47       261

TOTAL COMMITTED RESOURCES (FOUR DAY TREND) 

                  Crews     Engines    Helicopters    Airtankers   Overhead

Sunday, 8/2        112        413          86            16         1,480
Monday, 8/3         77        322          78            13           666
Tuesday, 8/4        60        115          24             9           291
Wednesday, 8/5     137        371          89            33           835

CURRENT SITUATION

New large fires were reported yesterday in the South, Southwest, California,
Northwest and eastern Great Basin.  Minor to moderate activity was reported
elsewhere.

Very high and extreme fire indices were reported in Florida, Georgia, Texas,
Arkansas, Oklahoma, Arizona, Nevada, Utah, Idaho, Montana, South Dakota,
California, and Washington.

NICC has a FIRE WEATHER WATCH for gusty southwest winds and low relative
humidity for south central Oregon.

[NICC Incident Management Situation Report, 8/6; Fire Information Office,
GRCA, 8/5]

RESOURCE MANAGEMENT AND PROTECTION

Saguaro NP (AZ) - NAGPRA Assist

On July 24th, two local hikers discovered what appeared to be part of a skull
exposed along an eroded road edge in the park.  The area received about four
inches of rain over recent weeks.  The hikers dug around the skulls until
they found what appeared to be two human skeletons, then contacted rangers. 
Archeologists from the Western Archeological Conservation Center (WACC) were
notified, since the area was recently surveyed and determined to be a Hohokam
Indian village site.  Rangers and officers from the county sheriff's
department homicide unit joined in the investigation.  Once it was determined
that the skeletons were associated with a prehistoric site, inadvertent
discovery procedures were followed and NAGPRA consultation with Arizona
tribes was begun by WACC staff.  On July 28th, archeologists removed the
skeletons - one of an adult, the other of a child - with local tribal
representatives present.  The remains will be reburied on the Tohono O'Odham
reservation outside Tucson.  [Paula Nasiatka, CR, SAGU; George Teague, Acting
Superintendent, WACC]

PARK DISPATCHES

No entries.

OPERATIONAL NOTES

Entries pending.

MEMORANDA

No entries.

INTERCHANGE

Drowning Awareness Response Team - Lake Mead has developed a Drowning
Awareness Response Team (DART) to deal with this persisting problem, which
has reached virtual epidemic proportions in 1998.  DART is a reinvention of a
drowning prevention program launched by the Phoenix Fire Department in the
late 80s.  Its goal was to reduce pool drownings in the Phoenix area.  DART
has been reborn at Lake Mead in response to 19 water-related fatalities this
year.  The goal of DART is to reduce water-related accidents and fatalities
through education and enforcement.  Here is how it works: A target area on
the lake is established.  The first step is education on the launch ramp
closest to the target area.  This is accomplished through the park's
interpretive staff, volunteers, the Coast Guard, the Power Squadron (a
boating organization), and other cooperators.  The education effort takes
place in the morning during the peak launch hours.  The goal is to assure
that boaters' safety equipment is checked and kept available and to convey
information on rules, regulations and safety procedures (this education
effort is supported by a year-round campaign to disseminate this information
through the electronic and print media).  The morning program is followed-up
in the afternoon with focused enforcement patrols in the target area.
Enforcement efforts concentrate on careless and reckless boaters on the water
and on intoxicated visitors along the shoreline.  The first DART deployment
took place on Sunday, August 2nd, in the Hemenway Harbor and water ski beach
areas.  Two boats each from the park and the Nevada Division of Wildlife,
along with spotters from each agency on land, made the patrols.  During the
period from 1:30 to 4 p.m., rangers and wardens contacted the operators of 40
boats, most of them PWCs, and issued 11 citations - six for reckless
operation, two for wake jumping, two for registration violations, and one for
lack of a life jacket.  They also issued 29 warnings for assorted minor
violations.  DART will be deployed in the Callville, Sandy, Rotary Cove, and
Katherine areas in coming weeks.  For more information, contact Bud Inman at
NP-LAME.  [Paul Crawford, LAME]

                                *  *  *  *  *

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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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