NATIONAL PARK SERVICE
                               MORNING REPORT

To:         All National Park Service Areas and Offices

From:       Division of Ranger Activities, Washington Office

Day/Date:   Wednesday, August 26, 1998

INCIDENTS

98-526 - East Coast Areas - Follow-up on Hurricane Bonnie

Reports have been received from a number of areas, all in various stages of
preparation for the imminent arrival of Hurricane Bonnie.  Those appear
below.  Several incident management teams have also either staged or been
placed on standby.  Southeast's interagency "Blue Team", comprised of
representatives from the NPS, Forest Service and Fish and Wildlife Service,
has staged at Fort Bragg and will be supporting FEMA operations.  A second
interagency incident management team will also be dispatched to that location
to support FEMA.  Southeast Region's lead Type 2 team (Bob Panko, IC) is on
immediate standby for response to NPS areas and is ready to go.  The NPS
national Type 1 team, SERO's two remaining Type 2 teams, and a CISD team are
on standby and available for callout to parks.  An innovative maintenance
response vehicle, based out of Great Smoky Mountains NP, has been prepared
and is ready to go.  The truck and gooseneck trailer, which was developed
following responses to several of the recent big hurricanes to strike
Southeast Region, contains a complete maintenance shop (generators,
compressors, saws, drill press, etc.), sleeping quarters for four people, a
restroom and a kitchenette.  As for the parks themselves:

o     Cape Hatteras NS (NC) - The park has been closed and fully evacuated. 
      Staff have been moved to Raleigh, North Carolina.  All preparations
      were completed ahead of time, and staff were released to take care of
      personal needs before leaving the area.  

o     Cape Lookout NS (NC) - The park has also been closed and evacuated;
      employees have joined Cape Hatteras staff in Raleigh.

o     Moore's Creek NB (NC) - The park closed at 3 p.m. yesterday afternoon. 
      Hurricane force winds were expected to peak at the park by noon today.

o     Colonial NHP (VA) - The park has implemented its hurricane plan.  The
      area is under a hurricane warning and steps are being taken to secure
      key structures.  All visitor facilities will be open today, except for
      a beach front picnic area and low-lying portions of the tour road on
      Jamestown Island.  A decision on possibly closing the park early will
      be made during the day, based on weather conditions.

o     Assateague Island NS (MD/VA) - Preparations have been underway since
      last Friday.  Although it appeared for some time that the park would be
      outside of the serious threat zone, it is now included in the hurricane
      warning area, which extends from South Carolina to Delaware. 
      Installation of hurricane shutters and other preparations were begun on
      August 21st.  On Monday, staff began following existing plans by
      designating sensitive items to be moved, a process which was
      implemented yesterday and will continue through this morning.  Park
      beaches have been closed.  Campground evacuation began at 4 p.m.
      yesterday; the island will be fully evacuated by 9 a.m. this morning. 
      Persons residing in park housing have been moved to motels in
      Salisbury, Maryland, and to nearby NASA facilities.  Voluntary
      evacuation was instituted for the town of Chincoteague early yesterday,
      but a mandatory evacuation was expected to follow.

o     Fire Island NS (NY) - The park put its hurricane plan into effect
      yesterday morning and activated its ICS team (Dave Griese, IC). 
      Beaches were closed to swimming due to high surf and severe undertow,
      small boats have been removed from the island, emergency supplies were
      secured, emergency contacts were obtained from all staff members, and
      tentative plans were made to evacuate park personnel from housing on
      the island.  A representative from the park will be at the Suffolk
      County emergency management headquarters, effective this morning.

Parks in the track of Hurricane Bonnie are urged to transmit reports on storm
preparations or impacts to this cc:Mail address at their earliest
convenience.  [Ken Garvin, SERO, 8/26; Ann Childress, Superintendent, MOCR,
8/25; Bob Woody, CAHA, 8/25; Jim Burnett, CR, COLO, 8/25; John Burns, CR,
ASIS, 8/25-26; Barry Sullivan, Assistant Superintendent, FIIS, 8/25]

98-533 - Mount Rushmore NM (SD) - Employee Killed in Motor Vehicle Accident

Seasonal maintenance employee M.B., 40, was killed in an accident on
August 20th while on his way to work in the park from his home in Hot
Springs, South Dakota.  He was traveling alone in his own vehicle when it
collided nearly head-on with a vehicle from Minnesota.  All four of the
occupants of the second vehicle were injured, two critically.  M.B. had
worked at Mount Rushmore since May.  He was an outstanding worker who was
very well liked by his fellow employees.  M.B. is survived by his wife,
P.B., and one-year-old daughter, Cassandra.  The funeral was held on Monday
morning in Hot Springs.  A memorial fund has been established for his
daughter in care of Community First State Bank, 702 Jennings Avenue, Hot
Springs, SD 57747.  [Mike Pflaum, CR, MORU, 8/24]

98-534 - Amistad NRA (TX) - Flooding

The park received 18 inches of rain over a 24-hour period on Monday and
Tuesday, and the water level in the lake has risen ten feet.  Eight
fatalities have been reported in nearby Del Rio; many homes and vehicles have
washed down San Felipe Creek.  Power and water were out and likely to be
unavailable through today or tomorrow.  The only sources for potable water in
the area are at park headquarters and Diablo East.  The Border Patrol is
sending water trucks to the city.  Marinas and docks in the park have been
secured.  Only one houseboat has been lost so far, and it has grounded on a
silt bed.  [Superintendent, AMIS, via "Intermountain Morning Line," 8/25]

                       [Additional reports pending...]

FIRE ACTIVITY

NATIONAL PREPAREDNESS LEVEL - Level II

LARGE FIRE/INCIDENT SUMMARY 

                                                     Mon      Tue    %  Est
State      Unit             Fire/Incident     IMT    8/24     8/25  Con Con

ID   Salmon-Challis NF      Main Salmon Cx    --   10,959   10,989    0 10/15
                            North Fork Cx     T1    6,901    7,055   80 8/27
                            Laid Low          T2      600      600  UNK NEC
     Caribou NF             Paris Peak        --      102      102  100 CND 

MT   Bitterroot NF          West Fork Fires   --    1,485    1,485    0 NEC
                            Pack Trail        T2       95       95   85 NEC 
     Blackfeet Agency     * Milk River        --        -      500   40 8/26

NV   State                  MM272             --    3,240    3,240  100 CND 
     Elko District          Boulder Valley    --    3,000    2,750  100 CND 

NC   State                * Hurricane Bonnie  T2    Distribution center ops
                          * Hurricane Bonnie  T2    Distribution center ops
                  
                                  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

NUMBER OF NEW FIRES (FOUR DAY TREND) 

                    NPS    BIA      BLM     FWS    States   USFS     Total

Saturday, 8/22       6      7         8       0       68    139       228
Sunday, 8/23         0      6        11       0       79     73       169
Monday, 8/24         2      4         7       0       92     72       177
Tuesday, 8/25        0      1        15       0      122     67       205

TOTAL COMMITTED RESOURCES (FOUR DAY TREND) 

                  Crews     Engines    Helicopters    Airtankers   Overhead

Saturday, 8/22     124        254          95             7           726
Sunday, 8/23       138        291         103             4           981
Monday, 8/24       110        290          95             4           636
Tuesday, 8/25       89        228          77             5           721

CURRENT SITUATION

Two Type 2 teams (Kearney and Bollman) have been staged to Fort Bragg to
manage receiving and distribution centers in response to the anticipated
impacts of Hurricane Bonnie.  There was minimal fire activity nationally.

Very high and extreme fire indices were reported yesterday in Texas, Arizona,
Nevada, Utah, Idaho, Oregon, California, Washington, Wyoming and South
Dakota.

NICC has posted a FIRE WEATHER WATCH for gusty, westerly winds and low
relative humidity in western Montana.

[NICC Incident Management Situation Report, 8/26]

RESOURCE MANAGEMENT AND PROTECTION

No entries.

PARK DISPATCHES

No entries.

OPERATIONAL NOTES

Fire Safety Alert - The following has just been received from the Forest
Service: The January, 1998, revision of the Fireline Handbook, PMS 410-1,
contains conflicting and potentially dangerous information pertaining to fire
shelter use.  The revisions instruct firefighters to wear a pack while in the
shelter to keep it from collapsing.  This is contrary to current protocol
contained in the latest fire shelter training manuals.  Packs are NOT to be
worn when deploying a fire shelter.  There are compelling reasons for not
wearing packs while in fire shelters.  The additional weight of a pack can
slow a firefighter's escape in critical situations; more importantly, the
additional bulk of a pack makes shelter deployment more difficult,
particularly under adverse deployment conditions.  Temperatures inside a fire
shelter can cause flammable materials in packs, such as fuel containers or
fusees, to ignite.  [Paul Broyles, NPS/NIFC]

MEMORANDA

No entries.

INTERCHANGE

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
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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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