NATIONAL PARK SERVICE
                               MORNING REPORT

To:         All National Park Service Areas and Offices

From:       Division of Ranger Activities, Washington Office

Day/Date:   Thursday, September 3, 1998

INCIDENTS

98-546 - Gulf Coast Areas - Follow-up on Hurricane Earl

Reports have been received from three parks:

o     Gulf Islands NS (FL/MS) - Rainfall over the park has been heavy; more
      than 10 inches fell Wednesday.  The entire park was shut down
      yesterday, with only patrol rangers remaining on duty.  If the storm
      continued as forecast, both districts will begin preparations to reopen
      this morning.  Mississippi island operations should resume tomorrow,
      depending on damage assessments.  At present, damage appears to be
      minor.  

o     Jean Lafitte NHP&P/New Orleans Jazz NHS (LA) - Both parks reopened
      yesterday and resumed normal operations.  Two to three inches of rain
      fell over the New Orleans area and there were wind gusts of minimal
      tropical storm strength, but no damages or injuries occurred.

[CRO, GUIS, 9/2; Jim Carson, JELA, 9/3; Ken Garvin, SERO, 9/3]

98-558 - Bandelier NM/Carlsbad Caverns NM (NM) - Commercial Vehicle Checks 

The two parks have been working with the New Mexico Motor Transportation
Division since February to periodically inspect buses and other commercial
vehicles entering their respective areas.  As of August 17th, they had
inspected 21 buses and one truck.  Four buses were placed out of service due
to safety violations; thirteen buses and the truck had minor safety
violations.  Two drivers were also placed out of service - one for a failing
to have a commercial driver's license, the other for an hours-of-service
violation.  [Carl Newman, CR, BAND/Mark Maciha, SPR, CAVE, 8/17]

98-559 - C&O Canal NHP (MD/DC) - Drowning

On the evening of August 29th, two men swam across the Potomac River from the
Maryland side to Great Falls, then tried to swim back.  M.P., 19,
failed to make it to shore.  Witnesses said that they heard him yelling from
the river.  Park Police officers and county units searched for him for about
four hours before terminating the effort at 12:30 a.m.  On August 30th, a
kayaker spotted his body near Difficult Run.  County fire and rescue units
recovered it.  [Henry Berberich, RLES, NCSO, 9/1]

98-560 - Glen Canyon NRA (AZ/UT) - Drowning

S.E., 38, of Arvada, Colorado, drowned on the afternoon of August
30th while attempting to untangle a rope from a dual propeller houseboat on
the San Juan Arm of Lake Powell in Paiute Canyon.  He had successfully
untangled one propeller and was working on the other when he disappeared. 
The park's dive team found his body in eight feet of water.  [David
Sandbakken, LES, GLCA, 9/2]

98-561 - Grand Canyon NP (AZ) - Probable Drowning

A call reporting a possible drowning in Havasu Creek was received from a
Wilderness River Adventures river trip around 4 p.m. on August 12th.  Rangers
responded by helicopter and began a search for R.T., 17, of
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.  R.T. had last been seen at 2 p.m. that afternoon
sitting alongside the creek 200 yards upstream from its confluence with the
Colorado River.  R.T. was on an eight-day river trip with his parents and
siblings.  Members of the group found his t-shirt and hat along the creek
shore and one of his shoes floating in the creek half way to the river.  A
two-day ground search proved unsuccessful.  A dive team from Glen Canyon NRA
and the Arizona Department of Public Safety was flown to the site on August
13th; they found no trace of him.  The search has since been scaled back.  It
appears that R.T. fell into the creek and drowned, or attempted to swim to
the rafts at the confluence and was pulled under by the current.  The
incident received extensive coverage by Philadelphia news stations, including
remote interviews with ICS staff.  [Patrick Hattaway, DR, River District,
GRCA, 8/25]

98-562 - Vicksburg NB (MS) - Suicide

The body of J.B., 32, was found in his pickup truck at Louisiana Circle
on the morning of August 24th.  He had died from a self-inflicted rifle shot. 
The shooting was reported to Vicksburg police by an unidentified homeless
man, who said he was resting on the top of nearby hill when he heard the
gunshot.  [Greg Zeman, Chief of Operations, VICK, 8/24]

98-563 - Great Basin NP (NV) - Assist; Airplane Crash with Fatalities

Park dispatch received a report of a fire south of Lexington Arch just
outside the park on August 8th.  Two park fire crews and a BLM helicopter
responded.  They determined that the fire had been caused by an airplane
crash which had killed three people - a couple and their daughter.  The
county sheriff's office took over and investigated along with the NTSB. 
[Rick Yates, Acting CR, GRBA, 8/15]

98-564 - Big South Fork NRRA (KY/TN) - MVA with Fatality

On September 1st, rangers were notified of a vehicle that had gone over a
cliff along Station Camp road.  The vehicle was upside down at the base of a
25-foot cliff.  The body of M.P., 64, of Helenwood, Tennessee, was
found within.  M.P. had last been seen on August 28th.  A 10-ton crane
donated by a local construction company was required to remove the vehicle
from the base of the cliff.  Heart problems likely caused the accident. 
Ranger Barry Melloan is investigating for the park.  [Frank Graham, CR, BISO,
9/2]

                       [Additional reports pending...]

FIRE ACTIVITY

NATIONAL PREPAREDNESS LEVEL - Level III

The preparedness level has gone up one step.  Preparedness Level III goes
into effect when the following conditions are met: Two or more geographic
areas experiencing incidents requiring a major commitment of national
resources.  High number of fires becoming Class D and larger.  Additional
resources are being ordered and mobilized through NICC.  Type 1 teams are
committed in two or more areas, or 300 crews are committed nationally.

LARGE FIRE/INCIDENT SUMMARY 

                                                     Tue      Wed    %  Est
State      Unit             Fire/Incident     IMT    9/1      9/2   Con Con

CA   Mendocino NF         * Haul              T2        -       60  UNK NEC
                          * Garcia            T2        -       90  UNK NEC
     Lake Napa RU           Middle            ST    5,000    6,600  100 CND
     Riverside RU           Juniper           ST1   6,000    6,000   90 9/3
                            Weirick           ST1   5,000    5,000  100 CND
     San Diego RU           Wildcat           ST1   4,600    3,200   90 9/3
     Kern County            Yankee            ST2   1,137    1,137  100 CND
     Orange County          Santiago Canyon   ST2   5,000    6,680   70 9/3
     Camp Pendleton         Deluz             T2    1,700    1,830   85 9/2

MT   Bitterroot NF          West Fork Fires   FUT   3,544    3,544    0 NEC
                          * Bitterroot Cx     T1        -      UNK  UNK NEC
     Beaverhead/
      Deerlodge NF          Bear Gulch        --      120      202   80 9/3
     Flathead NF          * Challenge         T1        -    5,000  UNK NEC
     Kootenai NF          * Dome              T1        -    1,000  UNK NEC
     Lolo NF              * Boulder Lake      T2        -       50  UNK NEC
                          * Gilbert Creek     T2        -      300  UNK NEC
     State                  Bradshaw          --      900      700   10 9/4
                          * Boyer             T2        -      300  UNK NEC
     Blackfeet Agency       Blackfeet Cx      T2    1,128    1,130   75 9/4
     Miles City District  * Herman Ridge      T2        -    1,000   25 NEC

ID   Nez Perce NF           Moose Cx          FUT   1,427    1,427    0 NEC
     Salmon-Challis NF      Laid Low          T1    3,500    3,702   80 9/3
                            Main Salmon Cx    FUT  12,883   13,956    0 10/15
                            North Fork Cx     T2        -    7,220   98 9/7
     Clearwater NF        * Wapito            T2        -       90  UNK NEC
     Idaho Falls District   Eagle Two         --   10,500   11,000  100 CND
     Fort Hall Agency     * Buckskin          --        -    8,000   52 9/3

WA   State                  Jordan Creek      ST      520      585   50 NEC

OR   Deschutes NF         * Elk Lake          T2        -      200  UNK NEC
                          * McKay Butte       T2        -      200  UNK NEC

NV   Elko District          Black Mountain    --    9,900    9,900  100 CND

VA   State                * Stanley           --        -      100   60 9/3
                 
                                  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; FUT = Interagency
            Fire Use Management 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

Sunday, 8/30        10      4        48       0       86     65       213
Monday, 8/31        22      6        19       2      163     66       278
Tuesday, 9/1         4      4         5       1      126     80       220
Wednesday, 9/2       1      6         6       0       94     55       162

TOTAL COMMITTED RESOURCES (FOUR DAY TREND) 

                  Crews     Engines    Helicopters    Airtankers   Overhead

Sunday, 8/30       126        323          72            13           719
Monday, 8/31       209        491          99            15           693
Tuesday, 9/1       263        813         109            18         1,123
Wednesday, 9/2     249        503          63            21         1,035

CURRENT SITUATION

Fire activity jumped significantly yesterday in the northern Rockies,
necessitating the commitment of three Type 1 and six Type 2 incident
management teams.  Fire activity also continued in the Northwest, eastern
Great Basin and northern California, with another two Type 2 teams committed
to fires in those areas.  Good progress was made on meeting containment
objectives on fires in southern California.

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

NICC has posted a FIRE WEATHER WATCH for today for very dry conditions and
dry thunderstorms for the entire area from south central Oregon to central
California.

[NICC Incident Management Situation Report, 9/3]

RESOURCE MANAGEMENT AND PROTECTION

No entries.

PARK DISPATCHES

No entries.

OPERATIONAL NOTES

No entries.

MEMORANDA

No entries.

INTERCHANGE

No entries.

                                *  *  *  *  *

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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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