NATIONAL PARK SERVICE
                               MORNING REPORT

To:         All National Park Service Areas and Offices

From:       Division of Ranger Activities, Washington Office

Day/Date:   Thursday, October 15, 1998

INCIDENTS

98-665 - Yellowstone NP (WY) - Felony Theft

Park visitors from England left a travel bag behind them after having dinner
at Old Faithful Inn around 11:30 p.m. on October 6th.  The bag contained
about $1,500 in cash and 890 pounds in British sterling.  They did not report
the incident until the following morning.  Ranger Dave Tyroler took the
report and advised banks in communities surrounding the park.  On the
afternoon of October 7th, a bank in West Yellowstone reported that a woman
had come there to exchange a large sum of sterling.  Rangers Rick Bennett,
Eric Sperling and Bonnie Gafney responded along with West Yellowstone police
and contacted concession employee T.V.-N., who was the cashier
working in the dining room on the night of the theft.  An interview with her
led to the recovery of the travel bag, all of the sterling, $625 in cash, and
about $800 in store receipts posted that day.  Rangers also found marijuana,
syringes with methamphetamine, and other drug paraphernalia.  The case will
be presented to the grand jury and is being handled by the assistant U.S.
attorney's office.  [Dave Tyroler, YELL, 10/14]

98-666 - Glacier Bay NP&P (AK) - Hazmat Incident

Following the recent completion of a hazardous materials certification
course, staff discovered two containers of picric acid which were being
stored in the park.  The liquid chemical had been used by researchers to dye-
mark seabirds several years ago.  Picric acid becomes highly explosive when
crystallized or if evaporation occurs over an extended period of time and can
have explosive power exceeding that of TNT.  The bottles, which contained
about three pints of the chemical, carried an expiration date of June, 1995. 
Although the chemical was still liquid, it was assumed that it nonetheless
posed a risk of explosion.  A bomb technician from the Juneau police
department was flown in to assist with its disposal.  He took the bottles to
an abandoned dump in the park and blew them up with blasting caps and det
cord.  All traces of the picric acid and containers were vaporized in the
explosion.  Other parks should be aware that this substance is used fairly
commonly in research which involves marking birds and that it should be
considered an extremely hazardous substance.  [Chuck Young, DR, GLBA, 10/13]

98-667 - Glacier Bay NP&P (AK) - Fuel Spill

A private contractor hauling out surplus mobile homes from the Bartlett Cove
headquarters area on October 12th broke a capped fuel line, allowing about
200 gallons of diesel fuel to leak into the soil and marine waters before the
rupture was discovered.  The contractor initially cooperated in taking action
to remediate the spill, but soon backed out and has since refused to continue
cleanup operations.  A park ICS team has taken over management of the
cleanup, with oversight from the state and the Coast Guard.  The spill site
is adjacent to an inter-tidal area, and rainy weather is forecast.  A primary
objective of the operation is to remove affected soils as soon as possible
and dispose of or store soils where runoff won't create more problems. 
Ranger Rick Perkins is IC.  [Chuck Young, DR, GLBA, 10/14]

98-668 - Golden Gate NRA (CA) - Assault with Deadly Weapon

San Francisco police contacted park dispatch on October 2nd and asked for
assistance on an assault that had occurred just outside the marina gate.  One
man had stabbed another in the chest; the assailant and a companion then fled
on bicycle into the Presidio.  USPP canine officer Jeff Daugherty found the
pair a half mile inside the park and detained them.  After the victim was
treated for superficial knife wounds, he was brought to Daugherty's location
and positively identified his assailant.  Daugherty found a multi-purpose
tool in the suspect's possession which had blood on its knife blade.  The man
was arrested for assault with a deadly weapon.  The suspects claimed that
they were only in the park to search dumpsters for aluminum.  [Lt. Kevin Hay,
USPP/GOGA, 10/9]

RESOURCE MANAGEMENT AND PROTECTION

No entries.

PARK DISPATCHES

Department of Lighter Moments - Incidents that are submitted to the Morning
Report - particularly those in law enforcement - tend toward serious mayhem
at worst and righteous justice at best.  But now and then word of a more
offbeat episode gets relayed to the editor's desk through the Morning
Report's far-flung network of correspondents.  While they don't meet incident
reporting criteria, they're too good to pass up.  Today's comes from just
around the corner here at Delaware Water Gap NRA.  Not too long ago, ranger
Mike Williams came up behind a Honda motorcycle traveling down Route 209, the
main artery through the park's Pennsylvania District.  Everything appeared to
be in order on the license plate except for one detail - the word "Motosicle"
appeared at the top.  Closer inspection revealed that the operator had hand-
crafted a credible Pennsylvania motorcycle plate out of cardboard and just
the right state colors.  He just had a problem with spelling.  There were
also a couple of other problems:  The plate came back to a Harley-Davidson,
as the operator had painstakingly copied the registration number from the
plate on another motorcycle; the registration sticker came from his
employer's 1972 Chevy dump truck; the motorcycle had no inspection sticker
and was not insured; and the operator had no driver's license.  The operator
appeared in court yesterday.  The magistrate took a dim view of his artistry
and fined him accordingly.  The license plate will be on display in the South
Zone office if you happen to be passing by.  [Editor]

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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