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Subject: NPS Morning Report - Wednesday, June 23, 1999
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Date: Wed, 23 Jun 1999 05:21:09 -0400
NATIONAL PARK SERVICE
MORNING REPORT
To: All National Park Service Areas and Offices
From: Division of Ranger Activities, Washington Office
Day/Date: Wednesday, June 23, 1999
INCIDENTS
97-353 - Saguaro NP (AZ) - Follow-up: Homicide
A.W., 21, of Tucson has pled guilty to second degree murder in
county superior court for the execution murder of 16-year-old Rachael
Boryczewski in a pullout near the visitor center and housing area in the
Tucson Mountain District late on the evening of July 18, 1997. He faces 16
to 22 years in state prison. A.W. agreed to testify against the other
suspect, Kim Proud, whose trial on first degree murder charges is set for
October. [Robert E. Stinson, DR, SAGU, 6/22]
99-292 - Canyonlands NP (UT) - Search and Rescue
On June 19th, T.W., 55, of Westerville, Ohio, and a companion
attempted to hike the Syncline Loop, a rugged eight-mile trail in the Island
of the Sky District of the park. Although the temperature was above 90
degrees in a highly arid environment, each man took only one quart of water
with him. The two men hiked the three-mile downhill section of the trail,
but T.W. could not continue after that because he was suffering from
dehydration and exhaustion. His partner went for help, but was overcome by
the same problems and spent the night on the trail. On the morning of June
20th, he hiked out and reported the incident. Rangers responded and began a
hasty search when T.W. could not be located at the point last seen.
Rangers tracked T.W.'s footsteps and other clues for three miles down a
wash until they were lost in heavy brush along the banks of the Green River.
The search was escalated, with a helicopter and a dog team brought in. At
about 5 p.m., the crew of the search helicopter contacted a group of canoers
who reported that they'd pulled T.W. from the river, then had passed him
off to a vehicle group driving along the White Rim Road. Search team members
picked up T.W. about thirty minutes later. He told investigators he had
waited until evening, then hiked towards the Green River before spending the
night in the wash. The next morning he hiked to the river; while trying to
get through the tamarisk along the bank, he fell into the Green River, which
was flowing at a flood stage of approximately 27,000 cubic feet per second.
The 275-pound T.W. spent approximately an hour floating downstream in the
65 degree water, traveling about four miles with no gear or life jacket
before the canoers spotted him and pulled him from the water. He had
repeatedly attempted to extricate himself from the river by grabbing onto
shoreline vegetation, but the force of the water thwarted his efforts and
flushed him downstream. Ranger Colin Smith served as incident commander.
[Steve Swanke, CANY, 6/22]
99-293 - Lake Mead NRA (AZ/NV) - Boating OUI/Safety Operation, Arrests
A group of rangers and state enforcement officers known as "the Wolfpack"
conducted an operation to check for boaters operating under the influence
(OUI) in the Cottonwood Cover Harbor on Lake Mohave on the afternoon of
Saturday, June 19th. The Wolfpack is the enforcement unit of the Drowning
Awareness Response Team (DART) that was developed by the park last summer and
consists of rangers and game wardens from the National Park Service, the
Nevada Division of Wildlife, and Arizona Game and Fish. As vessels entered
the harbor, they passed buoys that indicated that an OUI check point was
taking place, then were directed to a dock by rangers and wardens in boats
and on personal watercraft. Boaters were also advised that this action was
part of a DART effort to reduce the number of accidents and drownings that
occur in the park. During the operation, 157 vessels with 512 people onboard
went through the check point. Vessel operators were first checked for
alcohol consumption; if they appeared to be unimpaired, then a safety
inspection was performed on the vessel. No verbal warnings were given for
several violations - failure to have the proper number of and properly sized
personal flotation devices (PFDs), failure to have a type IV throwable PFD
aboard, missing fire extinguishers, and registration violations. A total of
39 citations and 24 warnings for other violations were issued. Children who
were found to be wearing PFDs were given T-shirts and other goodies. Those
operators who appeared impaired were given a field sobriety test and a
preliminary breath test. Five operators were taken into custody for OUI.
Once arrested, they were taken aboard a Forever Resorts houseboat which
served as the incident command post and booking area, complete with an
Intoxilyzer 5000 for breath tests. [Paul G. Crawford, SPR, Boulder Basin
District, Lake Mead NRA, 6/22]
99-294 - Natchez Trace Parkway (MS/AL/TN) - MVA with Fatality
A 30-year-old man from Mantee, Mississippi, was killed in an accident on the
parkway on June 21st. His vehicle went off the road for a reason not yet
determined and struck a tree. Speed and alcohol may be contributing factors.
There was nobody else in the vehicle. The investigation continues. [Tim
Francis, ACR, NATR, 6/22]
FIRE ACTIVITY
NATIONAL PREPAREDNESS LEVEL - Level II
LARGE FIRE/INCIDENT SUMMARY
Sun Mon % Est
State Unit Fire/Incident IMT 6/20 6/21 Con Con
AZ Saguaro NM Box Canyon FUM 650 650 NR 7/10
Yuma FO Arrastra -- 1,000 2,580 100 CND
Coronado NF Mexico 15 -- 300 750 95 6/25
AK Ft. Greely Army Base Donnelly Flats T1 18,000 18,000 100 CND
Upper Yukon, BLM Minto T2 3,800 3,800 75 6/22
Heading Notes
Unit Agency = BIA area; NF = national forest; RU = CA state resource
or ranger unit; RD = state ranger district; FO = BLM field
office; NWR = USFWS wildlife refuge
Fire * = newly reported fire (on this report); Cx = complex; LSS =
limited suppression strategy; CSS = containment suppression
strategy
IMT T1 = Type 1; T2 = Type II; ST = State Team; FUM = Fire Use
Management Team
% Con Percent of fire contained; UNK = unknown; NR = no report
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
Friday, 6/18 2 25 13 0 60 52 152
Saturday, 6/19 0 19 5 0 42 30 96
Sunday, 6/20 2 15 9 1 47 29 103
Monday, 6/21 5 14 31 3 85 59 197
TOTAL COMMITTED RESOURCES (FOUR DAY TREND)
Crews Engines Helicopters Airtankers Overhead
Friday, 6/18 103 153 34 4 369
Saturday, 6/19 58 116 21 5 470
Sunday, 6/20 61 114 22 3 345
Monday, 6/21 51 142 24 0 356
CURRENT SITUATION
Large fires continued to burn on Monday in Alaska and the Southwest.
Moderate initial attack was reported in the eastern Great Basin, Southwest
and Rockies.
Very high to extreme fire indices were reported in Arizona, New Mexico,
Texas, California, Nevada, and Utah.
[NICC Incident Management Situation Report, 6/22]
RESOURCE MANAGEMENT AND PROTECTION
No entries.
OPERATIONAL NOTES
No entries.
MEMORANDA
No entries.
INTERCHANGE
No entries.
PARKS AND PEOPLE
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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