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Subject: NPS Morning Report - 8/2/99
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Date: Mon, 2 Aug 1999 17:58:12 -0400
NATIONAL PARK SERVICE
MORNING REPORT
To: All National Park Service Areas and Offices
From: Division of Ranger Activities, Washington Office
Day/Date: Monday, August 2, 1999 [Early Release]
INCIDENTS
99-396 - Lassen Volcanic NP (CA) - Rescue
On the afternoon of July 17th, rangers received a report of a visitor inside
the caldera of Cinder Cone who had been struck on the head with a rock and
was unconscious. Butte Lake ranger Chris Williams responded on foot,
assessed the 17-year-old female, and ordered medical and rescue assistance.
Two helicopters, three fire crew members and four rangers were dispatched to
the scene. The girl, who was a member of a UC Davis youth group, had been
off-trail when one of her friends dislodged a fist-sized rock which struck
her in the temple. She was carried to the rim of Cinder Cone, then airlifted
and flown to a hospital in Redding. This was the fifth SAR operation of the
season in the park; these included one overnight search and three similar
backcountry medical evacuations due to injuries. [Mark McCutcheon, DR, North
District, LAVO, 7/20]
99-397 - Yellowstone NP (WY) - Search
L.-H.H., 31, of Auckland, New Zealand, was hiking with a companion around
the Heart Lake Geyser Basin on the evening of July 30th when the two became
separated. L.-H.H.'s companion attempted to find her, but was unsuccessful. He
then hiked out about six miles and notified rangers at 8:30 p.m. A search
was immediately begun, employing dogs, aircraft and several ground search
teams. HL.-H.H.o was spotted from the helicopter two miles north of the Heart Lake
cabin at 1:50 p.m. the following afternoon. She told park staff that she'd
become disoriented and had wandered around for a while, then had slept under
a fallen log, using tree branches to keep her warm. [Public Affairs, YELL,
7/31]
99-398 - Yosemite NP (CA) - Tent Cabin Fire
Fire personnel and rangers responded to a tent fire at Tuolumne Meadows at
10:45 p.m. on July 9th. When they arrived, they found that local residents
had put out the fire with an extinguisher, but that the concession employee
who resided there had suffered first and second degree burns to his face and
hands. He was taken by ambulance to the hospital in Mammoth Lakes. The fire
occurred when he attempted to light a propane lantern inside the tent cabin
and it caught fire. The lantern was knocked over, spreading fire to the tent
fly and contents. The resident escaped by making a hole in the rear corner
of the tent, as the door was blocked by fire. Damage to the tent and its
contents is estimated at $2,0000. [Deron Mills, FMO, YOSE, 7/19]
99-399 - Hopewell Culture NHP (OH) - Arson
Suspicious fires were discovered in the park on the afternoon of July 2nd and
in the early morning and afternoon hours of July 16th. In each case, rolled
bales of hay were found on fire. The first two fires were confined to small
areas; the third burned four bales of hay and spread to about three acres.
The fire that occurred in the early morning hours of the 16th happened at
about the same time as a suspicious house fire on private property near the
park. All were extinguished by a volunteer fire department. A joint
investigation is underway. The area where the latter fire occurred is farmed
under the agricultural lease program. Southern Ohio has been experiencing
severe drought conditions for the past two months. [Wayne Rose, PR, HOCU,
7/18]
99-400 - New River Gorge NR (WV) - Train-Car MVA
On the evening of July 15th, a 23-year-old local man who had been "four-
wheeling" in his 1998 Dodge pickup truck on the Gauley rail trail (closed to
vehicles) became lost. He decided to follow an active railroad track toward
the town of Swiss by straddling the tracks, but got stuck when he popped a
front tire and the truck frame became wedged and hopelessly stuck on the
tracks. He decided to stay in the truck on the tracks all night, as he was
"afraid of snakes," but bailed out at dawn, walked to a campground, called
home, then continued walking home. When he got there, he found a spare tire
and rim, and arrived back at his truck around 11:30 a.m. By that time,
however, a train had come by and knocked the truck off the tracks, doing
about $2,500 in damage to it. Nobody was injured in the accident, and the
truck was driven away. Rangers and Norfolk and Southern Railroad agents are
investigating. [Rick Brown, Protection Operations Leader, NERI, 7/18]
[Numerous reports pending; all will appear over the coming week...]
FIRE ACTIVITY
NATIONAL PREPAREDNESS LEVEL - Level II
LARGE FIRE/INCIDENT SUMMARY
Fri Sat % Est
State Unit Fire/Incident IMT 7/30 7/31 Con Con
MT Gallatin NF * Six Mile T2 400 1,135 30 UNK
State * Bar Z Ridge T2 130 130 0 8/1
Flathead NF * Swaney T2 88 88 60 7/31
Lewis and Clark NF * Spring Creek T2 350 300 75 8/1
Bitterroot NF * Devil Storm T2 1,100 1,364 50 8/2
ID Salmon/Challis NF * Soldier FUM 1,109 1,609 0 UNK
WY Big Horn NF * Bull Elk Park T2 402 402 85 UNK
FL Florida NF's * Bill Branch -- 227 227 90 UNK
Heading Notes
Unit Agency or Area Office = BIA area; NF = national forest; RU = CA
state resource or ranger unit; RD = state ranger district; FO =
BLM field office; District = BLM district; NWR = USFWS wildlife
refuge
Fire * = newly reported fire (on this report); Cx = complex; LSS =
limited suppression strategy; CSS = containment suppression
strategy
IMT T1 = Type I Team; T2 = Type II Team; T3 = Type III Team; 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
Wednesday, 7/28 4 10 28 0 113 49 88
Thursday, 7/29 2 8 26 0 84 38 158
Friday, 7/30 1 113 8 1 104 42 269
Saturday, 7/31 1 5 6 0 58 31 101
TOTAL COMMITTED RESOURCES (FOUR DAY TREND)
Crews Engines Helicopters Airtankers Overhead
Wednesday, 7/28 124 146 40 2 975
Thursday, 7/29 91 139 37 5 528
Friday, 7/30 113 181 49 6 520
Saturday, 7/31 128 161 47 6 819
CURRENT SITUATION
Only minimal initial attack was reported nationwide on Saturday, and
significant progress was made on several fires.
High to extreme fire indices were reported in Oregon, Washington, California,
Montana, North Dakota, Idaho, Utah, Nevada, and South Dakota.
[NICC Incident Management Situation Report, 7/29-8/1]
RESOURCE MANAGEMENT AND PROTECTION
No entries.
OPERATIONAL NOTES
No entries.
MEMORANDA
No entries.
INTERCHANGE
No entries.
PARKS AND PEOPLE
No entries.
CALENDAR
The biweekly calendar of training courses and meetings now appears as a
separate addendum to the Morning Report and follows in the next message.
* * * * *
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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