NPS Morning Report - Monday, June 3, 2002



                           NATIONAL PARK SERVICE
                              MORNING REPORT


To:         All National Park Service Areas and Offices

From:       Division of Ranger Activities, Washington Office

Day/Date:   Monday, June 3, 2002

INCIDENTS

02-198 - Mount Rainier NP (WA) - Three Die in Mountain Climbing Accident

Three climbers perished on the demanding and difficult Liberty Ridge route
on Mount Rainier sometime between late on the night of Tuesday, May 28th,
and the following afternoon. One survived. The four climbers - two women
and two men - were slowed by severe winds and freezing rain. The male
survivor descended the Winthrop Glacier alone, encountering a climbing
party at St. Elmo's Pass at 7,800 feet, where he made a cell phone call
late Wednesday morning. An Army Chinook helicopter transported a team of
five climbing rangers to the Liberty Cap area, where they confirmed two
fatalities - a man and a woman - on the surface of the glacier. They also
spotted what appeared to be a third body about 15 feet into a crevasse, but
were unable to reach it due to winds gusting up to 60 mph and deteriorating
weather conditions. The woman's body was retrieved late Wednesday
afternoon. A team of 12 climbing rangers was inserted on Thursday and
confirmed the third fatality. The rangers safely retrieved the remaining
bodies via the Chinook helicopter. The survivor and two of the climbers who
perished were from Germany; the remaining climber who died was from Oregon.
Their names will be released as soon as family in Germany is notified.
National and regional media interest was high; some calls were also
received from German media outlets. Steve Klump was incident commander.
[Maria Gillett, CI&E, MORA, 5/30]

02-199 - Fredericksburg and Spotsylvania NMP (VA) - Special Event

On May 25th, the park hosted its sixth annual "Fredericksburg National
Cemetery Luminaria" in cooperation with the Girl Scouts, Boys Scouts and
Friends of Fredericksburg Area Battlefields. The twelve-acre cemetery was
illuminated by more than 16,000 candles in white luminaria bags - one at
each of the 15,300 Civil War soldier graves and the others at the graves of
veterans of other wars. Local school children also set out nearly 7,000
flags - one for each headstone in the cemetery - as they have done for
decades. About 6,000 people attended this year's three-hour evening event.
The project was initially proposed to the park in 1995 by a Spotsylvania
County couple whose children were involved in area scouting. Today, over
800 Girl Scouts and Boy Scouts and their families are involved in the
year-long preparations for the event. This year, scouting groups from as
far away as Henderson, North Carolina, were able to take part in making
this popular Memorial Day weekend event a success. Planning for the event
begins in October of the previous year and culminates with over 300 scouts
setting out the luminaria bags and candles on the morning of the event,
followed by the lighting of the candles at dusk.  The cemetery is re-opened
to the public at 8:00 p.m., with historical walking tours of the cemetery
being provided until 11:00 p.m.  The cemetery remains open to the public
until all of the candles extinguish themselves. [Mike Johnson, CR, FRSP,
5/27]

[Additional reports pending...]

FIRE MANAGEMENT

National Fire Situation

Preparedness Level 3

The preparedness level has gone up one step.  Preparedness Level 3 goes
into effect when the following conditions are met: Two or more geographic
areas experiencing incidents requiring a major commitment of national
resources. Additional resources are being ordered and mobilized through
NICC. Incident management teams are committed in two or more areas, or 275
crews are committed nationally.

Initial attack was light nationwide on Thursday and Friday, but picked up
in the Great Basin, Rockies and East on Saturday. On Sunday, it was heavy
in the Rockies, moderate in the Great Basin, Southwest and southern
California, and light elsewhere.

Eleven new fire were reported on Friday, five of them in the Rockies and
all of them complexes of multiple fires in Lincoln, Las Animas, Pueblo, El
Paso, Cheyenne and Kit Carson Counties in Colorado. Most were contained by
the next day. Overall, these fires burned three residences and numerous
outbuildings and were threatening many more. Another dozen new fires were
reported on Saturday, and eight more on Sunday. The several large fires in
southern Colorado led to the dispatch of an area command team (Chesley) to
oversee operations there.

Among the more significant fires on the NICC Incident Management Situation
Report were the following:

Newly Reported (since Friday)

Kupukupu Fire, Hawaii Volcanoes NP (2,588 acres, 0% contained, 50 FF/OH) -
Lava flows from Kilauea ignited this fire, which is on the southern edge of
the island of Hawaii. Active fire behavior was observed yesterday due to
hot, dry and windy conditions. Very deep duff layers are contributing to
strong reburn potential; continuously moving lava has made portions of the
fire too danger for crews. Firefighters are scouting the perimeter for
escape routes and safety zones. Due to smoky conditions from the fire,
Chain of Craters Road is closed temporarily until further notice. There is
no access beyond the junction with Crater Rim Drive.

Iron Mountain Fire, BLM's Royal Gorge Office (6,400 acres, 5% contained,
188 FF/OH) - A Type 2 team (Hartman) is on scene, and a Type 1 team
(Martin) has been ordered. The fire, which is 12 miles north of Westcliffe,
Colorado, has exhibited extreme behavior, including crowning, running and
spotting up to a half mile ahead of the fire front. Twenty residences and
ten outbuildings have been lost, and several subdivisions are threatened.

Springer Fire, Colorado State (12,000 acres, 0% contained, nine FF) - A
Type 1 team (Wood) has been ordered. The fire is in New Mexico, seven miles
west of Trinidad, Colorado, and is burning in oak, white fir, pinyon pine,
juniper and ponderosa pine. Engines are wet lining the west flank. About
300 methane gas wells are threatened; the settlement of Lorencito has been
given an evacuation warning.

Fisher Fire, Colorado State (3,200 acres, 30% contained, 13 FF) - The fire
is a dozen miles west of Trinidad. Extreme fire behavior has been observed.
Dozers and engines are constructing direct attack fire line. Several
ranches have been evacuated; one residence and seven outbuildings have been
lost.

Arrowhead Fire, San Bernadino NF (2,688 acres, 80% contained, 194 FF/OH ) -
A Type 2 team (Conrad) has been assigned to the fire, which is just a mile
north of San Bernadino. Five commercial structures were lost on Friday and
Highway 18 was closed to traffic. Crews are constructing and improving fire
lines along the northern flank.

Wolf Fire, Los Padres NF (2,500 acres, 5% contained, 914 FF/OH ) - A Type 2
team (Smith) is managing the fire, burning in pinyon pine and juniper about
nine miles north of Ojai, California. Gelobter's Type 1 team is on order.
The fire is spreading south with two distinct heads, one on each side of
Highway 33. Pine Mountain Camp has been evacuated and Highway 33 is closed.

Rocky Fire, Sequoia NF (150 acres, 0% contained, 49 FF/OH) -  A Type 2 team
(Rios) is assigned. The fire is in the Kern Valley Canyon, a dozen miles
northeast of Bakersfield.

Nizhoni Fire, Manti-LaSal NF (1,800 acres, 0% contained, 42 FF/OH) -
Burdick's Type 2 team is managing the fire, which is ten miles west of
Blanding, Utah. A 1500-acre run occurred yesterday, with crowning, torching
and spotting up to a half mile ahead of the front.

Jacks Branch Fire, New Jersey State (500 acres, 40% contained, 470 FF/OH) -
The fire is burning in pine barrens in Berkeley and Beachwood townships
near Pinewald. A 24-mile segment of the Garden State Parkway, a major area
highway, was closed for a period of time. Neighborhoods and subdivisions in
the Pinewald area have been evacuated, and one residence has been lost.

By Pass Fire, Minnesota State (720 acres, 80% contained, 138 FF/OH ) - A
Minnesota Type 2 team (Sterr) has been assigned to this fire, burning three
miles south of Baxter. Numerous subdivisions and rural residences were
evacuated by the weekend. Crews are holding and mopping up.

North Shore Complex, Superior NF (2t0 acres, 25% contained, 102 FF/OH ) -
Hoff's Type 2 team is managing the fire, which consists of four fires
burning in swamp, spruce and red pine ten miles north of Finland,
Minnesota.

Previously Reported

Bullock Fire, Coronado NF (30,050 acres, 70% containment, 1,117 FF/OH) -
Humphrey's Type 1 team is managing the fire, which is burning in grass, oak
and chaparral about 15 miles northeast of Tucson. Extreme fire behavior was
reported on Stratton Ridge, with rapid fire spread and flame lengths
exceeding 30 feet.

Blackjack Bay Complex, Okefenokee NWR (120,405, 3% containment, 175 FF/OH)
- A fire use management team (Adams) is operating under a unified command
with Georgia and Florida forestry. Crews are monitoring fire activity,
weather and fuel conditions.

West Fork Chena Fire, Alaska Division of Forestry (22,092 acres, 30%
contained, 335 FF/OH) - A Type 2 team (Jandt) is assigned. The fire is
burning in black spruce about 50 miles east of Fairbanks. Fire intensity
decreased due to heavy thunderstorms and higher relative humidity. Crews
are constructing direct attack fire line along the north flank.

Vinasale Fire, Alaska Division of Forestry (80,000 acres, 0% contained, 235
FF/OH) - Ketcher's Type 2 team is managing the fire, which is burning in
black spruce, taiga and hardwoods 15 miles south of McGrath. Fire intensity
on the east and south flanks has moderated.

MP 78 Elliott Highway, Alaska BLM (94,970 acres, 20% contained, 292 FF/OH)
- The fire is burning seven miles southwest of Livengood in black spruce,
hardwoods, brush and litter. Johnson's Type 2 team is assigned. Fire
behavior has moderated due to higher relative humidity, fog and drizzle.

Witch Fire, Arizona State (1,600 acres, 100% contained, 116 FF/OH) - The
fire was fully contained on Friday.

Borrego Fire, Santa Fe NF (12,850 acres, 100% contained, 380 FF/OH) - The
fire was contained on Saturday.

Fire Indices

Very high to extreme fire indices were reported in Alaska, Arizona,
California, Colorado, Florida, Kansas, Minnesota, Nevada, New Mexico,
Oklahoma, Texas and Utah.

National Resource Commitments

                  Sun   Mon   Tue   Wed   Thu   Fri   Sat   Sun
Date              5/26  5/27  5/28  5/29  5/30  5/31  6/1   6/2

Crews             135   139   137   142   149   151   177   226
Engines           109   67    57    83    139   402   348   505
Helicopters       33    41    36    31    40    69    73    93
Air Tankers       1     1     2     1     2     2     4     2
Overhead          604   719   605   631   611   742   585   1,002
Type 1 IMT        2     2     2     2     2     1     1     2
Type 2 IMT        2     1     1     2     3     6     8     10
Fire Use IMT            1     1     1     1     1     1     1     1

Fire Warnings and Watches

NICC has issued a FIRE WEATHER WATCH for low relative humidity, gusty
afternoon winds and extreme fire danger for eastern Arizona and northern
New Mexico.

Park Fire Situation

Sequoia/Kings Canyon NP's (CA) - The park reports four new fires, all
caused by lightning on Friday night. Crews continued with the Ash Mountain
Rx fire over the weekend. The Arrowhead Hotshots have been committed to the
Kupukupu Fire (above) in Hawaii Volcanoes NP.

Park Fire Danger

Extreme - Grand Canyon NP, Mesa Verde NP
Very High - Joshua Tree NP, Rocky Mountain NP
High - N/A

[NPS Situation Summary Report, 6/2; NICC Incident Management Situation
Report, 6/2-4]

PARKS AND PEOPLE

Several entries pending; they'll appear over the next two days.

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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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