INCIDENTS

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Grand Canyon National Park (AZ)
Search for Overdue Tour Helicopter

On August 2nd, park rescue personnel received a report of an overdue tour helicopter from the airport tower. The "AirStar III," with a pilot and six passengers on board, had failed to return from a scheduled 55-minute flight. A search was begun with the park helicopter, which was joined in the effort by three tour company helicopters. The tower reported an ELT transmission near the confluence of the Colorado and Little Colorado Rivers. The crew of the park helicopter spotted AirStar III on the ground near Cape Solitude. The pilot and passengers were all okay. The helicopter had suffered from a complete electrical failure, forcing the pilot to make an emergency landing. He then activated the ELT because he had no other method for communicating his location. The other air tour helicopters brought the passengers back to the airport.
[Submitted by Jennifer Flynn, IC]

Canaveral National Seashore (FL)
Car Clout Arrests

A series of auto break-ins that occurred in the park this summer were solved through the combined efforts of an alert victim and interagency cooperation by rangers, USFWS refuge officers and Orange County detectives. Two people were arrested in Orlando while using credit cards stolen from a park visitor. When contacted by the sheriff's office, the credit card owner put detectives in touch with NPS investigators, who in turn contacted refuge officers at Merritt Island NWR. The agencies exchanged information that resulted in the correlation of from three to six car clouts with the two people in custody. The investigation continues.
[Submitted by Jim Cahill, District Ranger, South District]

Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area (PA)
Drowning Near Kittatinny Point

J.R.G.-M., 22, of Newark, New Jersey, drowned in the Delaware River near the Kittatinny Point Visitor Center in Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area around 3 p.m. on Sunday, August 3rd. J.R.G.-M. attempted to swim across the river from the New Jersey shoreline to the Pennsylvania shoreline. He made it about three-quarters of the way across the river when he began to struggle, then disappeared under the river's surface. Rangers were immediately notified by bystanders and responded. J.R.G.-M.'s body was found and recovered by park divers near the point where he'd last been seen around 5:30 p.m. Knowlton Township Fire and Rescue assisted the National Park Service and the J.R.G.-M. family during the incident.
[Submitted by Mark Hnat, Park Ranger]

Natchez Trace Parkway (AL,MS,TN)
Suicide Intervention; Life Saved

On July 14th, a park maintenance worker found a pickup truck with its driver side door open and a suicide note attached near milepost 364. Rangers from the Cherokee and Leipers Fork Districts and officers from the Wayne County sheriff's office responded. They found a 64-year-old man at the end of a nature trail with a .410 shotgun pointed at his head. Ranger Calvin Farmer and a Wayne County investigator began talking with the man; after an hour, they got him to surrender and took him into protective custody. The shotgun was found to be loaded. The man was found to be a convicted felon and a registered sex offender.
[Submitted by Jackie Henman, Assistant Chief Ranger]

Amistad National Recreation Area (TX)
Drug Seizure

Rangers joined Customs, Border Patrol, Texas DPS and Del Rio PD officers in a joint drug investigation on July 30th that resulted in the seizure of 339 pounds of processed marijuana. One person was arrested and a vehicle was seized. The drugs were transported across the Rio Grande and delivered to a pickup location within the Del Rio city limits.
[Submitted by Bruce Malloy, Chief Ranger]

FIRE MANAGEMENT

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National Interagency Fire Center
NIFC Situation Report - Tuesday, August 5, 2003

Preparedness Level 4

The preparedness level has gone down one step. Preparedness Level 5 drops to Preparedness Level 4 when there are no resource shortages or competition for resources. Fifty rested crews are available for new fires. No red flag conditions are forecast for the next 24 hours and favorable weather conditions are forecast for the next three to five day period.

Initial attack was light everywhere yesterday. Only one of the 176 newly-reported fires became a large fire; another four large fires were contained.

Fire Danger

Day	7/31	8/1	8/2	8/3	8/4	8/5
Alaska	VX	VX	VX	VX	VX	--
Arizona	VX	VX	VX	VX	VX	VX
California	VX	VX	VX	VX	VX	VX
Colorado	VX	VX	VX	VX	VX	VX
Hawaii	VX	VX	VX	VX	VX	VX
Idaho	VX	VX	VX	VX	VX	VX
Montana	VX	VX	VX	VX	VX	VX
Nevada	VX	VX	VX	VX	VX	VX
New Mexico	VX	VX	VX	VX	VX	VX
New York	--	--	VX	--	--	--
Oklahoma	VX	VX	VX	VX	VX	VX
Oregon	VX	VX	VX	VX	VX	VX
South Dakota	--	VX	VX	VX	VX	VX
Texas	VX	VX	VX	VX	VX	VX
Utah	VX	VX	VX	VX	VX	VX
Washington	VX	VX	VX	VX	VX	VX
Wyoming	VX	VX	VX	VX	VX	VX

VH — Very high
EX — Extreme
VX — Very high to extreme

Fire Weather Watches and Warnings

A RED FLAG WARNING has been issued for winds and low humidity over portions of western Utah.

National Resource Commitments

Day	7/30	7/31	8/1	8/2	8/3	8/4	8/5
Crews	386	458	489	405	353	315	271
Engines	663	768	826	648	601	461	356
Helicopters	148	151	167	160	134	131	111
Air Tankers	5	3	3	1	1	2	0
Overhead	3,286	3,502	3,472	3,310	3,148	3,472	3,201

National Team Commitments

New team commitments or changes in teams are indicated in bold face.

State	Type Team	Team IC	Fire/Location	Acres	Percent Contain	Est Full Contain
ID	ACT	Ribar	Salmon-Challis NF Fires	---	---	---
MT	ACT	Mann	Flathead NF/Glacier NP Fires	---	---	---
MT	T1	Stam	Robert Fire Flathead NF/Glacier NP	24,400	40%	UNK
MT	T1	Raley	Trapper Creek Complex Glacier NP	20,500	40%	9/5
MT	T1	Bennett	Wedge Canyon Fire Flathead NF	25,225	47%	UNK
MT	T1	Frye	Black Frog Complex Bitterroot NF	7,275	90%	8/6
ID	T1	Mortier	Slims Fire Nez Perce NF	8,600	25%	8/20
ID	T1	Sexton	Hot Creek Fire Boise NF	26,560	60%	UNK
WA	T1	Lohrey	Fawn Peak Complex Okanogan-Wenatchee NF	76,549	57%	UNK
ID	T2	Brunner	North Fork Lick Fire Payette NF	625	30%	8/8
ID	T2	Larsen	Toboggan Fire Idaho Panhandle NF	350	90%	8/5
MT	FUM	Wirt	Little Salmon Creek Complex Flathead NF	12,375	N/A	N/A

Fire and Aviation Management
NPS Fire Summary - Tuesday, August 5, 2003

Glacier National Park

An area command team (Mann) is coordinating the Type 1 teams assigned to the Robert, Trapper Creek Complex, Wedge Canyon and Ross Creek Fires.

Wedge Canyon Fire (25,225 acres; 47% contained) — Only minimal fire behavior was observed yesterday. Crews have completed indirect fire line in the north and northwest flanks and are mopping up 200 feet inside the perimeter on the south flank. Structure protection is in place for 100 residences. Resource commitments as of yesterday (Sunday's figure in parentheses):

• Firefighters/overhead — 1,291 (1,217)
• Crews — 34 (30)
• Engines — 64 (72)
• Helicopters — 8 (7)

Robert Fire (24,400 acres; 40% containment) — Rain showers have moderated fire behavior. Heavy fuels continued to burn as surface fire spread progressed beneath timber stands. Crews continued to mop up along the east flank in the vicinity of Apgar Village and Glacier National Park Headquarters. Progress on the west and northeast flanks is hampered by difficult terrain and fuel conditions. Structure protection is in place for six commercial properties. Resource commitments as of yesterday (Sunday's figure in parentheses):

• Firefighters/overhead — 945 (994)
• Crews — 22 (22)
• Engines — 63 (68)
• Helicopters — 6 (6)

Trapper Creek Complex (20,500 acres; 40% containment) — Slow burning surface fire due to light rain was observed yesterday. Crews made good progress constructing fire line on the south flank of the Trapper Creek fire. Personnel are scouting the Wolf Gun fire in preparation for direct attack with hand crews. The major road through Glacier National Park (Going to the Sun Highway from West Glacier Gate to Logan Pass) will be opened on a controlled basis beginning today between the hours of 1000 and 1800. Smoke continues to impact Glacier National Park, Waterton Lakes National Park, and Lethbridge, Alberta, Canada. Structure protection is in place for three commercial properties. Resource commitments as of yesterday (Sunday's figure in parentheses):

• Firefighters/overhead — 269 (262)
• Crews — 6 (5)
• Engines — 6 (10)
• Helicopters — 7 (6)

Yellowstone National Park

The Grizzly Fire has burned ten acres in spruce, fir and lodgepole pine. Fire spread was limited yesterday by cooler temperatures and higher humidity readings. Due to remoteness, the fire is being suppressed using a modified confinement strategy. Fourteen firefighters are assigned under a Type 3 IC.

Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks

Suppression actions are being taken on the Cahoon and Dennis Fires. The park also reports 13 fires being managed for wildland fire use, five of them in a single complex. None of the fires are larger than a half acre; most are inactive.

Yosemite National Park

No significant changes from yesterday's report.

PARKS AND PEOPLE

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Martin Van Buren National Historic Site (NY)
GS-1640-11 Chief of Maintenance

The park is entering a unique and exciting period of historic preservation and development of visitor facilities. The chief of maintenance will play a key role by planning, directing and executing all facility management functions, including development of annual and long-range maintenance programs; maintaining historic and modern buildings, utilities, grounds, vehicles/equipment, mechanical systems, painting, carpentry, masonry, plumbing, electrical, HVAC, and security systems; and operation of all physical facilities. He/she also supervises the Maintenance Division workforce. This position is advertised on USA Jobs as vacancy announcement number NPS-NER-03-26, with a closing date of August 22nd. Applicants who applied to announcement number MAVA-03-03 will be considered under this announcement and need not reapply.
[Submitted by Joseph Collins]

Lewis & Clark National Historic Trail (IA,ID,IL,KS,MO,MT,ND,NE,OR,SD,WA)
Park Ranger (Interpretation)

Dates: 08/04/2003 - 08/15/2005

Job Announcment Number: MWRO-03-22PJJ
Opened: August 4, 2003
Closes: August 15, 2003
Title: Park Ranger (Interpretation)
GS 5 Term

Duties: Provide basic orientation and visitor information services at the Lewis and Clark National Historic Trail headquarters office. Greet the public and provide information about the Lewis and Clark Trail and the National Park System, prepare and conduct basic thematic interpretive presentations to an array of on and off-site audiences, including school groups, families and the general public. Incumbent is responsible for technical preparation of the park newsletter and updates of the web page.

We are particularity looking for Seasonal Rangers from any agency, or other recent college graduates with a knowledge and interest in Lewis and Clark. This announcement is advertised on USA Jobs: www.usajobs.opm.gov (search NPS, Park Ranger, Interpretation - Nebraska).

[Submitted by Betty Boyko, betty_boyko@nps.gov, 402-514-9311]

Casa Grande Ruins National Monument (AZ)
GS-9/11 Chief Ranger

Casa Grande Ruins is seeking a lateral transfer to fill the vacancy of Chief Ranger GS-025-9/11 (non-6c). The position supervises three full-time GS-025-09 (I) positions and one full-time WNPA associate.  Casa Grande Ruins has a visitor center/museum and WNPA bookstore and averages approximately 110,000 visitors per year. The park is also in the midst of park expansion that will in turn expand the interpretive function.

 

Casa Grande Ruins National Monument is located half way between Phoenix and Tucson in the City of Coolidge, Arizona.  Shopping/medical are available in Coolidge one (1) mile from park headquarters.  Full range of shopping, medical, dental and recreational facilities available in Casa Grande (18 mi.), Phoenix area (50 mi.) and Tucson (60 mi.).  Kindergarten through senior high school, as well as day care, is available in Coolidge.   A community college is available between Coolidge and Casa Grande, 10 mi. from Coolidge.  In addition, there are several other points of interest within a 35 mile radius of Coolidge such as Picacho Peak State Park, the Historic Town of Florence, Boyce Thompson Southwestern Arboretum, Lost Dutchman State Park in the Superstition Mountains and Gila River Arts and Crafts Center. 

 

Please forward all letters of interest to the attention of Don Spencer, Superintendent, at Casa Grande Ruins.  Additionally, if there are any questions, please contact Don at (520) 723-3172 x21.

 
[Submitted by Diana Mills, Diana_Mills@nps.gov, 520-723-3172 x22]

Submission standards for the Morning Report can be found on the left side of the front page of InsideNPS. All reports should be submitted via email to Bill Halainen at Delaware Water Gap NRA, with a copy to your regional office and a copy to Dennis Burnett in Division of Law Enforcement and Emergency Services, WASO.

Prepared by the Division of Law Enforcement and Emergency Services, WASO, with the cooperation and support of Delaware Water Gap NRA.