Death Valley National Park (CA)
Rangers Respond to Three Serious MVA's
The park received a report of a rollover accident on the road to Scotty's Castle just after 2 p.m. on Saturday, April 10th. Rangers responded and provided medical assistance to the two people who were in the car. The passenger — M.M., 26, of Los Angeles — was not wearing a seatbelt and was thrown 75 feet from the vehicle. CPR was administered, but she died of her injuries. Just a few minutes prior to this fatal accident, the park had been notified of a motorcycle accident in which the operator had been trapped under an automobile that ran over him. The motorcyclist, who sustained severe trauma, was extricated from under the vehicle by park staff. Earlier on this busy spring break/Easter weekend, rangers dealt with another rollover accident. Distances between accident sites ranged from 15 to 40 miles, thereby stretching already thin resources. The California Highway Patrol is investigating the accidents. [Submitted by Ed Derobertis, Acting Chief Ranger]
Golden Gate National Recreation Area (CA)
Assault on Ranger
Rangers were on foot patrol of Ocean Beach on the night of April 13th
when they came upon a group of 20 people standing around an illegal
campfire in the beach dunes. Ranger Albert Faria attempted to stop three
of them as they walked away. One of the trio became verbally abusive,
shouting profanity; when Faria attempted to detain her and calm her
down, she instead became combative. While Faria attempted to handcuff
her, ranger Shannon Jay and field training ranger Jessie Jordan kept her
boyfriend from interfering by pulling their OC spray and ordering him to
sit down. The woman attacked Faria, clawing at his face, but was finally
subdued when Faria and field training ranger Jack Hoeflich grabbed her
arms and pulled her to the ground. She was arrested and charged with
interfering and assault on a federal officer. Her boyfriend was also
cited for interfering. Faria was treated for his injuries. The United
States Attorney's Office is handling the case.
[Submitted by Kim
Coast, Supervisory Park Ranger]
Golden Gate National Recreation Area (CA)
Attempted Suicide
On April 13th, dispatch was notified of a Coast Guard response to a
report of a man in the water who had jumped from the Golden Gate Bridge.
An off-duty emergency room physician who was surfing off of Fort Point
saw the man floating in the water and provided basic life support until
the Coast Guard arrived. The man was taken to Fort Baker, where he was
met by Presidio paramedics and rangers. The rangers established a
landing zone for the responding California Highway Patrol helicopter. He
was flown to a nearby trauma center and treated for injuries that
included two collapsed lungs and swelling in the brain. As of the
report, however, he was still alive, having survived a 220-foot
fall.
[Submitted by Kim Coast, Supervisory Park Ranger]
FIRE MANAGEMENT
National Interagency Fire Center
NIFC Situation Report — Tuesday, April 13, 2004
Preparedness Level 1
Initial attack remained light on Monday. A total of 419 new fires were reported — six of them became large fires. Another five large fires were contained in the South.
No states reported high or extreme fire indices.
National Resource Commitments
| Day |
Thu |
Fri |
Sat |
Sun |
Mon |
Tue |
|
Date |
4/8 |
4/9 |
4/10 |
4/11 |
4/12 |
4/13 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Crews |
15 |
9 |
15 |
22 |
7 |
10 |
|
Engines |
142 |
61 |
70 |
89 |
32 |
60 |
|
Helicopters |
13 |
9 |
7 |
13 |
5 |
5 |
|
Air Tankers |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
|
Overhead |
216 |
192 |
224 |
269 |
113 |
178 |
National Team Commitments
|
State |
Type |
Team IC |
Fire/Location |
Acres |
Acres |
Percent |
Est Full |
|
FL |
T1 |
Ferguson |
East Fork Fire, Florida National Forests |
14,600 |
19,878 |
70% |
4/16 |
National Wildfire Coordinating Group
SAFETY WARNING: New Fire Shelter Recall
In mid-March, a SAFENET was submitted describing rips occurring in two new generation fire shelters during deployment training. According to the SAFENET, the tears were in the floor material near the shake handles used to quickly deploy the shelters.
Equipment Specialists at the Missoula Technology and Development Center immediately researched the problem and confirmed that some shelters are tearing near the shake handles during deployment. Tearing occurs when shaking creates stress on the material near the handles. All tears are on the floor material. NO TEARS have been found in the shell material. Forest Service equipment specialists believe the problem is related to the stitch pattern used to attach the shake handles to the seam that joins the shelter floor and shelter shell. The stitch pattern may cause the cloth to tear more easily. During the development of the new generation shelter, shake tests did not reveal a weakness in the original design.
MTDC equipment specialists, in consultation with engineers at the University of Alberta, believe the added risk associated with the potential tearing of the shelter is very small because of the location of the tears on the underside of the shelter. However, interagency fire management leadership and specialists at MTDC are taking immediate action to fix the problem in order to ensure firefighters are provided with a quality product.
Upon notification of the SAFENET and verification of the problem in mid-March, MTDC instructed GSA to have the shelter manufacturers halt production until a remedy to the tearing could be found, and instructed GSA to put a hold on distribution of the shelters currently in stock. MTDC personnel worked with a contractor to develop a solution to the weakness in newly manufactured shelters by reinforcing the floor material adjacent to the shake handles. They also developed a retrofit solution to 'fix' the existing new generation shelters.
GSA and contractors are currently producing the new generation fire shelter design with the reinforced floor section. Fire management agencies will immediately recall existing new generation fire shelters for retrofit. Retrofitting should proceed quickly, at the rate of approximately 3,000-5,000 per week. Fire caches will not issue the new generation shelter until it has been retrofitted or replaced with units made using the new reinforced design.
The eleven National Fire Caches will act as collection points for shelters requiring retrofit. Instructions for submitting shelters for the recall are being finalized and will be issued next week in a National Cache Memo. Firefighters are advised to wait to return any new style shelters for retrofit until the cache managers are prepared to receive them.
Firefighters should carry the old-style shelter on the fireline until either a new reinforced shelter or a retrofitted shelter is made available. Further, firefighters carrying the older style shelters should review the training and deployment requirements.
PARKS AND PEOPLE
Department of the Interior
Watch Office Detail Opportunity
The Department of the Interior Watch Office is looking for a volunteer to work in that office from April 11th thru May 1st. Individuals do not have to be law enforcement qualified, but due to travel caps must be within driving distance of the Washington, DC, area. Travel and per diem are covered, but backfill and "base eight" are not authorized. Please contact staffing coordinator John Krambrink (360-507-0442) or Tom Tschohl (541-210-0273) if interested.[Submitted by Tom Tschohl]
Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument (AZ)
GS 12/13 Supervisory Resource Management Specialist
Dates: 04/13/2004 - 04/21/2004
Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument is seeking candidates for the Division of Resource Management (RM) chief. The chief oversees a complex, interdisciplinary program involving eight RM staff members, with direct supervision of four program managers and indirect supervision of four other full-time employees. The incumbent coordinates and supervises the following four branches: Ecological Monitoring Program, Vegetation Management, Research and Wildlife Management and Information Management. S/he also coordinates and supervises the following functions/programs: fire ecology, restoration ecology, historic structure management/preservation, integrated pest management, environmental compliance, research coordination, abandoned mine lands, archeology and museum curation. The position requires that professional contacts be developed and maintained with scientists and managers in state and federal agencies, academia, Native American tribes and Mexican conservation institutions.
Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument preserves 516 square miles of diverse Sonoran Desert landscape, with elevation ranges from 1,068 to 4,892 feet. Daytime temperatures range as high as 118 degrees in the summer and as low as 50 degrees in the winter. A gasoline station, grocery, cafe/bar, laundromat and post office are located in Lukeville. Grade school through high school, medical clinic, churches, and shopping facilities are located in Ajo. Full services are available in Tucson, Phoenix or Yuma, which are approximately 150 miles away. Vacancy Announcement Number: SOAR-04-13 (DEU); Closing Date: Wednesday, April 21, 2004
[Submitted by Peter Holm, Acting Chief, Resource Management Division, peter_holm@nps.gov, (520)387-7661 ext. 7112]
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.