INCIDENTS

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Yellowstone National Park (ID,MT,WY)
East Entrance Remains Closed Due To Slides

Park staff are evaluating the condition of the park's East Entrance Road, which was closed due to a mud slide caused by a thunderstorm on Sunday evening. The road remains closed between the East Entrance Station and a point just east of Fishing Bridge. Due to weather and safety concerns, it could be several days before the road is reopened to traffic. A three-quarter mile section of the road was buried in mud shortly after 8 p.m. Three vehicles were buried in mud up to their hoods, but rangers were able to get the occupants out through their windows. Another vehicle was trapped between mudslides. None of the 16 people in the vehicles were hurt, and all were freed by 11:30 p.m. on Sunday and taken to Pahaska Teepee. Two people traveling through the area on a motorcycle were able to leave the area through Fishing Bridge and stayed overnight in an employee dorm; the occupants of a car that came upon the mudslide from the west had to turn around and were put up for the night at the Fishing Bridge warming hut. While there are no indications of any trapped vehicles or missing persons, a search and rescue team from the Park County (Wyoming) Sheriff's Department will search the area today with metal detectors and a search dog as a precaution. The two largest mudslides covering the road are estimated to be 10 feet deep and 90 yards long. The mudslides occurred in an area east of the perimeter of last year's East Fire, but within the winter avalanche zones around Sylvan Pass. Guardrails and posts have been wiped out, a section of the roadbed has been undercut, and several thousand cubic yards of debris cover the road and will have to be removed. Overcast weather and forecast rain are hampering efforts to reopen the road due to safety concerns over the possibility of additional mudslides. Maintenance staff and the park geologist were on site yesterday to analyze the situation and develop a reopening game plan. While the East Entrance road is temporarily closed, travel between the park and Cody is possible over the Chief Joseph Scenic Highway (Wyoming Highway 296) to the Beartooth Highway (US 212) and the park's Northeast Entrance. Due to ongoing road, construction, there may be up to 30-minute delays on the road east of Cooke City between 6:00 a.m. and 6:00 p.m. [Submitted by Al Nash, Public Affairs]

Mount Rainier National Park (WA)
Body of Climber Found

On June 15th, family members reported that climbers L.C. and A.V. were overdue from an ascent of the highly technical Liberty Ridge route on Mount Rainier. The pair had undertaken the ascent on the previous weekend. A search was begun, and L.C.'s body was found in the snow west of the ridge at 9,000 feet. There was no sign of A.V., however. On July 13th, a solo climber spotted his body on the mountain. A team of three climbing rangers reached the accident site two days later and recovered his remains. A.V., 29, was a graduate of Evergreen State College, with a bachelor's degree in botany. He had just begun his third season of employment at North Cascades, where he served as a fire effects monitor. Mike Gauthier was IC on this incident.
[Submitted by Patti Wold, Information Officer]

Badlands National Park (SD)
Car Fire Averted

Late on the afternoon of July 18th, rangers saw a car heading west on Highway 240 just west of the Panorama Point overlook at a high rate of speed. When they stopped it, they saw that smoke was issuing from the trunk and passenger compartment. The driver jumped out and told the rangers that her car was on fire and that she was looking for help. The rangers removed burning and smoldering blankets from the vehicle and extinguished the blaze. They then searched the trunk, its contents, and the passenger compartment, but found no further signs of fire. The investigation revealed that the vehicle's trunk latch was not operating properly and that the driver had used a number of bungee cords to secure the lid. Unfortunately, the trunk lid was not secured tightly, allowing the interior compartment light to remain lit. The light became so hot that it melted and caught fire. The burning materials fell on top of a number of blankets and clothing, which then began to smolder and burn. The vehicle was occupied by a family of four from Wisconsin. 
[Submitted by Mark Gorman, Acting Chief Ranger]

FIRE MANAGEMENT

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NIFC/NPS Fire and Aviation Management
National Fire Situation Highlights — Tuesday, July 20, 2004

Preparedness Level 3

Initial attack was moderate in the eastern Great Basin and light elsewhere on Monday. All of the 280 newly-reported fires were caught by initial attack. Three large fires were contained.

Very high to extreme fire indices were reported in Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Oregon, Texas, Washington and Wyoming.

Warnings and Watches

No warnings or watches have been issued for today.

NPS Fires

For a brief supplemental narrative on each fire, click on the bar with the arrow. Internal NPS readers can link directly to full reports on each fire by clicking on the notepad icon; public readers of the Morning Report can obtain similar information by going to http://www.nps.gov/fire/news

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National/State Team Commitments

Newly listed fires (on this report) appear below in boldface. Changes in the status of a fire (type of team, change from a fire to a complex, etc.) are also noted in boldface.

Fires are sorted by type of team; teams are listed in alphabetical order within each type by the IC's last name.

State	Agency	Team	IC	Fire and Location	7/19	7/20	% Con	Est Con
AK	State	1	Anderson	Boundary Fire, Fairbanks Area	473,300	484,600	20	UNK
WA	USFS	1	Bennett	Icicle Fire, Okanogan/Wenatchee NF	606	778	20	7/25
CA	State	1	Cable	Foothill Fire, Los Angeles County	4,207	5,984	45	UNK
CA	State	1	Gelobter	Pine Fire, Los Angeles County	17,418	17,418	90	7/23
NV	USFS	1	Martin	Waterfall Fire, Humboldt-Toiyabe NF	7,600	7,680	97	7/20
ID	USFS	2	Brunner	Cabin Creek Fire, Salmon Challis NF	600	783	80	7/22
AK	BLM	2	Carlson	Eagle Complex, Upper Yukon Zone	614,154	614,565	NR	UNK
AK	BLM	2	Furlong/ Gormley	Central Complex, Upper Yukon Zone	170,000	170,000	0	UNK
AK	State	2	Goheen	Chicken Complex, Tok Area Forestry	389,933	392,352	NR	UNK
AK	State	2	Kurth	Taylor Complex, Tok Area Forestry	440,611	455,917	NR	8/3
WA	USFS	2	Johnson *	Pot Peak Fire, Okanogan-Wenatchee NF	11,675	11,800	68	UNK
AZ	USFS	2	Philbin	Willow Fire, Tonto NF	119,500
ID	USFS	2	Suwyn	Dollar Fire, Boise NF	782	782	75	7/21
AK	BLM	FU	Bird	Solstice Complex, Upper Yukon Zone	547,351	547,351	5	UNK
CA	NPS	FU	Cook	Meadow Fire, Yosemite NP	3,727	3,750	N/A	11/1

* Washington Interagency IMT

National Resource Commitments

Day	Wed	Thu	Fri	Sat	Sun	Mon	Tue
Date	7/14	7/15	7/16	7/17	7/18	7/19	7/20
Crews	237	274	279	257	284	301	273
Engines	497	459	520	609	644	653	482
Helicopters	102	114	128	115	124	125	109
Air Tankers	2	5	2	1	1	0	0
Overhead	1,932	1,901	2,066	2,221	2,237	2,234	2,495

Further Information

This report is meant to present just highlights of the current fire situation. Two other NIFC sites provide much greater detail:

Full NIFC Situation Report (PDF file) — http://www.nifc.gov/news/sitreprt.pdf
National Fire News — http://www.nifc.gov/fireinfo/nfn.html

Information on NPS Fire and Aviation Management (FAM) and on park fires can be found at:

FAM — http://www.nps.gov/fire
Park fires — http://www.nps.gov/fire/news

OPERATIONAL NOTES

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West Nile Virus Task Force
Guidance on Managing West Nile Virus Risks

>West Nile Virus (WNV), a mosquito-borne disease, is now a nationwide concern:

• As of July 13th, three confirmed deaths and 108 human cases had been reported nationwide, with most activity in Arizona, California, Colorado, Florida, Iowa, Michigan, Nebraska, New Mexico, South Dakota and Wyoming.
• According to the Centers for Disease Control, there were 9,862 confirmed human cases of WNV and 264 deaths in 2003.
• WNV has been detected in over 290 species of birds; corvids and birds of prey (raptors) are particularly susceptible. Threatened and endangered corvids (e.g., Florida scrub jay) and raptors (e.g., California condor) may be at risk from WNV.
• WNV has been detected in 34 species of mammals and two species of reptiles.
• WNV has been confirmed in bird and/or humans in 46 of the lower 48 states. It is likely that WNV will be detected in the remaining two states (Oregon and Nevada) in 2004.

Detection and risk management of WNV in the parks can be complex and multifaceted, requiring managers to evaluate and manage risks to park users and park resources associated with the virus as well as management actions such as the use of pesticides.

In order to address these issues, the Service's Zoonotic, Vector-borne, and Environmentally Transmitted Disease (ZED) Committee has issued the following memorandum to all employees on the status of WNV in the NPS in 2004:

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On April 2, 2003, the Associate Directors for Natural Resource Stewardship and Science and Resource and Visitor Protection signed a memorandum calling for the formation of the Zoonotic, Vector-borne and Environmentally-transmitted Disease (ZED) Steering Committee and Charter. This committee continues to develop interdivisional cooperation and recommendations for actions that ensure our responses to zoonotic, vector-borne diseases are timely, effective and coordinated to reduce risk to resources, employees and visitors. Information regarding the newly formed ZED committee can be found at: http://www.nps.gov/public_health/zed/zed.htm

This memo, prepared by the West Nile Task Group (Resource and Visitor Protection and Natural Resource Stewardship and Science), provides current guidance and comprehensive information for the management of risks associated with West Nile Virus in the NPS for 2004.

Technical information and guidance can be accessed at the above identified ZED web site. The web site includes information sheets on West Nile Virus including; Human Health Related Issues, Phased Response to WNV, Wildlife Health Related Issues, Surveillance and Monitoring, Personal Protection, and Horse Related Issues.

Zoonotic, vector-borne, and environmentally-transmitted diseases (ZEDs) present potential public health, resource, and economic risks. Managing the risks to resources, employees, visitors, and the environment from disease agents and reservoirs as well as developing risk management strategies is a shared responsibility of the natural resource, risk management and

public health program. Interdivisional cooperation and recommendations for action will ensure our responses are timely, effective, and coordinated to the benefit of resources, employees and visitors.

 
If you have any questions regarding the ZED committee please contact Jason Thomas at Jason_Thomas@partner.nps.gov
[Submitted by NPS Zoonotic Environmental Disease Committee, 2004 West Nile Virus Task Force] More Information...

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.