Cape Lookout National Seashore (NC)
Hurricane Alex Impacts Assessment Completed
The park has conducted an assessment to determine the impacts of the
hurricane. There was heavy beach erosion above mile marker seven on
North Core Banks. Both docks at Portsmouth village sustained minor
damage, and about 50 trees were uprooted. The latter caused damage to
historic cemeteries. Some of the historic structures still awaiting
repair from Hurricane Isabel received additional structural damage. The
temporary concession ferry landing and cabins at Long Point sustained
minor damage. Shackelford and South Core Banks reopened yesterday
morning, and the Great Island concession vehicle ferry and IBP ferries
resumed operations. North Core Banks below mile marker seven reopened
later in the day and the Morris Marina ferry resumed operation.
Portsmouth Village and the north end of North Core Banks (above mile
seven) remain closed.
[Submitted by Wouter Ketel, Chief Ranger]
Glen Canyon National Recreation Area (AZ,UT)
Multiple Monoxide Poisonings
The park was notified of possible carbon monoxide poisonings on a
houseboat at Antelope Point Marina around 7:30 a.m. on July 23rd.
Interpretive ranger Dale Devries was first on scene and made the
assessment that there was at least eight victims and that three of them
had previously been unconscious. Two Page FD ambulances were dispatched
along with the Park Service ambulance from Wahweap. The ambulances
arrived just after 8 a.m. All of the victims were triaged with an
expelled carbon monoxide breath monitor, then transported accordingly.
Nine people were taken to the hospital, where seven were treated;
another three passengers remained on the boat. According to the captain
of the 55-foot Stardust houseboat, the group had been camped in the Warm
Creek area the previous night. There were lots of bugs, so they'd closed
all the windows and doors and turned on the air conditioner. The
generator was on, but the main engines were off. Around 3 a.m., one of
the teenage girls on board began to show symptoms, and others soon
complained of dizziness, nausea and headaches. At first light, they made
for Antelope Point. The boat had no carbon monoxide detectors, and the
captain was not aware of the dangers of carbon monoxide poisoning that
have been identified with houseboats. He said that he'd been coming to
the park since 1995 and that he'd felt tired and always seemed to have a
headache after spending time on the boat. An investigation was conducted
and revealed that the boat's original rear exhaust system had been
replaced with a starboard side exhaust system. Evidence indicates that
the side vent for the generator exhaust is too close to the engine
compartment vents, and that exhaust gets pulled into the engine
compartment from the blower units when there's no breeze and gets
transmitted through spaces in the through-hold fittings, collecting in
the crawl space and percolating up through the floor.
[Submitted by
Brian O'Dea, Special Agent]
Sequoia & Kings Canyon National Parks (CA)
Three
Short-Haul Rescues
Park staff conducted three short-haul rescues over the past two weeks:
July 22 — Yosemite's Helicopter 551, with pilot Gary Spidell and spotter Jeff Pirog on board, short-hauled park medic Debbie Brenchley and a 69-year-old visitor with a broken leg from a 14,120-foot notch in the northern park of Kings Canyon.
July 26 — Sequoia/Kings Canyon's Helicopter 552, with pilot Kent Pierce and spotter Carrie Vernon, short-hauled EMT John Ziegler and a teenage girl with a back injury from the the far side of the Middle Fork of the Kaweah River in the foothills near Potwisha.
August 3 — Park medic Dave Walton and EMT Fred Mason were short-hauled by Helicopter 552 to a remote river location, again on the Middle Fork of the Kaweah, to rescue two teenage boys who spent the night stuck on a mid-stream rock bar.
These three incidents bring to four the number of short-haul rescues since the parks began the program this past June. Short-haul techniques place fewer people into dangerous terrain, provide definitive care more quickly to patients, and minimize disruptions to other park operations.
[Submitted by Pat Grediagin, Sequoia District Ranger]
Olympic National Park (WA)
Cessna Crash Kills One, Injures Two
Campers in the park's Heart o' the Hills campground reported a
possible plane crash just before 10 p.m. on Tuesday, August 3rd. Shortly
thereafter, a Cessna 182 was reported overdue at Seattle's Boeing Field.
A search was begun, but was hampered by darkness and poor weather. It
resumed yesterday morning. At 6:15 a.m., a 911 operator received a cell
phone call from one of the plane's passengers; not long after, the
Cessna's wreckage was spotted from the air in an area of dense forest
and steep terrain near the campground. A park rescue crew reached the
site of the accident at 9 a.m. and reported that two of the three
occupants of the plane had survived; the third died in the crash. Names
are being held pending notification of next of kin. Officials from the
NTSB, FAA and Cessna will be on scene today to investigate the crash.
[Submitted by Barb Maynes, Public Affairs Specialist]
Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore (MI)
Dune Rescue
On Monday, July 26th, the park received a report that a visitor had
fallen at the Log Slide, which is a popular visitor attraction
consisting of a 300 foot high sand dune with a 600 foot slope. Rangers
responded along with the Michigan State Police and local fire and rescue
units. They found that a 65-year-old woman had lost her balance while
climbing down the dune and had tumbled about 100 feet down its face.
Rescuers belayed a litter 500 feet down the dune slope, then immobilized
and prepared the woman for evacuation. She was lowered another 100 feet
to the Lake Superior shoreline, then placed in an NPS patrol boat,
conveyed to a waiting ambulance in Grand Marais, and taken to a hospital
in Marquette. Although she had good neurological function in all
extremities throughout the entire extrication and transport, she was
admitted to the hospital with a cervical spine fracture.
[Submitted
by John Patmore, Supervisory Park Ranger]
Flagstaff Area National Monuments
Park Staff Assist at Fatal Jeep Accident
On July 24th, Summit FD asked park staff to assist at a serious EMS
incident in the Cinder Hills off-highway vehicle area, which is located
next to the park's southeast boundary. Four employees responded from the
Flagstaff area parks and assisted the Coconino County SO with the
recovery of a father and son who'd been killed while attempting to drive
down the 600-foot face of Hundred Dollar Hill, a favorite of OHV
enthusiasts. The driver lost control during the descent and the jeep
rolled about 11 times. D.R., 49, was ejected and died
instantly; his son, S.R., 26, was held in place by his five-point
harness, but suffered severe traumatic injuries and died at the scene.
NPS staff are frequently asked to assist in emergency operations in the
OHV area due to its proximity to the park.
[Submitted by Kim Watson,
Chief Ranger, Flagstaff Area National Monuments ]
FIRE MANAGEMENT
NIFC/NPS Fire and Aviation Management
National Fire Situation Highlights — Thursday, August 5, 2004
Preparedness Level 3
Initial attack was moderate in the Northwest yesterday, but light everywhere else. Only one of the 199 newly-reported fires escaped initial attack; two other large fires were contained.
Very high to extreme fire indices were reported in Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, Utah, Washington and Wyoming.
Weather Forecast
A trough of low pressure off the Pacific Northwest coast will continue to bring a threat of thunderstorms to the Northwest and Northern Rockies. Further south, gusty winds and low humidity are expected from the Northern Sierras into portions of the Great Basin. Monsoon moisture will bring another round of scattered thunderstorms to the Southwest, Utah and Colorado. High pressure will continue to produce warm, dry weather for most of the Alaska interior.
Warnings and Watches
A FIRE WEATHER WATCH has been issued today for winds and low relative humidity for western Idaho.
A RED FLAG WARNING has been posted today for gusty winds and low relative humidity in the northern two-thirds of Nevada.
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
{||inc|http://data2.itc.nps.gov/fire/includes/bill_table.cfm||}
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 |
8/4 |
8/5 |
% Con |
Est Con |
|
UT |
USFS |
1 |
Martin |
Hawkins Fire, Dixie NF |
35,232 |
35,232 |
90 |
8/6 |
|
UT |
USFS |
1 |
Martin |
Westside Complex, Dixie NF |
4,800 |
4,800 |
N/A |
N/A |
|
WA |
USFS |
1 |
Lohrey |
Pot Peak Complex, Okanogan-Wenatchee NF |
39,110 |
41,220 |
60 |
UNK |
|
WA |
State |
2 |
Berndt/ |
Mill Canyon Fire, Northeast Washington |
1,100 |
1,100 |
70 |
UNK |
|
WA |
USFS |
2 |
Jennings/ |
Freezeout Fire, Okanogan-Wenatchee NF |
400 |
432 |
17 |
UNK |
|
AK |
State |
2 |
Morcom |
Boundary Fire, Fairbanks Area |
503,362 |
503,632 |
35 |
UNK |
|
ID |
USFS |
2 |
Saleen |
Corn Fire, Salmon-Challis NF |
178 |
192 |
30 |
8/6 |
|
OR |
BIA |
2 |
West |
Log Springs Fire, Warm Springs Agency |
13,539 |
13,539 |
100 |
CND |
|
WA |
USFS |
FU |
Bonefeld |
Rattlesnake Peak Fire, Okanogan-Wenatchee NF |
560 |
697 |
N/A |
N/A |
|
CA |
NPS |
FU |
Cook |
Meadow Complex, Yosemite NP |
5,176 |
5,176 |
N/A |
N/A |
|
MN |
NPS |
FU |
Hall |
Section 33 Fire, Voyageurs NP |
1,400 |
1,400 |
N/A |
N/A |
# Washington State IMT
National Resource Commitments
| Day |
Fri |
Sat |
Sun |
Mon |
Tue |
Wed |
Thu |
|
Date |
7/30 |
7/310 |
8/1 |
8/2 |
8/3 |
8/4 |
8/5 |
|
|
|
|
|
| |||
|
Crews |
236 |
214 |
209 |
227 |
229 |
258 |
154 |
|
Engines |
377 |
339 |
471 |
453 |
477 |
499 |
365 |
|
Helicopters |
93 |
108 |
92 |
113 |
102 |
108 |
93 |
|
Air Tankers |
0 |
0 |
1 |
1 |
0 |
2 |
0 |
|
Overhead |
1,856 |
1,646 |
1,458 |
1,608 |
1,848 |
2,379 |
1,536 |
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
NPS Office at the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center
Summary of Recent Supreme Court Rulings
A brief review of significant Supreme Court cases from this session will be presented over the next several weeks. Today, rulings regarding the Fifth Amendment and Miranda warnings:
The Supreme Court held that the mere failure to provide a suspect with his/her Miranda warning does not in itself constitute a constitutional violation. Even where the failure to provide the warning was deliberate, the appropriate remedy for such a failure is suppression of unwarned statements when they are offered at trial as evidence. In addition, the Court pointed out that the taking of unwarned but voluntary statements does not require the suppression of non-testimonial evidence discovered as a result of the unwarned statement. Here, the unwarned but voluntary statement was based on the interruption of Miranda warnings by Patane, who insisted that he knew his rights. Rather than complete the warnings, the officers moved into questioning. The questioning led to the location of a handgun, which was successfully admitted into evidence against Patane. United States v. Patane, No. 02-1183 (U.S. 6/28/04).
In another case, the Supreme Court held that the tactic of seeking unwarned statements, quickly followed by Miranda warnings and the review and recital of the unwarned statements, does not conform with the protections of Miranda. Accordingly, the pre-warning and post-warning statements will not be admissible. In this case, the intentional questioning without Miranda for approximately 30 to 40 minutes was followed by a 20 minute break. The officer resumed the questioning by providing Miranda, obtaining a signed waiver, and then repeated the earlier unwarned questions until he received the same answer. The Court stated that this "question-first" tactic of seeking an unwarned confession or admission and immediately followed by warnings to prepare the suspect to confess again renders those warning ineffective. The Court distinguished the earlier case of Oregon v. Elstad as Elstad involved brief questioning at home, followed by a later session at the station after warnings were given. The later warnings and lapse of time offered Elstad the choice of whether or not to continue answering questions based on what had occurred. Here, the interrogation was conducted at the station, was continuous, systematic and managed with a specific goal in mind. Missouri v. Seibert, No. 02-1371 (U.S. 6/28/04).
In a third case, the Court held that age is not a determinative factor in deciding whether an individual is in custody for the purposes of Miranda. The test for custody has always been an objective one, focusing on (1) the circumstances surrounding the interrogation, and based on those circumstances, (2) whether a reasonable person would have felt free to terminate the interrogation and leave. In this case, the Ninth Circuit had incorrectly applied the proposition that a suspect's age and inexperience were also relevant to the determination of custody and granted habeas relief to Alvarado. Alvarado, a 17 year old, voluntarily came to the station with his legal guardians and was questioned for 2 hours without being given Miranda warnings while his parents waited in the lobby. He was asked only to tell the truth, was asked twice if he wanted to take a break, and at the conclusion of the session, was allowed to leave with his parents after making several incriminating statements. On the other hand, he was brought to the station by his guardians, his parents were not allowed to sit with him during the questioning, the questioning lasted 2 hours, and he was not told he was free to leave. The Court concluded that these conflicting factors still weighed in favor of a lack of custodial circumstances. The age and inexperience of the suspect was not a relevant factor. Yarborough v. Alvarado, No. 02-1684 (U.S. 6/1/04). This does not lessen the impact of 18 U.S.C. ß 5033 concerning notification of parents, guardians or custodians of the rights of the juvenile and the nature of charges pending against the juvenile (see below). In addition, the Ninth Circuit held in United States v. Doe, 170 F.3d 1162 (9th Cir. 1999) cert. denied 528 U.S. 978, 120 S.Ct. 429 (1999), that parental notification of the juvenile's Miranda rights must be given contemporaneously with the notification of custody.
18 U.S.C. ß 5033. Custody prior to appearance before magistrate
Whenever a juvenile is taken into custody for an alleged act of
juvenile delinquency, the arresting officer shall immediately advise such juvenile of his legal rights, in language comprehensive to a juvenile, and shall immediately notify the Attorney General and the juvenile's parents, guardian, or custodian of such custody. The arresting officer shall also notify the parents, guardian, or custodian of the rights of the juvenile and of the nature of the alleged offense.
The juvenile shall be taken before a magistrate forthwith. In no event shall the juvenile be detained for longer than a reasonable period of time before being brought before a magistrate.
These decisions do not impact the training philosophy practiced by FLETC concerning the Miranda warnings. FLETC advises that rangers not automatically read Miranda warnings to an arrestee. Ask the arrestee if they are willing to answer any questions...if they are...give them the warnings. Most likely they will talk and not request an attorney, at least not at the moment. If they indicate they do not want to answer questions - continue with authorized booking questions, which are unaffected by Miranda. The arrestee has invoked only silence. Don't give Miranda unless the arrestee indicates they are willing to talk. Otherwise, you won't need Miranda because you won't be asking them questions anyway. But if you give the warning first...and they ask for an attorney, there can be no further questioning by any law enforcement officer. Which is precisely why FLETC trains to not give Miranda first - to avoid the attorney issue.
[Submitted by Don Usher, Superintendent]
PARKS AND PEOPLE
Midwest Region
GS-1640-11 Facility Manager
Dates: 07/30/2004 - 08/20/2004
Jewel Cave National Monument will be accepting applications from July 30, 2004 through August 20, 2004 for Facility Manager, GS-1640-11. This is a permanent, full-time position. This position is responsible for providing facility management for Jewel Cave National Monument with a diversified infrastructure and operational complexity including Grounds, Buildings, Historic Structures, Wastewater Treatment, and Cave Operations. The incumbent is responsible for the planning, administration, leadership, and management of the Maintenance Division, and, as such, is a key member in the Park's management team, serving with line authority for Division operations. Please see USAJOBS announcement NEKOTA 04-58
[Submitted by Todd Suess, todd_suess@nps.gov , (605) 673-2288, extension 1221]
Colorado National Monument (CO)
Passing of Peter Larson
Peter Larson, 62, died on August 2nd following an ATV accident while conducting land health assessments in Coon Hollow near South Shale Ridge. Larson worked as a biological technician for the Bureau of Land Management Grand Junction Field Office.
He had worked for the BLM for three years. He had worked at the Colorado National Monument for 10 years.
"Pete was always looking on the bright side," said Harley Metz, BLM ecologist. "He was a positive employee dedicated to what he was doing, and he enjoyed working with his fellow BLM employees. He always had a smile for everyone."
"Pete was a tireless worker that enjoyed what he was doing, cared about the land and cared about all the people," said Dave Price, Colorado National Monument Chief of Resource Management. "He was always, always willing to do whatever needed to be done to make things easier on people. He loved what he did, who he did it for and where he did it."
The accident occurred in steep, rocky terrain about 20 miles north of Grand Junction. Larson was wearing a helmet and safety equipment when the accident occurred. BLM staff began a search for Larson after he failed to check in at the end of the day.
Larson was a retired teacher from Mesa County School District 51, where he taught for 29 years.
"The BLM and National Park Service will miss a valued friend and colleague," BLM Grand Junction Field Manager Catherine Robertson said. "Our thoughts and prayers are with Pete's family and friends."
[Submitted by Steven Hall, Public Affairs, BLM]
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.