Glacier National Park
Fatal Fall Into Ice Crevasse
On the afternoon of Tuesday, July 27th, the park received a report
that a 46-year-old man had fallen into an ice crevasse on Grinnell
Glacier. The report was received by interpretive ranger Bob Schuster,
who had just finished a guided tour at the edge of the glacier and was
returning to the trailhead. He and off-duty interpretive ranger Ginny
West immediately called the incident to park dispatch and returned to
the glacier, where they located the crevasse with help from the
reporting party. Rangers from the Many Glacier area responded via the
park's contract helicopter. West guided the helicopter to a narrow
landing zone between numerous crevasses. Rangers rappelled into the
crevasse, which was less than 18 inches wide near the victim, with ice
water running down the both sides. The victim, later identified as
H.C. of Columbia, Maryland, was buried under three feet of snow,
wedged in the narrow opening. H.C. was unresponsive but groaning weakly
when rangers reached him. Access and extrication were extremely
difficult due to the narrow opening and unstable ice and water flowing
down around him. Rescuers had to be rapidly rotated out of the opening
due to extreme wet and cold conditions. Additional rangers were flown in
from several areas of the park to replace fatigued rescuers. H.C.
continued to slip further down the narrow crevasse with each exhalation.
Ranger Gary Moses eventually managed to secure a line to H.C. and he was
successfully extricated about four hours after the accident occurred.
CPR was begun immediately upon extrication. H.C. was transported by
Alert Air Ambulance to Kalispell Regional Hospital, where attempts to
revive him continued. He was eventually pronounced dead due to multiple
injuries. More than 25 NPS personnel from West Glacier, Many Glacier and
St. Mary were involved in the rescue.
[Submitted by Kathy Krisko,
Chief Mountain Subdistrict Ranger]
Death Valley National Park (CA)
Felony Suspect Takes Own Life
BLM ranger Dave Brenner found an early model Chevy pickup flatbed in
the Johnson Canyon area of the park on July 22nd that he had reason to
believe was being used by a man nicknamed the "Panamint Bandito," a
suspect in several felonies, including marijuana cultivation. The man
had unloaded a quad from the truck and driven off. A rifle and case, a
metal detector, a stolen wallet and five marijuana plants were found at
the site and were seized. Brenner and NPS ranger Ed Derobertis tracked
the quad to the Shoshone area, but did not find him. Ranger Kelly Cole
joined in the search on the 24th along with another BLM ranger, Pat
Shields. The search began south of the Furnace Creek Wash and was
conducted with the aid of a CHP aircraft, but the man was again not
found. On the 25th, Shields saw a man fitting the suspect's description
on Highway 127. He was at a call box and carrying a gas can. Shields
checked the area and found tracks matching the quad's. BLM and NPS
rangers resumed the search, again with the assistance of a CHP aircraft.
Brenner soon spotted the man under a camouflage tarp inside a wash near
the call box. The rangers moved toward his location, identified
themselves as officers, and told him to drop the .22 caliber rifle he
had in his possession. The man instead shot himself. Under the tarp,
rangers found a quad, a sleeping bag and articles of clothing; around
the camp were cans of food, garbage bags and gas cans; on the back of
the ATV were bags of potting soil. Confirmation of his identity is
pending.
[Submitted by Chief Ranger's Office]
Grand Canyon National Park (AZ)
Arrest of Repeat Offender for Disorderly Conduct
Dispatch received a 911 call after midnight on July 19th reporting
that two men had entered a park residence without permission and told
the occupants that they were out of gas. One of the men warned the
occupants not to call law enforcement, and he threatened to shoot any
NPS rangers who responded with a Tech 9 automatic weapon. Rangers
responded and made a tactical approach to the apartment. They saw two
men sitting on the front steps. One complied with ranger's commands and
was handcuffed without incident; the other remained sitting, appeared to
be under the influence of some substance, and stared straight ahead as
if in a trance. Rangers saw that he had something in one of his hands,
hiding it under his leg. Numerous commands were given before he complied
and was handcuffed and arrested. At that point, he became unresponsive
and unable to walk. Rangers had to carry him to the patrol vehicle and
into the park's booking facility. During the booking process, he was
intermittently threatening toward the rangers and uncooperative and in
an apparent "trance," as though under the influence of a drug. He
eventually became completely unresponsive and was transported to
Flagstaff Medical Center by one of their paramedic ambulances. A ranger
provided security in the ambulance during transport. Subsequent
investigation indicated that the man was under the influence of the drug
known as GHB (gamma hydroxybutyrate). The man had previously been
arrested on numerous occasions by park rangers and officers from other
agencies. At the time of the contact, he was on probation for drug
possession and for interfering with agency functions and was banned from
the park. He appeared before the magistrate and received a sentence of a
year and a day for the probation violation and six months for disorderly
conduct.
[Submitted by Karyl Yeston, South Rim Shift
Supervisor]
Blue Ridge Parkway
Attempted Suicide
On July 10th, ranger Marcia Bowers received a report that someone had
driven up the Devil's Courthouse hiking trail in a truck and was now
stuck on the trail. When Bowers arrived, the driver and a passenger had
left. A search of the truck led to the discovery of a suicide note and
several weapons, including a loaded rifle. Bowers determined that the
driver and passenger had hitchhiked to Oteen, North Carolina, and that
the driver had checked himself into a VA hospital. Bowers interviewed
both the man and his pregnant wife and found out the following: The man
had planned to drive his full-sized truck all the way to the trail
summit, then either jump from the cliff or drive his truck off it. When
he could not get his truck over some stone steps on the trail, he left
it behind. His wife was able to convince him to go to the hospital and
seek treatment. He was charged with several violations, including
off-road driving, resource damage, careless driving and weapons
possession.
[Submitted by Chief Ranger's Office]
FIRE MANAGEMENT
NIFC/NPS Fire and Aviation Management
National Fire Situation Highlights — Friday, August 6, 2004
Preparedness Level 3
Fire activity was moderate yesterday in the Northwest and northern Rockies and low everywhere else. Firefighters suppressed 235 fires with initial attack — two others became large fires. Another two large fires were contained.
Very high to extreme fire indices were reported in Alaska, Arizona, California, Idaho, Minnesota, Montana, Nevada, Oregon, Utah, Washington and Wyoming.
Weather Forecast
The low pressure trough off the Washington coast will finally move inland today bringing showers and thunderstorms to the Northwest and Northern Rockies. Dry weather with gusty winds will continue from the Sierra into the Great Basin. Monsoon moisture will bring scattered thunderstorms to Southwest, Utah and Colorado. High pressure will remain parked over the interior of Alaska for warm, dry weather.
Warnings and Watches
RED FLAG WARNINGS has been posted today for winds and low relative humidity in western and central Idaho, and for gusty winds and low relative humidity in the northern and northeastern counties 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 |
8/5 |
8/6 |
% Con |
Est Con |
|
UT |
USFS |
1 |
Martin |
Hawkins Fire, Dixie NF |
35,232 |
35,232 |
95 |
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 |
41,220 |
45,970 |
65 |
UNK |
|
WA |
State |
2 |
Berndt/ |
Mill Canyon Fire, Northeast Washington |
1,100 |
1,191 |
100 |
CND |
|
MT |
USFS |
2 |
Carlson * |
Capri Lake Fire, Bitterroot NF |
----- |
200 |
5 |
UNK |
|
WA |
USFS |
2 |
Jennings/ |
Freezeout Fire, Okanogan-Wenatchee NF |
432 |
482 |
17 |
UNK |
|
AK |
State |
2 |
Morcom @ |
Boundary Fire, Fairbanks Area |
503,632 |
503,362 |
35 |
UNK |
|
ID |
USFS |
2 |
Saleen |
Corn Fire, Salmon-Challis NF |
192 |
197 |
60 |
8/8 |
|
WA |
USFS |
FU |
Bonefeld |
Rattlesnake Peak Fire, Okanogan-Wenatchee NF |
697 |
738 |
N/A |
N/A |
|
MN |
NPS |
FU |
Hall |
Section 33 Fire, Voyageurs NP |
1,400 |
1,409 |
N/A |
N/A |
* On order
# Washington State IMT
@ A transfer of command to a Type 3 IMT will occur this morning.
National Resource Commitments
| Day |
Sat |
Sun |
Mon |
Tue |
Wed |
Thu |
Fri |
|
Date |
7/31 |
8/1 |
8/2 |
8/3 |
8/4 |
8/5 |
8/6 |
|
|
|
|
|
| |||
|
Crews |
214 |
209 |
227 |
229 |
258 |
154 |
122 |
|
Engines |
339 |
471 |
453 |
477 |
499 |
365 |
202 |
|
Helicopters |
108 |
92 |
113 |
102 |
108 |
93 |
83 |
|
Air Tankers |
0 |
1 |
1 |
0 |
2 |
0 |
2 |
|
Overhead |
1,646 |
1,458 |
1,608 |
1,848 |
2,379 |
1,536 |
1,130 |
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
Visitor and Resource Protection
Hurricane Isabel Report Released
The National Park Service has completed a report on the response of its incident management teams to Hurricane Isabel — one of the most complex incidents that the NPS has yet managed under ICS, involving five national and regional incident management teams and more than 30 parks in three regions. That report is now available for review.
The report, entitled Hurricane Isabel: The National Park Service Response, includes a narrative on the storm, summaries of park and incident management team responses, and a critique of those responses.
The report is currently available on both the Service's Resource and Visitor Protection web site (for NPS employees) and the Wildland Fire Lessons Learned Center web site (for interested parties outside of the NPS).
If you are within the NPS, click on the following to get to the R&VP page, then click on "Hurricane Isabel Report" on the left side of that page:
http://inside.nps.gov/programs/directorate.cfm?dir=5&page=home
If you are outside the NPS, look for the report on the Lessons Learned Center site:
http://www.wildfirelessons.net/Libr_IncdtMgt.html
[Submitted by Karen Taylor-Goodrich, Associate Director]
PARKS AND PEOPLE
Office of International Affairs
Deputy Director, World Heritage Center
Dates: 06/01/2004 - 08/15/2004
The position of Deputy Director for the World Heritage Centre, at UNESCO, which helps administer the World Heritage Convention, is open to all applicants. Deadline for submission of an application is August 15, 2004.
The U.S. has been highly encouraged to promote a candidate, as we are underrepresented at UNESCO and the World Heritage Centre. A successful candidate would have a strong background in natural resource management, and have some knowledge of the World Heritage Convention. Interested candidates can contact NPS/OIA for a copy of the application.
Duties would include:
Under the Supervision of the Director of the World Heritage Centre, the incumbent shall:
1. Direct the day-to-day management of the World Heritage Centre to ensure that all Regional, Administrative, Policy and Implementation, Special Projects and other Units are assigned clear responsibilities, with appropriate deadlines and time horizons wherever and whenever necessary, to carry out all tasks and functions to ensure that the Centre effectively fulfills its roles as the (i) Secretariat of the World Heritage Committee and (ii) the principal UNESCO organ for the overall implementation of the World Heritage Convention.
2. Lead and supervise the conceptualization, design, development and implementation of all programmes, projects and activities related to the implementation of the Natural Heritage component of the World Heritage Convention including the implementation of all decisions of the World Heritage Committee and the effective execution of on-going and pipe-line large scale partnership projects financed by the UN Foundation and other conservation partners
3. Direct and supervise the work of Centre staff building the World Heritage PaCt (Partnerships for Conservation) and enable the conclusion of an agreed number of new partnerships in consultation with the Director and PaCt staff with institutions representing States Parties to the Convention, civil society and the private sector
4. Counsel and enable the Director of the Centre in interactions with other UNESCO based Units, Advisory Bodies to the World Heritage Committee and international partners from public and the private sector and the civil society to develop the World Heritage Centre as global anchor for World Heritage conservation thinking and action
5. Represent the Director of the UNESCO, Director General of UNESCO and other higher UNESCO Officials in meetings, public events, missions as and when requested by the Director of the Centre
6. Develop trust and good relations with all Centre staff to ensure good working relations and serve as advisor of staff who are experiencing difficulties and problems in performing their functions effectively and/or improving their career prospects
7. Carry out any other supervisory, directional and diplomatic functions as requested by the Director of the Centre
[Submitted by Stephen Morris, stephen_morris@nps.gov, 202-354-1803]
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.