INCIDENTS

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Grand Canyon National Park (AZ)
Multiple Incidents on South Rim

Between July 29th and August 2nd, South Rim rangers dealt with the following significant incidents, along with numerous medicals, disputes, minor MVA's, alarms and assist calls:

• Credit Card Fraud — A suspect was arrested following a several month long investigation of credit card theft and fraud. A concessions employee reported that her roommate had used several of her credit cards and replaced them in her wallet without her knowledge. Investigation by rangers and a special agent revealed the roommate had charged approximately $1,300 worth of merchandise in the park and in Flagstaff. A warrant was obtained and she was charged with fraud (18 USC 1029 (5)) and theft (18 USC 661).
• Medical — Rangers responded to an unconscious 32-year-old woman with a cardiac and medical history. The patient, responsive only to painful stimulus, was transported by Guardian ambulance to Flagstaff Medical Center.
• Burglary — FTEP ranger John Leonard and his field training ranger and leader responded to a burglary at a park residence. Stereos, a television, a Play Station and numerous CDs and DVDs were stolen. A witness identified a suspect, who had reportedly fled to New Mexico. Leonard, who led the investigation, tracked down his location and convinced him over the phone to return to the park by threatening to call his mother. The man returned to the park and was arrested and charged with theft (18 USC 661).
• Fatality — Rangers responded to an early morning callout for an 80-year-old male visitor in respiratory distress. The barely conscious man was transported to meet an air ambulance by Guardian paramedic ambulance, with a responding ranger assisting. During transport, he became unconscious; he was intubated and rescue breathing was begun. The man went into V-fib, was shocked, then returned to a perfusing rhythm. He died en route on the air ambulance of cardiac arrest. Dale Kissner was IC.
• Fatality — Rangers responded to the apartment of a concessions employee who had failed to show up for work. The 66-year-old man had died in his bed. Due to obvious signs of death, there were no efforts at resuscitation. Death was determined to have been from natural causes. Carmen Ricchiuto was IC.
• Armed Robbery — Rangers responded to an armed robbery at the park's concession-operated RV campground. The victim reported that a man entered the kiosk, held him at knife-point until he gave him the money from his register, then fled on foot. Rangers are investigating.
• Medical — Rangers treated a 40-year-old woman who was experiencing chest pain. She was transported to Flagstaff Medical Center.
• DUI/Domestic Violence — After receiving a report from a park visitor that a woman who was apparently being beaten was attempting to get out of a pickup truck. Rangers stopped the vehicle and arrested the driver for DUI, possession of controlled substance and assault. The woman reported that the driver, her boyfriend, had beaten her up in the campground. She had numerous cuts and bruises on her face.
  
• Assault — Rangers responded to a report of a man who had been standing in front of his residence when an intoxicated male walked up to him and slugged him in the face, breaking his nose. The incident was witnessed several bystanders. No suspect was located. Rangers are investigating.

[Submitted by Karyl Yeston, South Rim Shift Supervisor]

Yosemite National Park (CA)
Rescue from Near Drowning

On Sunday, August 1st, rangers received a report of a man unconscious and underwater at Devils Elbow in the Merced River in Yosemite Valley. When they arrived, they found that F.R., 40, from Van Nuys, California, had been pulled from the water by his two children, ages 10 and 11. Bystanders were performing CPR on him. Advanced life support treatment was started at the scene by rangers and ambulance paramedics. F.R. eventually regained his pulse and respirations. He was taken by ground ambulance to meet a medical helicopter and then flown to Memorial North Hospital in Modesto. F.R. is presently doing well and is expected to be released from the hospital soon.

[Submitted by Leslie Reynolds, Valley Shift Supervisor]

Zion National Park (UT)
Rescue from The Subway

Boy Scout M.L., 14, of Orem, Utah, took a 40-foot tumbling fall while hiking in the park on Friday, August 6th, and sustained numerous but not life threatening injuries. At 11:30 a.m. a park owl researcher working in the Left Fork of North Creek, also known as "The Subway," contacted the Boy Scout group just as M.L. fell. She immediately radioed park dispatch and the search and rescue team was mobilized. A park medic was flown by helicopter to within a half-mile and was on scene by 2:00 p.m. This section of the canyon is 300 feet deep. The safest way to raise M.L. to the top was by using a technique called a "reeve." A 450-foot rope was stretched taut across the top of the canyon. A ranger was lowered the 300 feet from that rope to M.L., who was raised to the top and pulled to the edge of the canyon. He was then carried to the helicopter and flown to a waiting ambulance at 7:00 p.m. and transported to Dixie Regional Medical Center in St. George. Over 20 people were involved in the rescue. The three group leaders had traveled the Subway in the past, but the seven Scouts in the group were spread out ahead of them. Being unfamiliar with the route, they made a wrong turn at a critical junction and descended into the canyon down a steep slope. M.L.'s accident occurred about 40 feet from the bottom. "The Subway" is a narrow canyon in the Kolob Terrace section of the park that has become a popular canyoneering route in recent years. It is a strenuous nine-and-a-half mile hike requiring extensive route finding and technical rope skills. It also requires swimming through several pools of cold, debris-filled water.

[Submitted by Tom Haraden, Public Affairs]

FIRE MANAGEMENT

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NIFC/NPS Fire and Aviation Management
National Fire Situation Highlights — Tuesday, August 10, 2004

Preparedness Level 3

Initial attack was moderate in the Northwest on Monday. Six of the 156 newly-reported fires escaped initial attack and have become large fires.

Very high to extreme fire indices were reported in Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Idaho, Minnesota, Montana, Nevada, Oregon, Utah, Washington and Wyoming.

Weather Forecast

A strong ridge of high pressure will bring hot and dry weather conditions to most of the West. A few thundershowers can be expected over Colorado, Arizona and New Mexico once again. Warm and dry weather is also on tap for the central and eastern interior of Alaska. In the Gulf of Mexico, tropical storm Bonnie is expected to strengthen slightly but stay offshore until Wednesday.

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

{||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	8/9	8/10	% Con	Est Con
CA	State	1	Heil *	Calaveras Complex, Tuolumne-Calaveras Unit	400	4,411	95	8/10
MT	USFS	2	Carlson	Capri Lake Fire, Bitterroot NF	155	155	95	8/11
WA	USFS	2	Furlong/ Gormley	Pot Peak Complex, Okanogan-Wenatchee NF	46,970	49,970	85	UNK
AK	State	2	Jandt	Taylor Highway Complex, Tok Area Forestry	-----	842,402	15	UNK
WA	USFS	2	Jennings/ Perry #	Freezeout Fire, Okanogan-Wenatchee NF	586
AK	BLM	2	Morcom @	Central Complex, Upper Yukon Zone	-----	260,000	NR	UNK
WA	USFS	2	Reed/ Holloway #	Fischer Fire, Okanogan-Wenatchee NF	-----	250	0	UNK
WA	USFS	FU	Bonefeld	Rattlesnake Peak Fire, Okanogan-Wenatchee NF	738	738	N/A	N/A
MN	NPS	FU	Bird	Section 33 Fire, Voyageurs NP	1,409	1,435	N/A	N/A

* CDF Type 1 IMT

# Washington State IMT

@ Team on order

National Resource Commitments

Day	Wed	Thu	Fri	Sat	Sun	Mon	Tue
Date	8/4	8/5	8/6	8/7	8/8	8/9	8/10
Crews	258	154	122	126	131	207	185
Engines	499	365	202	292	321	474	474
Helicopters	108	93	83	74	73	88	101
Air Tankers	2	0	2	2	0	2	2
Overhead	2,379	1,536	1,130	992	847	1,005	1,317

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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Fire and Aviation Management
Updated Fire News Reference Guide Available

You may have recently noticed changes to the Morning Report and InsideNPS Fire Management in the way Fire News is output. There have also been some changes on the input side (located at http://data2.itc.nps.gov/fire/admin)

To help you out we have updated the Fire News Reference Guide, a step-by-step guide to entering information as well as some helpful tips and hints. 

A couple tips from the Reference Guide:

• Avoid using the word "today" in Fire News narratives, but rather use the day of the week or the date, since the reports appear in InsideNPS and the Morning Report the following day.
• Photos for NPS Fire News must be:
  • Saved as a .jpg
  • Approximately 50k (PLEASE do not upload a 1 mb file!)
  • At least 240 pixels wide

[Submitted by Tina Boehle, tina_boehle@nps.gov, 208-387-5875] More Information...

PARKS AND PEOPLE

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Sequoia & Kings Canyon National Parks (CA)
JD Swed Selected As New Chief Ranger

Superintendent Dick Martin is very pleased to announce that he has offered the position of Chief Ranger of Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks to veteran park ranger James D. (JD) Swed. JD is currently Chief Ranger of Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore. He has had a long and distinguished career as a law enforcement ranger at parks in Alaska, Grand Canyon, Yosemite, and elsewhere.

"JD is no stranger to the Sierra Nevada or western parks," said Martin. "He brings his vast experience as a wilderness ranger, park medic, and supervisor to these parks."

JD has accepted the position and he will EOD after October 1, 2004. He is very excited about his new job and bringing his family back to the Sierra Nevada.

"I'm excited about heading back to the Sierra," JD said, "and working with the many challenges Sequoia and Kings Canyon have to offer, including sustaining the values of wilderness and the role of fire in this natural environment. I'm also looking forward to working with the parks staff, neighbors, and other organizations on park issues."
[Submitted by Alexandra Picavet, Public Affairs]

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.