Southeast Region
Exit Frances, Enter Ivan
As parks in Florida and Georgia continue to clean up from Hurricane Frances, they're keeping a weather eye on Hurricane Ivan — characterized by the National Hurricane Center as "an extremely dangerous Category 5 hurricane" with maximum sustained winds of nearly 160 mph and a barometric pressure of 27.20 — lower than Hurricane Andrew and eclipsed only by Hurricane Camille (1969) and the Florida Keys Labor Day Hurricane (1935).
Meanwhile, parks along the Appalachians — particularly Blue Ridge Parkway — have been dealing with the deluge brought by the remnants of Frances. According to USGS, rainfall amounts of from 8 to 16 inches have been reported from western North Carolina (Phil Noblitt from Blue Ridge Parkway reports that the suburb of Asheville where he lives received 17 inches of rain in 36 hours). North Carolina DOT reports that more than 90 primary and secondary roads were impassable yesterday due to high water, and that I-40 was restricted in both directions due to a mud slide. Stream flows are very high in the area, some at hundred year levels.
Here are today's reports, beginning with the hardest hit area and moving south:
Blue Ridge Parkway — A half-dozen rockslides have severely damaged and forced the closure of sections of the Blue Ridge Parkway in western North Carolina. A number of visitor facilities along the length of the 469-mile scenic road have also been temporarily closed by wind, power outages and flood from the remnants of Hurricane Frances. Damage is less extensive along the Virginia portion of the parkway, and its hoped that it will be possible to reopen most visitor facilities today. The rockslides could force extended detours, however, while debris is removed and the destroyed road sections are reconstructed. In addition, the flooding Linville River extensively damaged the small visitor center at Linville Falls. Preliminary estimates of damage to the road and visitor facilities is $6 million. As of 5 p.m. Wednesday, the parkway in Virginia and most campgrounds, excluding Otter Creek, were open, as were the lodges and restaurants at Peaks of Otter and Doughton Park. The Pisgah Inn and restaurant are expected to reopen today. Most of the 13 visitor contact centers in North Carolina and Virginia were closed Wednesday because of power outages, the flooding at Linville Falls and flooding in the basement of historic Flat Top Manor at the Moses H. Cone Memorial Park. Most will reopen today if conditions permit. Road closures are as follows: Mile 317—331 between Linville Falls and Spruce Pine; mile 344-375 from NC Highway 80 to Ox Creek; and mile 393-443 between NC 191 near Asheville and Balsam Gap at Waynesville. Rockslides are at mileposts 322, 345, 348,349, 413 and 429. Most of those between mile 322 and 349 took out portions of the motor road, and this segment of the parkway, from just south of Linville Falls to south of Buck Creek Gap at NC 80 near Marion, may be closed for up to a year. The slides at 413 and 429 are also extensive but do not appear to have damaged the road's supporting structure significantly. Detour routes will be announced and posted. Full engineering assessments will be made early next week and road repair begun shortly thereafter.
Great Smoky Mountains NP — Although the park received above normal precipitation during Frances' passage (for example, over 4 inches at Newfound Gap), no serious damage has been reported. One small slide was found and cleared and a few downed trees and scattered debris have been removed. Most facilities that were temporarily closed due to potential impacts from the storm have reopened. Still closed are Balsam Mountain Road, Straightfork Road and Mount Sterling Gap Road (from Cataloochee to Big Creek) in North Carolina, and Rich Mountain Road and part of Cades Cove campground in Tennessee.
Cumberland Island NS — The park should be back to normal by today. Power has been restored to both the island and the mainland. The main road has been cleared as far as Plum Orchard. A preliminary damage assessment has been completed, and it appears that the park is in good shape. The mainland dock was damaged, but is still usable, and several small boats were also damaged.
Timucuan E&HP/Fort Caroline NM — All public use areas are closed to visitation. Water service has been reestablished to Fort Caroline, but power remains out both there and at Kingsley. Local power company crews spent many hours on Tuesday clearing downed trees and limbs on the power lines on Fort George Island, and it appeared that power might be back by today/ Power liens are still down at the entrance to Spanish Pond. Crews are clearing debris and dropping and bucking downed trees. Damage assessments are underway.
Castillo de San Marcos NM/Fort Matanzas NM — Power has been restored to Castillo, but some circuits are still tripping out breakers. Cleanup there is about 75% complete. Fort Matanzas has no power; cleanup of the site is about 60% complete. Some trees will require professional tree crews, which are in short supply at the moment. Neither site is yet open.
DeSoto NM — The park is fully open for business. Through its partnership with the Manatee County park system, the park was able to obtain assistance from their rangers and from a county inmate work crew. This assistance saved the park from having to hire a tree service or bring in a crew from a neighboring NPS site. The park phone system has also been restored.
Big Cypress NP — The park's backcountry was reopened to ORV's and hunting on Wednesday morning. The park is watching Hurricane Ivan's movements closely and future closures may be necessary. People accessing the backcountry have been advised to keep an eye on the weather and monitor conditions on a regular basis.
Biscayne NP — The park's hurricane incident management team met on Tuesday to discuss possible preparations for Hurricane Ivan. Most shutters installed for Frances have been left in place, and most of the boats that were moved have not yet been brought back.
Everglades NP — The park is open, but, as with Biscayne, hurricane shutters are being left in place until its clear which way Ivan is going.
Based on reports from Ken Garvin, SERO; Bob DeGross, BICY; Brian
Loadholtz, TIMU; Gary Bremen, BISC; Jerre Brumbelow, CUIS; Gordon
Wilson, CASA/FOMA; Charlie Fenwick, DESO; Phil Noblitt, BLRI; Nancy
Gray, GRSM; Jeanne Robbins, USGS
Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument (AZ)
Follow-up on Eggle Homicide
The sentencing hearing for D.R.-L., who was arrested
on August 9, 2002 in connection
with the murder of ranger Kristopher Eggle, has been rescheduled from
September 13th to October 21st. The hearing will be held in U.S.
District Court in Tucson, Arizona.
[Submitted by Susan Morton,
Special Agent]
FIRE MANAGEMENT
NIFC/NPS Fire and Aviation Management
National Fire Situation Highlights — Thursday, September 9, 2004
Preparedness Level 2
Initial attack was light again on Wednesday. Eighty-nine new fires were reported; only three became large fires. Two other large fires were contained.
Very high to extreme fire indices were reported yesterday in Alaska, Arizona, California, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, Utah and Wyoming.
Weather Forecast
High pressure will keep much of the West in clear and warm conditions through the day. Temperatures will again push up well above normal, especially in southern California. Also, the remnants of hurricane Frances will move into the New England States, causing heavy rains. In Alaska, conditions will remain seasonable and dry. Hurricane Ivan will approach the southeast coast of Jamaica overnight tonight.
Warnings and Watches
A FIRE WEATHER WATCH has been issued today for winds and low relative humidity for parts of far northwestern 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
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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/Incident and Location |
9/8 |
9/9 |
% Con |
Est Con |
|
FL |
FEMA |
ACT |
Mann |
Hurricane Frances, Orlando |
N/A |
N/A |
N/A |
N/A |
|
FL |
FEMA |
T1 |
Kearney |
Hurricane Frances, NAS Jacksonville |
N/A |
N/A |
N/A |
N/A |
|
FL |
FEMA |
T1 |
McCombs |
Hurricane Frances, Atlanta, GA |
N/A |
N/A |
N/A |
N/A |
|
FL |
FEMA |
T1 |
Oltrogge |
Hurricane Frances, West Palm Beach |
N/A |
N/A |
N/A |
N/A |
|
FL |
FEMA |
T1 |
Studebaker |
Hurricane Frances, Lakeland |
N/A |
N/A |
N/A |
N/A |
|
FL |
FEMA |
T1 |
Vail |
Hurricane Frances, Homestead |
N/A |
N/A |
N/A |
N/A |
|
FL |
FEMA |
T1 |
Whitney |
Hurricane Frances, Ocala |
N/A |
N/A |
N/A |
N/A |
|
CA |
State |
T1 |
Streblow * |
Geysers Fire, Sonoma-Lake Napa Unit |
12,525 |
12,525 |
100 |
CND |
|
FL |
FEMA |
2 |
Beauchamp # |
Hurricane Frances, Indian River County |
N/A |
N/A |
N/A |
N/A |
|
FL |
FEMA |
2 |
Crane # |
Hurricane Frances, St. Lucie County |
N/A |
N/A |
N/A |
N/A |
|
FL |
FEMA |
2 |
Graham # |
Hurricane Frances, Okeechobee County |
N/A |
N/A |
N/A |
N/A |
|
FL |
FEMA |
2 |
Hill # |
Hurricane Frances, Martin County |
N/A |
N/A |
N/A |
N/A |
|
FL |
FEMA |
2 |
Jones # |
Hurricane Frances, Orlando |
N/A |
N/A |
N/A |
N/A |
|
FL |
FEMA |
2 |
Kline @ |
Hurricane Frances, Lakeland |
N/A |
N/A |
N/A |
N/A |
|
AK |
State |
2 |
Blume |
Camp Creek Fire, Delta Area |
175,315 |
175,315 |
65 |
9/30 |
|
AK |
State |
2 |
Kurth |
Taylor Highway Complex, Tok Area Forestry |
1,305,252 |
1,305,252 |
NR |
10/1 |
|
CA |
USFS |
2 |
Rios |
Trimmer Fire, Sierra NF |
------ |
125 |
90 |
9/9 |
|
CA |
USFS |
2 |
Walker |
Runway Fire, San Bernadino NF |
650 |
1,007 |
65 |
9/9 |
|
CA |
NPS |
FUM |
Weldon |
Bluff Fire, Lassen Volcanic NP |
2,250 |
2,628 |
N/A |
N/A |
* California state team
# Florida state team
@ Georgia state team
National Resource Commitments
| Day |
Fri |
Sat |
Sun |
Mon |
Tue |
Wed |
Thu |
|
Date |
9/3 |
9/4 |
9/5 |
9/6 |
9/7 |
9/8 |
9/9 |
|
|
|||||||
|
Crews |
106 |
152 |
164 |
169 |
139 |
152 |
144 |
|
Engines |
270 |
276 |
368 |
371 |
287 |
335 |
350 |
|
Helicopters |
47 |
39 |
55 |
64 |
47 |
49 |
51 |
|
Air Tankers |
0 |
0 |
1 |
2 |
1 |
2 |
2 |
|
Overhead |
576 |
762 |
971 |
1,074 |
866 |
851 |
733 |
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
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.