INCIDENTS

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Rocky Mountain National Park (CO)
Memorial Service for Ranger Suzi Roberts To Be Held Monday

A memorial service to celebrate ranger Suzi Robert's life will be held on Monday, September 27th at 1:00 p.m. at the Church of Eternal Hills in Tabernash, Colorado (details appear below). Suzi died on September 14th while attempting to remove rocks on the road in the Kipahulu District of Haleakala National Park on Maui.  She had worked at the park since April as a law enforcement ranger.  She was 36 years old.
Suzi worked in the Colorado River District of Rocky Mountain National Park from 1995 through 2004.  She accepted her first permanent ranger position in Haleakala this past April.  Suzi served in a variety of positions on the westside of Rocky Mountain National Park, including working in the entrance station, as an interpretive ranger and for her last five years at Rocky as a law enforcement ranger.  Suzi was an alpine skier and coach, a lift operator foreman at Winter Park Ski Area, and taught special needs children how to ski.  She obtained an MS in recreation and park administration from the University of Wyoming. Suzi was a cherished and dear friend to many in Grand County and was a great ranger.The family has requested that any donations be sent in her name to: The Student Conservation Association, National Park Program, PO Box 550, Charlestown, NH 03603-0550 or to any national park of your choice in care of the National Park Foundation, 11 Dupont Circle NW, Suite 600, Washington, DC  20036. Cards or remembrances may be sent to: The Roberts Family, c/o Rocky Mountain National Park, PO Box 100, Grand Lake, CO 80447. The memorial service will be held at the Church of Eternal Hills located at 100 Meadows Boulevard in Tabernash, Colorado. The phone number for the church is 970-887-3603. The church is located a mile east of Tabernash off U.S. 40. All uniformed National Park Service employees planning on attending the memorial service should wear the formal winter Class A dress uniform, which includes long sleeve shirt, Class A pants, tie, felt hat and Ike jacket (short jacket). If you don't have this full uniform, then the Class A dress summer uniform or other uniform issued will be appropriate. All employees who plan on wearing a dress uniform are asked to arrive at 11:00 a.m. for a briefing, including a review of proper protocols. All other uniformed NPS employees not wearing a dress uniform should arrive no later than 12:30 p.m. For further information please contact Kyle Patterson, public information officer for Rocky Mountain NP, at 970-586-1363.

Eastern Areas
Update on Hurricane Ivan Recovery Operations

Today's updates on Hurricane Ivan recovery operations follows:

Gulf Islands NS — The employee assistance program continues to operate as a function of the incident management team and progress is being made in meeting the needs of employees who have been impacted by the storm. Eastern National has established a donation account and contributed $10,000 of seed money. A critical incident stress team, headed by Jay Lippert of Fire Island NS, arrived yesterday. On Wednesday, significant progress was made cleaning up the garbage and hazardous materials around the visitor center and clearing the crew camps around the incident command area. Twenty-four hour security is being provided at headquarters and Naval Live Oaks area by NPS personnel. The Florida Game and Fish Commission is patrolling the region by helicopter and has made a few arrests for looting and violations on NPS property. Damage assessments on Santa Rosa Island and the Fort Pickens area continue, although many buildings are still too unsafe to enter for detailed assessments. The curatorial storage space, interpretive and law enforcement offices, museum, visitor center, and cooperating association sales area are heavily damaged.  Among the ordered resources are carpenters, electricians, mechanics, civil engineers and more law enforcement personnel to provide security. Southeast Regional Director Pat Hooks and other regional staff visited the park on Thursday for a first-hand look at the impacts of Hurricane Ivan. Cleanup work in the headquarters and Naval Live Oaks Visitor Center area continued, and all electronics and computer equipment in that area should be secured by today. Cleanup will continue indefinitely, but on Friday some people assigned to the incident will shift their focus to initial work on structures in the Fort Pickens area of Santa Rosa Island. The building housing curatorial collections and those structures with roof damage will take first priority.

Carl Sandburg Home NHS — A detailed assessment of damage to the park has been conducted. The park's cultural landscape, as shown in the photo above, sustained significant damage. The historic area — the park entrance/historic drive around the main house and barnyard through the back service drive — had 87 large trees along it uprooted or permanently damaged. The trails throughout the park are showing a proportional number of trees uprooted or damaged. In addition, fence lines, rock walls, and one barn accessory building (the chicken house) sustained damage of varying degrees. On Saturday morning, a portion of the site will reopen and visitors will have access to the visitor parking lot, the main house, and the barnyard. Portions of the core historic district, in particular the front historic drive, and all park trails will remain closed.  The entire park team has been working on this initial reopening effort and tomorrow that effort will be supplemented with park volunteers and a new volunteer team from Lowe's Home Improvement Warehouse Store in Hendersonville, North Carolina.  The park extends a special thanks to its "remote team" in the Southeast Regional Office for their assistance.

Blue Ridge Parkway — Storm clean-up continues and the Blue Ridge Parkway between Little Switzerland and NC Highway 80 reopened yesterday afternoon. The parkway is now open

• from milepost 0 to 317 at US 221/Linville Falls,
• from mile 325 just north of Spruce Pine (NC 226) to mile 344 at NC 80,
• from mile 375 at Ox Creek just north of Asheville to mile 412 (US 276), and
• from 443 at US 23/74 near Waynesville to mile 469 at Cherokee. 

The contracted removal of the rockslide at mile 413 will begin on Monday.  Access to the Shining Rock Wilderness Area is not available from the parkway. The 20-mile section between Mt. Mitchell State Park and Ox Creek is expected to reopen in about a week.  Road status is updated daily on the park's information line at 828-298-0398. Additional facilities also reopened yesterday or will open today. These include most loops in the Price Park campground and the nearby picnic area, and the Mt. Pisgah campground. The campground at Crabtree Meadows remains closed, although the concessioner-operated gift shop and camp store should reopen by Saturday. Much of the water line at the Linville Falls campground has been replaced or repaired and this facility may reopen next week. Other facilities at Linville Falls sustained major damage and will not reopen this year. Those who have questions about reservations or refunds for Price Park or Linville Falls campground should contact ReserveUSA at www.ReserveUSA.com or call 877-444-6777. The popular Boone Fork and Price Lake trails at Price Memorial Park suffered significant storm damage, including the loss of two footbridges, and are closed. It is unlikely that additional openings will occur before next week.  Updates will be issued as needed

Delaware Water Gap NRA — Road and river closures stemming from last weekend's rain and flooding continued yesterday. Here's a summary of the status of park facilities: 

• Brodhead Road — Although this road is not owned by the park (it is a township road), it provides primary access to Route 209 from SR 2001. It remains closed.
• Big Egypt Road — This unpaved road also provides access from SR 2001 to Route 209. It was seriously eroded and is closed.
• Tom's Creek Road — The road is not owned by the park, but runs from Route 209 to a picnic area and back to Route 209. The creek washed out most of the bridge, so the northern leg of this road will be closed indefinitely.
• River Road — The road remains closed from just north of Shawnee to park headquarters until cleanup can be completed. Zion Road, a dirt road which runs into River Road, is closed at Mosier's Knob Road for the same reason.
• Old Mine Road — This road is closed in two places — a short segment from Kuhn Road to Pompey Ridge Road (southwest of Peters Valley) and a longer segment from Millbrook Village to Worthington State Forest. The former is closed due to super-saturation of its dirt surface, the latter due to a need to cleanup debris and reopen associated recreational sites.
• Dingmans Falls Visitor Center — The center weathered the storm in good condition, but the access road was damaged and footbridges on the boardwalk to the falls require cleaning and repair.
• Kittatinny Point Visitor Center — The visitor center remains closed. It was essentially an island during the peak of the flooding and needs substantial rehabilitation, as do the grounds, parking lot and access road. Ramps to Kittatinny Point from I-80 remain closed.
• Millbrook Village — The village is closed, but the grounds remain open.
• Watergate Recreation Site — This picnic area remains closed until cleaned and rehabilitated.
• Childs Park — This unit of the park, located off Silver Lake Road, was seriously damaged, with two bridges lost and trails washed out. It will remain closed until rehabilitated.
• McDade Recreational Trail — The trail is closed due to overwash, erosion and downed trees.

The river corridor — the river and all access points and beaches — also remains closed due to safety concerns and access problems.
Reports from Peter Givens, IO, Incident Management Team, GUIS; Connie Backlund, Superintendent, CARL; Bill Halainen, IO, Incident Management Team, DEWA; Phil Noblitt, PIO, BLRI.

Southeast Region
Return of Hurricane Jeanne

Preparations for Hurricane Jeanne, thought to have wandered off for good, have begun in earnest. In case you're wondering when this busy storm season is going to let up, keep in mind the admonishment at the top of the Florida Division of Emergency Management web site (http://www.floridadisaster.org/) — just 68 days until the end of hurricane season.

Biscayne NP — Hurricane Jeanne could be a threat to the park by Sunday. The park's incident management team has decided that a full shutdown will be implemented in accordance with the park's hurricane plan, beginning at 7 a.m. this morning.

Fort Fredericka NM — Preparations have begun for Jeanne. Most staff will be putting up storm shutters today and cleaning up the area. Motel reservations have been made for all interested staff and families in Waycross, beginning Sunday night. These will be adjusted as needed, depending on the hurricane's speed and path. Tentative plans are to keep the area open through tomorrow, with possible closing on Sunday. Meanwhile, park maintenance crews are continuing the cleanup from Frances. Over 87 cubic yards of material have been trailered to Glynn County drop-off site on St. Simons Island for eventual disposal by the county. Four huge trees — nearly 36 inches d.b.h. and 100 feet high — have provided saw crews with lots of work, aggravated by the mosquitoes that have infested the area due to the saturated ground and pooled water.

From reports by Ken Garvin, FMO, SERO; Gary Bremen, Park Ranger, BISC; Mike Tennent, Superintendent, FOFR.

Lake Mead National Recreation Area (AZ,NV)
Burglary Arrests, Indictments

On July 13th, Seven Crowns Resort, which is located at Temple Bar in Arizona, reported a burglary of the resort's administrative office and concession safe. Cash and checks worth about $24,000 were reportedly stolen. Investigating rangers and agents identified four concession employees as suspects. A search warrant was executed on two of the suspects' motor home in Temple Bar and cash believed to have been stolen in the burglary was recovered. All four were indicted by a county grand jury — three on charges of burglary, grand theft and possession of stolen property, and the fourth on possession of stolen property. About $8,0000 in cash believed stolen in the burglary has so far been recovered.
[Submitted by Scott Hinson, Special Agent]

Hot Springs National Park (AR)
Accidental Drowning

On the morning of Sunday, September 5th, the city's dispatch center notified the park that a body had been found in Whittington Creek within the park. The FBI was notified, and they dispatched their rapid response evidence team. A joint investigation by the park, FBI and Hot Springs PD was begun. The victim was identified as J.B., 45, of Hot Springs. He was found lying face down in about a foot of water; there was no evidence of foul play. J.B. had shared a residence with a woman near the spot where he was found. Officers interviewed her and found that the pair had had a fight early the previous evening and that she'd essentially kicked him out. J.B. was taking a prescription medication for depression and had consumed between 10 to 12 cans of beer in her presence. This was not the first such fight that they'd had. Rangers had contacted J.B. around 11 p.m. on Saturday night along the Grand Promenade regarding a closure violation. He appeared coherent and was cooperative, so rangers allowed him to leave the area on foot. The FBI and coroner found a prescription bottle for benzodiazepine on his person, with about half the pills missing. When ingested with a large amount of alcohol, such a mixture would have normally been extremely debilitating. Whittington Creek is contained within a manmade stone channel at the point where the death occurred. The channel is made of stone blocks with many sharp edges. Investigators believe that J.B. was severely impaired, lost his balance, fell into the creek and drowned.

[Submitted by Stephen Rudd, Chief, Visitor Protection and Resource Management]

Great Smoky Mountains National Park
Motorcycle Accident with Two Fatalities

Rangers responded to a serious motorcycle accident with two fatalities on the Newfound Gap Road (U.S. 441) in North Carolina on the afternoon of Sunday, September 12th. The victims were M.G., 29, of Hickory, North Carolina, and L.S. of Morganton, North Carolina. M.G., who was attending the annual Cherokee Survivors 2004 Motorcycle Rally and Concert, was the driver of a 1999 Kawasaki motorcycle and L.S. was a passenger on the motorcycle. M.G. was heading north on Newfound Gap Road when he lost control of the motorcycle and failed to negotiate a curve. The two were killed instantly when the motorcycle crossed the center line, slid into oncoming traffic and were struck by a 1998 Plymouth minivan traveling south. Preliminary investigation indicated that M.G. was traveling at a high rate of speed when he veered into the opposite lane. The van that M.G.'s motorcycle hit had six passengers on board, but only one received minor injuries. The Swain County medical examiner pronounced the two dead at the scene. The road closed shortly after the accident and remained closed for four hours. The case ranger is Joe Pond.[Submitted by Chief Rangers Office]

Ross Lake National Recreation Area (WA)
Fatal Motorcycle Accident

A 49-year-old woman from Burlington, Washington, died on September 4th as a result of injuries sustained in a motorcycle accident in Ross Lake NRA. The woman was heading west on Highway 20 on her 1997 Suzuki motorcycle when she lost control of it on a sharp corner. The bike went off the road and she was thrown off. She was pronounced dead at the scene. A joint investigation was conducted with the Washington State Patrol and the Whatcom County Sheriff's Office.
[Submitted by Pete Cowan, Chief Ranger, North Cascades NP]

FIRE MANAGEMENT

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NIFC/NPS Fire and Aviation Management
National Fire Situation Highlights — Friday, September 24, 2004

Preparedness Level 2

There was a bit more fire activity yesterday than earlier in the week (229 new fires), but initial attack still remains relatively light. Two new large fires were reported; one other large fire was contained. Very high to extreme fire indices were reported yesterday in Arizona, California, Nebraska and Nevada.

Weather Forecast

High pressure will continue to build today over the intermountain west. This will lead to warm and dry conditions through much of the west, with the exception of a few afternoon showers over the higher elevations of central Idaho and western Montana. Hurricane Jeanne is off the Florida coast and is expected to continue on its westward path toward the United States mainland. Landfall is possible this Sunday.

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/Incident and Location	9/23	9/24	% Con	Est Con
FL	FEMA	ACT	Ribar	Hurricanes Frances/Ivan, Orlando	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A
GA	FEMA	ACT	Williams-Rhodes	Hurricane Ivan, Atlanta	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A
FL	FEMA	T1	Anderson	Hurricane Ivan, Milton	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A
FL	FEMA	T1	Bennett	Hurricane Ivan, Saufley Field NAS	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A
FL	FEMA	T1	Ferguson	Hurricane Ivan, Eglin AFB	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A
GA	FEMA	T1	Kearney	Hurricane Jeanne, Marietta	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A
AL	FEMA	T1	Lohrey	Hurricane Ivan, Baldwin County	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A
AL	FEMA	T1	Sexton	Hurricanes Frances/Ivan, Maxwell AFB	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A
FL	FEMA	T1	Vail	Hurricanes Frances/Ivan, Orlando	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A
AL	FEMA	T1	Wilcock	Hurricane Ivan, Escambia County	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A
FL	FEMA	T2 #	Beauchamp	Hurricane Ivan	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A
FL	FEMA	T2 #	Hill	Hurricane Ivan	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A
FL	FEMA	T2 @	Houseman	Hurricane Ivan, NAS Jacksonville	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A
FL	FEMA	T2 #	Jones	Hurricane Ivan	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A
FL	FEMA	T2 #	Koehler	Hurricane Ivan, Lakeland	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A
CA	USFS	T2	Smith	Freds Fire, Los Padres NF	------	850	36	9/30

@ North Carolina state team

# Florida state team

National Resource Commitments

Day	Sat	Sun	Mon	Tue	Wed	Thu	Fri
Date	9/18	9/19	9/20	9/21	9/22	9/23	9/24
Crews	48	37	11	7	38	20	43
Engines	69	58	40	19	13	12	60
Helicopters	17	8	6	7	6	4	7
Air Tankers	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Overhead	290	609	76	94	854	659	677

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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Eastern National
Hurricane Ivan Relief Fund Established for NPS Employees

A relief fund has been established to assist NPS employees who have experienced catastrophic loss or damage from Hurricane Ivan.

Many NPS employees, primarily at Gulf Islands NS, have had severe damage to their homes and several have lost their homes. Others have lost all of their personal belongings, including automobiles. All basic needs such as water, electricity, and phone access have been cut off.

"Employees and their families are in need of whatever assistance others can give," said Peter Givens, information officer for the incident management team working at the park."Those who still have transportation spend their time outside of established curfews standing in lines at distribution centers to receive ice, water and snacks. At home, employees scramble to find temporary housing, repair their roofs and just take care of basic needs. All are still trying to come to grips with the forever-changed landscape of the region they love and work in."

"Eastern National has been a long term partner of the NPS, and wants to do whatever we can to support the NPS family in their time of need," said Eastern National board chair Melody Webb. "The board has therefore established The Hurricane Ivan Relief Fund to provide support to NPS family members who have been significantly affected by the storm."

A portion of the donated funds will be set aside for immediate aid, which will help restore basic, daily needs, such as food, water and temporary housing. Another portion of the donated funds will go toward long-term aid, which will help replace or repair larger items that will not be covered by loans or federal grants. To be eligible, the NPS employee must be currently employed by the NPS and must have experienced catastrophic loss or damage from Hurricane Ivan.

NPS employees who would like to apply for aid should contact Eastern National. Eastern National will respond to these requests as they are received. Requests for immediate funds will be processed generally within 24 hours. Those with the greatest need will have priority. An application process has been established for larger requests. An independent committee will review applications and disperse funds.

Your assistance is needed! Please help members of the NPS family by making a donation to the Hurricane Ivan Relief Fund.

Checks can be made payable to Eastern National and sent to:

Eastern National
Hurricane Ivan Relief Fund
470 Maryland Drive, Suite 1
Fort Washington, PA 19034

Please direct questions on this fund (applications or donations) to Jack Ryan or Chesley Moroz at 215-283-6900.

Eastern National is a non-profit organization that provides quality educational products and services to the visitors to America's national parks and other public trusts. Eastern National operates educational outlets in over 150 national parks and public lands in 30 states. Since 1947, Eastern National has donated over $70 million to the National Park Service.

For more information, visit www.easternnational.org and www.eParks.com.

Law Enforcement and Emergency Services
Retired Commission Shields

As of September, the retired law enforcement commission shield program has been transferred to FLETC, under the direction of the Division of Law Enforcement and Emergency Services, WASO.  

The policy and application procedure remains the same.  Parks wishing to acquire retired shields must fill out the application form (click on "More Information" below).  Park ranger shields must be approved by the park chief ranger, then forwarded and approved by the regional chief ranger or regional law enforcement specialist, who will forward it to FLETC for processing.  For special agents, the request will come from the regional SAC or the national SAC.

The cost remains $60 and an account number from the park must be included on the application form.  Please contact JJ Martin at 912-267-3554 for further information.

[Submitted by Don Coelho] 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.