INCIDENTS

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Sequoia & Kings Canyon National Parks (CA)
Passing of Arrowheat Hotshot Firefighter Dan Holmes

Arrowhead Hotshot crewmember Daniel Holmes, 26, of  Bellingham, Washington, was killed on Saturday when he was hit by a falling dead tree on the Grant West Prescribed Fire in Kings Canyon National Park.

Born on January 16, 1978 in Springfield, Massachusetts, Dan was the son of R.E.H., Jr. and D.J.B.. Dan, his mother, and his brother M. moved to Rochester, New Hampshire, in 1984. Dan grew up in Rochester, graduating from Spaulding High School in 1996.  An athlete all of his life, Dan played Babe Ruth baseball and later excelled as a varsity hockey and football player at Spaulding.

In addition to his love of athletics, Dan grew up enamored with everything related to the outdoors. He appreciated every aspect of wilderness, whether as an athlete snowboarding, mountaineering, and climbing or in his academic pursuits in which he went on to graduate from Johnson State College with a BA in environmental science. 

In recent years, Dan accomplished many a boy's dream by combining his outdoor adventures with his passion to protect the environment by becoming a ranger with the National Park Service.  He sought the wild natural areas of the West to begin this latest chapter in his life, beginning his career at Mt. Rainier. He spent several years there, first volunteering as a backcountry ranger, then being hire to work on trail crews and serve as a wildland firefighter. 

Dan became skilled at firefighting as his experience grew in the massive fires in the West. In 2003, he was selected to become a member of the National Park Service Arrowhead Hotshots, a crew which only selects the best of the best for fighting fires. Dan was with the crew when a large tree unexpectedly broke off during a firing operation and ended his too brief life. He will be sadly missed by his many friends and colleagues.

Members of his family include his mother, D.J.B. of Rochester; his father, R.E.H. of Westville Massachusetts; and his brother, M.H. of Tampa, Florida. He is also survived by his girlfriend, J.S., of Bellingham.

Donations may be made in lieu of flowers to the Sierra Club or to the Wildland Firefighters Foundation in Boise, Idaho. For information on the former, go to https://ww2. sierraclub.org/membership/donate/ and click on "Commemorative and Memorial Gifts" on the left side of the page; for information on the latter, go to  http://wffoundation.org/default.asp?page_id=1&parent_id=0) and click on "Donations."

Calling hours will be from 6 to 9 p.m. this Wednesday at the R.M. Edgerly & Son Funeral Home, 86 South Main Street, Rochester NH 03867.

Funeral services will be held on Thursday at 10 a.m. at the First United Methodist Church, 34 South Main Street, Rochester. Firefighters, rangers and others arriving in marked vehicles need to assemble at the Edgerly Funeral Home parking lot by 9 a.m. on Thursday for the short walk or motorcade to the church. Winter dress uniforms or clean and pressed firefighters uniforms should be worn. A reception with the family will follow the service.

For more on the Arrowhead Hotshots and a tribute to Dan, please go to http://www.arrowheadhotshots. org/. 

NOTE: Please check InsideNPS later this morning or early afternoon for guidance from the NPS and Department of Interior on protocols regarding lowering of flags and the wearing of black bands on badges.
[Submitted by Pat Buccello, Visitor and Resource Protection, WASO]

Mount Rainier National Park (WA)
Climbers Rescued

A group of seven military service members from Fort Lewis Army Base in Washington began a hike up Knapsack Pass in the Mowich Lake area at 6 p.m. on Saturday, October 2nd.

Two members of the party decided to reach the summit by climbing a rock face south of the pass. While on their way up, one of them fell about 60 feet to the talus slope below him and rolled another 100 feet down the slope. He sustained head, back and neck injuries. His partner became stranded on the rock face.

Another member of the group hiked back to Mowich Lake and called dispatch to summon help. Rangers joined him and were lead back to the scene of the incident. They stabilized the injured 19-year-old with the assistance of an Army medic who had been lowered to the scene; the victim was then flown to Harborview Hospital by a MAST helicopter from Fort Lewis.

Rangers next turned their attention to the stranded climber, who was perched on a small ledge/overhang, dressed in only a t-shirt, shorts and sneakers on a night when temperatures were forecast to drop into the high 30s or low 40s. Rangers climbed to his location, set up an anchor station, and lowered him to safety in the dark using headlamps. He and the rest of his party were escorted to Mowich Lake trailhead.

None of the members of the group was properly equipped for hiking or climbing — they had no overnight provisions, no first aid kits, and no climbing gear — and none had any climbing experience.
The IC for the rescue was Paige Ritterbusch; participating were rangers Jim Hull, Molly Burns, Scott Bagocious, Geoff Walker and Uwe Nehring and VIP's Tim Osburn, Cheryl Chillman, Tyler Chillman and Tyson Nehring.[Submitted by Uwe Nehring]

Lake Mead National Recreation Area (AZ,NV)
Drowning in Placer Cove

On Saturday, September 18th, rangers checked out a report of a possible drowning at Placer Cove.

A family member and bystanders reported that a 24-year-old man attempted to swim across the cove and back, but began to struggle on the return leg. He was not wearing a lifejacket. Another visitor tried to reach him and hold him up, but was not successful.

Divers arrived on scene and found the body near the point where he was last seen. This was the ninth drowning and eighteenth overall fatality in the park this year.

Rangers urge all visitors to wear lifejackets when participating in any kind of water activity.[Submitted by Mary Hinson, Acting Deputy Chief Ranger]

FIRE MANAGEMENT

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NIFC/NPS Fire and Aviation Management
National Fire Situation Highlights — Tuesday, October 5, 2004

Preparedness Level 2

NIFC reports 102 new starts on Monday, one of which became a large fire.

Very high to extreme fire indices were reported in Arizona, California, Montana, Nebraska and Wyoming.

Weather Forecast

High pressure will continue to bring warm and dry conditions over much of the interior West today. Some thunderstorms will once again occur in the afternoon heating over Colorado, New Mexico and northern Texas. Late in the evening, a front will approach the Pacific Northwest. This will bring a chance of showers to the Washington Cascades overnight.

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	10/4	10/5	% Con	Est Con
FL	FEMA	ACT	Zimmer	Hurricane Response, Orlando	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A
FL	FEMA	T1	Frye	Hurricane Response, NAS Jacksonville	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A
FL	FEMA	T1	Hart	Hurricane Response, Saufley Field NAS	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A
FL	FEMA	T1	Kearney	Hurricane Response, Martin County	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A
FL	FEMA	T2 @	Jones	Hurricane Recovery, Polk County	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A
AL	FEMA	T2	Mullenix	Hurricane Response, Brewton	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A
FL	NPS	T2	Wissinger	Hurricane Response, Gulf Islands NS	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A

@ Florida state team

National Resource Commitments

Day	Wed	Thu	Fri	Sat	Sun	Mon	Tue
Date	9/29	9/30	10/1	10/2	10/3	10/4	10/5
Crews	42	32	31	8	14	17	16
Engines	56	46	24	11	12	2	30
Helicopters	14	12	14	6	3	3	6
Air Tankers	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Overhead	777	874	844	3 *	618	625	586

* Actual number from report.

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

PARKS AND PEOPLE

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Intermountain Region
R. David Vela Named Superintendent of Lyndon B. Johnson NHP

R. David Vela, a 13-year veteran of the National Park Service (NPS) has been named Superintendent of Lyndon B. Johnson National Historical Park according to Intermountain Regional Director Steve Martin.  He will begin his new duties on October 4, 2004.  Vela will also continue to serve as Texas State Coordinator for the Intermountain Region. 

"David brings a passion for parks and years of experience in building relationships and in enhancing partnerships with gateway communities, government agencies, and strategic partners," said Martin.  "These qualities make him an excellent choice for the position."

Vela succeeds Leslie Starr Hart, who will continue to work collaboratively with other Johnson-related properties and sites in an effort to expand partnership opportunities within the NPS. 

"I am deeply honored to serve as the eighth superintendent of LBJ National Historical Park and look forward to working with Mrs. Johnson and family, the park's dedicated staff, local constituents, and partners," remarked Vela. 

A native of Wharton, Texas, Vela began his career with the National Park Service in 1981 as a Cooperative Education Student at San Antonio Missions National Historical Park, and later served as a permanent Park Ranger upon completion of the program.  He transferred to Appomattox Court House National Historical Park in 1984 to serve as a Supervisory Park Ranger.  In 1986, he moved to Independence National Historical Park where he served as a District Ranger.

Vela resigned from the National Park Service and from 1987 to 1998, worked as a Special Agent with the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services, Office of Inspector General, performing white-collar criminal investigations in New York and New Jersey.  He also served as a Special Assistant for Hispanic Affairs to the late U.S. Congressman Mickey Leland; worked as a Federal Investigator with the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, and was appointed as the Director of the State's Child Support Program by the Attorney General of Texas in 1996.  As Director, he was responsible for a statewide operation consisting of over 70 field offices with 2,400 employees. 

Vela returned to the National Park Service in 1998 as the Superintendent of Palo Alto Battlefield National Historic Site located in Brownsville, Texas.  In 2002, he was appointed as Texas State Coordinator for the Intermountain Region.  He also performed detail assignments in the Office of the Director for the National Park Service and as Acting Deputy Regional Director for the Southeast Region.

Vela holds a Bachelor of Science Degree in Recreation and Parks from Texas A&M University.  He is the recipient of numerous awards including a Distinguished Service Award in 1998 from the Federal Commissioner of Child Support Enforcement for "Outstanding Contributions to our Nation's Children," the Intermountain Region's "Pinnacle Award" in 2002 for "Outstanding Leadership in Service to America's Heritage," and a Departmental "Superior Service" Award in 2003.  Vela was recently selected as a candidate to attend the U.S. Department of the Interior Senior Executive Service Candidate Development Program. 

Vela is married to his high school sweetheart, Melissa — they have two children, Christina (attending Texas A&M University) and son, Anthony.
[Submitted by Patricia Turley, patricia_turley@nps.gov, 505-988-6745]

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.