INCIDENTS

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Jean Lafitte National Historical Park and Preserve (LA)
Two Die in Commercial Airboat Accident

On the afternoon of Saturday, October 2nd, the Jefferson Parish Sheriff's Office broadcast a report that a commercial swamp tour airboat carrying 16 passengers had flipped over in Barataria Preserve within the park. Initial reports were that one passenger was missing and that several others had sustained serious injuries, including one person who was undergoing CPR. The injured were in route from the accident site back to the tour company launch. 

Ranger Leigh Zahm was the first on scene and met two returning boats with nine injured and eight others onboard. Zahm assisted in providing triage, basic life support and CPR, employing the park's AED in resuscitation efforts. Volunteer firefighters and four ambulances arrived to assist. Two injured parties were flown to a local trauma center, where both subsequently died.

Because the accident involved a commercial tour boat, the Coast Guard is the lead investigative agency. Other responding agencies involved included Jefferson Parish Sheriff's Office and Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries. Criminal charges are likely.
[Submitted by Leigh Zahm, Supervisory Park Ranger]

Canaveral National Seashore (FL)
Vessel Grounds on Park Beach

A privately-owned, 46-foot cabin cruiser grounded on a remote section of beach in the park's South District on the evening of October 3rd. The captain and two passengers were aboard.

The park was closed and secured for the evening, but the captain was able to contact the Kennedy Space Center for assistance. NASA personnel responded and transported the group off the beach. 

The captain injured his back during the grounding and was taken to a hospital. 

The cabin cruiser has sustained major damage from the surf and extreme high tides. Debris from the vessel is scattered over a two mile section of beach. 

Ranger Dan Gillam is coordinating with the owner for removal of the boat and clean-up of the beach.
[Submitted by Wayne Rose, Park Ranger]

Yellowstone National Park (ID,MT,WY)
Search for Missing Hiker

A.F., 51, of Punta Gorda, Florida, was reported missing late on the afternoon of Thursday, September 30th. His wife notified the park that he'd failed to return from a planned hour-long hike from the East Divide Picnic Area, between Old Faithful and West Thumb junction.

A search for A.F. began late Thursday afternoon and employed rangers in patrol cars, a dog team, and two tracking teams. The search continued into the night, and was enlarged by the addition of four dog teams and three tracking teams at first light on Friday. A.F. was found walking along the road west of the picnic area shortly after 10 a.m. that morning.

A.F. told rescuers that he had intended to take a short walk into the woods, trailed an elk for a while, and soon realized he was lost. As it began to get dark, he fell back on his Boy Scout training and decided to stay put for the night. A.F. built a big "X" in the bottom of a creek bed and then threw together a lean-to where he spent a cold night (temperatures were in the low- to mid-20s).

A.F. said he yelled and whistled loudly to attract attention and said he thought he heard sirens, a car horn and even a dog during the night, but didn't think the sounds were coming from the direction of the picnic area.  
A total of 28 employees and volunteers from Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Parks were involved in the search effort.[Submitted by Public Affairs]

FIRE MANAGEMENT

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NIFC/NPS Fire and Aviation Management
National Fire Situation Highlights — Friday, October 8, 2004

Preparedness Level 2

There were 52 new starts yesterday. All were caught by initial attack. Very high to extreme fire indices were reported in Arizona, California, Nebraska, Utah and Wyoming.

Weather Forecast

A cold front with showers will be moving into the Pacific Northwest and northern California with warm, dry weather over the rest of the West. Ahead of the front, gusty winds will be increasing along and east of the Cascades, Sierras, and Great Basin.

Warnings and Watches

RED FLAG WARNINGS have been posted today for northeast California (Surprise Valley and eastern Lassen County) between 1 p.m. and 8 p.m. for gusty winds and low relative humidity, and for the northwestern corner of Nevada and the Sierra Foothills in the afternoon and evening for high winds and low relative humidity.

FIRE WEATHER WATCHES have been issued today for portions of southwest Idaho in the late afternoon or evening for strong winds and low relative humidity, and for portions of north-central Nevada in the afternoon and evening for high winds and low relative humidity.

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	10/7	10/8	% Con	Est Con
FL	FEMA	T1	Hart	Hurricane Response, Saufley Field NAS	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A
CA	USFS	T2	Wendt	Power Fire, Eldorado NF	250	275	65	10/9
FL	NPS	T2	Wissinger	Hurricane Response, Gulf Islands NS	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A

National Resource Commitments

Day	Sat	Sun	Mon	Tue	Wed	Thu	Fri
Date	10/2	10/3	10/4	10/5	10/6	10/7	10/8
Crews	8	14	17	16	26	34	48
Engines	11	12	2	30	40	37	43
Helicopters	6	3	3	6	12	16	16
Air Tankers	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Overhead	3 *	618	625	586	597	484	450

* 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

OPERATIONAL NOTES

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Director/Deputy Directors
New NPS Ring and Pendant Available

A new collectable NPS ring and pendant have been authorized by the Arrowhead Pride program and are available to NPS employees and alumni from SymbolArts, Inc., of , Utah. SymbolArts produced the commemorative Olympics public safety command badges for the 2002 winter Olympics in Utah.

 

This new NPS collectable contains historical symbols from the Service's beginnings including, the 1920 flying eagle badge, the arrowhead, Sequoia cones, the DOI seal, USNPS lapel insignia, flat hat and the date of our enabling legislation - 1916.

These items are also available as gifts, awards, or presentations for honor guard members, SET team members, FLETC graduates, retirees, new superintendents, etc. 

You may obtain an order form by clicking on "More Information" below, then faxing or mailing it to SymbolArts, Inc.
[Submitted by Steve Mazur, Bryce Canyon] 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.