Gulf Islands National Seashore (FL,MS)
Eastern IMT Demobilizes from Recovery Operations
On Thursday, the Eastern IMT transitioned to a small command team that will continue hurricane recovery operations on a variety of tasks not yet completed. Many of the people assigned to the incident are also demobilizing. The replacement team, which will complete a number of specific projects, will be led by Dan Trexler and will include a logistics/plans section chief, a finance section chief and one crew.
A total of 374 incident personnel from several state and federal agencies assisted on this operation, including several firefighter hot shot crews and private contracting crews to help with the work. Thirty-two park units, including two regional offices, provided employees to aid the park's effort to get back on its feet. Many parks also provided large equipment, such as chippers, front-end loaders, and bucket trucks.
A major focus of the operation during the past four weeks has been removal of debris spread throughout high public use areas at the Naval Live Oaks Visitor Center and Headquarters, Fort Barrancas/Advanced Redoubt (mainland), and Fort Pickens (Santa Rosa Island), and associated trails and administrative/fire roads. A total of 4,500 cubic yards of material was collected and removed from the headquarters/visitor center area alone. To put this into perspective, the amount of debris managed was sufficient to cover two and a half football fields to a depth of 10 feet. And that doesn't include 2,400 cubic yards removed from Fort Barrancas and a contract that's pending to remove about 25,000 cubic yards of materials from a two-mile section of shoreline at Naval Live Oaks.
Other significant work included:
- drying out and stabilizing more than ten historic structures and other facilities;
- assisting employees with immediate emergency repairs on their property;
- cleaning out employee offices;
- removing piles and piles of ruined equipment, furniture, carpets and other items from building areas;
- eliminating hazardous trees;
- clearing roads of sand;
- performing temporary roof repairs and dock and pier repairs;
- rebuilding a deck and fencing; cutting and stacking logs; and
- chipping wood.
All the museum collections have been triaged, washed, dried, and packed. Sensitive wet archives and records were removed from Fort Pickens for freezing. Freezing prevents documents from molding and degrading any further. The archival material and records were transferred to a freezer truck bound for Fort Worth, Texas, where they will be freeze-dried to remove any excess moisture.
The remainder of the collection was palletized for safe movement and taken to the mainland for further treatment to ensure that all the salt water and debris has been removed and any deterioration mitigated.
Currently, there are no facilities in Florida that are open to the
public. It is anticipated that the visitor center will open in a
couple of weeks after major rehabilitation to the interior of the
building is completed. Other areas will be closed for an
undetermined time.
[Submitted by Nancy Gray, IO, Eastern IMT]
Mount Rainier National Park (WA)
Park Holds Memorial Service for Dan Holmes
Friends of fallen firefighter Daniel Holmes gathered at White River on October 6th for a celebration of life.
Dan began his National Park Service career at Mount Rainier, first working as a volunteer backcountry ranger, then going on to spend several years as a seasonal ranger in trails and as a firefighter before joining the hotshots in 2004.
The gathering was truly a celebration of his life. The event was led by Superintendent Dave Uberuaga and FMO Alison Robb and attended by over fifty of Dan's friends, former co-workers and supervisors. Stories were recounted and pictures were shown that brought to life Dan's vibrant personality, love of the outdoors, and unique style.
Cori Conner told the story of the time Dan was in the backcountry, alone on a beautiful fall day, and had the urge to share the spectacular beauty he was seeing but there was no one with him to share in the experience. So Dan proceeded to tell the entire park about the amazing fall colors and gorgeous day he was experiencing at Summerland over the park radio and encouraged all to visit the area on the upcoming weekend. This is just one of the many stories that were shared and made evident that Dan's spirit lives on through all who knew him.
The gathering was brought to a close by a hauntingly beautiful
rendition of "Amazing Grace" played on the bagpipes by close friend and
park employee, Barry McMonagle.
[Submitted by Patti Wold,
Interpretive Media Specialist]
Assateague Island National Seashore (VA)
Fee Coordinator Killed in Accident
Darryl C. Hagy, 59, the park's revenue and fee coordinator, tragically passed away on the afternoon of Thursday, October 7th, in a two-vehicle accident.
Darryl was known for his love of fishing, gardening, and ability to tell jokes that made you laugh so hard you cried. Even now his staff can imagine the tears streaming down his cheeks as he nears the punch line of a joke.
He was a rare kind of person, full of joy for life. He refused to take on any and all stress, a decision made after being awarded a Purple Heart in Vietnam.
Recently inspired by a new love of teaching, he was active in the community of fee supervisors and managers, training new employees in NPS policies.
Darryl wanted all his employees to know that the best kind of learning is learning from your mistakes. He once said, "If there are any things I have learned, it is that you don't fry catfish naked, you don't start a brush fire with kerosene, and you don't lick a steak knife."
A great supervisor, co-worker, and friend — we will miss him.
Darryl is survived by his wife, two sons, two daughter-in-laws,
and four grandchildren. He will be cremated with a memorial service to
follow on the beach that he loved, Assateague Island.[Submitted by Karen
Zavanelli]
Stones River National Battlefield (TN)
Park Maintenance Worker Dies in Accident
Maintenance worker Deon Maynard, 26, was killed in a three-car accident in Murfreesboro on Monday, October 11th. He was a passenger in one of the vehicles.
Two other people were injured in the crash, which is still being investigated.
Deon was born in Anguilla in the British West Indies and was raised in the U.S. Virgin Islands. He enrolled in the Great Onyx Job Corps Center at Mammoth Cave and joined the Park Service as a maintenance worker at Tuskegee Institute NHS in June, 1999.
Deon transferred to Stones River in December, 1999.
He is survived by his wife, T., and a daughter, J.-U.,
age four. Final arrangements are pending. [Submitted by Paul Winegar,
Regional Public Affairs Officer]
Great Smoky Mountains National Park
Visitor's Life Saved Through Rapid Defibrillation
On October 3rd, dispatch received information that a man at the Clingman's Dome trail was in respiratory distress.
Cherokee Tribal EMS and rangers responded. Ranger Melody Morrison was first on scene and found visitor J.B., 45, in severe respiratory distress. Within minutes, J.B. collapsed and went into full arrest.
Morrison began CPR, assisted by an off-duty nurse. Rangers Kirby Styles and Joe Pond soon joined her and employed an AED and airway management techniques. One shock was advised and applied with successful results, leading to effective resuscitation.
Shortly thereafter, J.B. was flown by LifeStar helicopter to the University of Tennessee Medical Center in Knoxville, where he is recovering.
It is believed that rapid defibrillation was the key to J.B.'s
survival.
[Submitted by Walt West, Supervisory Park Ranger]
Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument (AZ)
Major Drug Seizures
Over the past two months, rangers have conducted 20 interdiction operations resulting in seven large drug seizures,
Six cases stemmed from discovery of evidence indicating that suspected drug smugglers had crossed into the park from Mexico. Ranger tracking teams pursued these groups of smugglers over a total of 60 miles, apprehended 25 felony-level drug smugglers, and seized over 2,540 pounds of processed marijuana with a street value of $1,875,000.
In another incident, rangers attempted to stop a vehicle on Highway 85 suspected of entering the country illegally. The operator instead fled and rangers pursued the vehicle on and off road for approximately two miles. It was found to be carrying 18 packages of processes marijuana weighing 463 pounds. Both marijuana and vehicle were seized.
These cases are being handled jointly by the National Park Service and Customs special agents. Several suspects have already pled to reduced misdemeanor charges. Sentences ranged from time served (two to five days) up to six months in jail.
Successful interdiction in these cases would not have been possible
in the 100 degree plus heat without air support from the Army National
Guard and US Customs Air Marine Operations.
To date this calendar
year, Organ Pipe rangers and those detailed to the monument have made 33
drug smuggling cases, arrested 87 smugglers, and seized over 13,700
pounds of processed marijuana.[Submitted by Fred Patton, Chief
Ranger]
FIRE MANAGEMENT
NIFC/NPS Fire and Aviation Management
National Fire Situation Highlights — Friday, October 15, 2004
Preparedness Level 2
There were 45 new starts yesterday. None escaped initial attack. Very high to extreme fire indices were reported in Arizona, California and Nebraska.
Weather Forecast
High pressure will prevail over most of the West except for showers over portions of the Pacific Northwest and Northern Rockies. Winds will be decreasing over California.
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 |
10/13 |
10/15 |
% Con |
Est Con |
|
CA |
USFS |
T1 |
McCombs |
Power Fire, Eldorado NF |
475 |
12,500 |
35 |
10/23 |
|
CA |
State |
T1 |
Streblow * |
Rumsey Fire, Sonoma-Lake Napa Unit |
29,695 |
39,138 |
71 |
10/16 |
|
| ||||||||
|
FL |
FEMA |
T2 |
Muir |
Hurricane Response, Saufley Field NAS |
N/A |
N/A |
N/A |
N/A |
|
CA |
USFS |
T2 |
Szczepanik |
Freds Fire, Eldorado NF |
------ |
5,000 |
NR |
UNK |
* CDF team
National Resource Commitments
| Day |
Sat |
Sun |
Mon |
Tue |
Wed |
Thu |
Fri |
|
Date |
10/9 |
10/10 |
10/11 |
10/12 |
10/13 |
10/14 |
10/15 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Crews |
43 |
19 |
19 |
60 |
71 |
109 |
121 |
|
Engines |
40 |
22 |
25 |
70 |
137 |
216 |
300 |
|
Helicopters |
12 |
10 |
0 |
13 |
19 |
23 |
27 |
|
Air Tankers |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
|
Overhead |
426 |
289 |
418 |
498 |
565 |
633 |
695 |
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.