Gulf Coast Areas
Update on Hurricane Recovery Operations
Jean Lafitte NHP&P/New Orleans Jazz NHP
The Eastern IMT (Gordon Wissinger, IC) is charged with both assisting the employees of the two parks and with overseeing the overall NPS response to the hurricane.
Employee Assistance Branch — Branch members continued to work on toolkits for employee assistance and prepared them for mailing. They are working to coordinate a meeting of points of contact of affected parks on the long-term mental health contract and are responding to employee requests for assistance as needed.
Resources and Facilities Branch — Developments by area:
- Barataria — Crews continued saw work on the canoe trail system through use of the LE staff for boat transportation. Crews continue clearing trees, brush and household debris from the Lower Kenta and Millaudon canoe trails in the canal system. They began tree and debris removal on the marsh overlook trail and the adjoining canal.
- Chalmette — Ventilation continued at the Malus-Beauregard House and the Superintendent's Lodge. Crew members completed cleaning comfort stations. Technical specialists evaluated the Malus-Beauregard house, Carriage house, Superintendent's lodge, and the brick walls around the cemetery and are developing an immediate remedial action plan. Chipping and tree removal continued throughout the grounds.
- Cane River — The NPS saw crew continued with hazard historic tree trimming work to restore the cultural landscape in the Oakland Plantation. The historic preservation crew began work on the square crib restoration. They continued work on the mule barn and began epoxy repairs to the mule barn posts.
Law Enforcement Branch — Two LE operated boats for saw crews will be traveling through Barataria canoe trails to clear them so that researchers can return to their stations. LE continued its presence at Barataria Preserve to counter increased illegal dumping of household debris. They continued to patrol Chalmette for incident personnel security. LE took more after-action photographs. They continued boat patrols to assess hunting camps. They continued night shift activities such as maintaining security at the ICP.
Gulf Islands NS
A Type 3 team (Rich Degnan, IC) assumed management of the incident on Saturday, October 16th.
The Davis Bayou unit partially opened to visitors on Monday. All islands remain closed to the public, but waterways are open. Kitchen cabinet and window installation on one housing unit will occur this week. Work will continue on the fuel dock at Davis Bayou, which is 50% completed with one tank already in place. The team will develop a scope of work for the government boat dock at Davis Bayou. The footbridge at the campground was to be completed yesterday. The Davis Bayou temporary contact station will be installed by the weekend. Contracts are being awarded for the West Ship Island boat dock repair and work will begin on the pier today. Debris removal will be completed at Fort Massachusetts on Tuesday. Debris piles will be removed from Ship Island once the LCM boat is repaired. Contracts for the demolition and fencing at Horn Island will be awarded by the weekend.
Additional Information
A web site has been established as a repository for official
documents related to hurricane recovery operations: http://inside
.nps.gov/waso/waso.cfm?prg=15&lv=1.
[Submitted by Randy Sutton, IO, IMT, JELA/JAZZ]
Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument (AZ)
Homicide Victim Found in Park
On the morning of October 1st, a Mexican national came upon a body just north of the border and within the park. He alerted Mexican authorities, who in turn contacted local Customs and Border Protection agents, who in turn notified the NPS and Pima County Sheriff's Department. The victim had evidently been dead between three and six days. Evidence at the scene indicated that he'd been shot several times in a manner consistent with an execution-style slaying. The victim has since been identified as a US citizen. The county's homicide unit is still withholding identification pending follow-through on other investigative leads and the notification of relatives. Based on the identification, rangers were able to determine that a vehicle in which the victim was a passenger had been stopped by rangers for a traffic violation on September 25th, just five days prior to the discovery of the body. At that time, the victim was detained by rangers on an outstanding warrant, but was released when it was found that Maricopa County would not facilitate extradition. The driver of that vehicle was issued a citation for possession of marijuana. [Submitted by Fred Patton, Chief Ranger]
Gulf Islands National Seashore (FL,MS)
Assist on Domestic Dispute
While outside the park on the evening of Tuesday, October 11th, rangers assigned to the incident management team overheard a radio call about a domestic at the Ocean Springs Wal-Mart and responded. Entering the parking lot, they saw the suspect vehicle, which was being followed by Wal-Mart security. The rangers stopped the car, separated the parties and frisked them for weapons. After Ocean Springs Police Department officers arrived, the names of both subjects were run through NCIC. The man had felony warrants for a probation violation and manufacturing and possessing methamphetamine. He also had a small amount of marijuana in his possession. The woman admitted to being on pre-trial diversion for a methamphetamine possession charge. Ocean Springs officers took the man into custody for extradition to Louisiana. [Submitted by Barb Stewart, IO, Eastern IMT]
FIRE MANAGEMENT
NIFC/NPS Fire and Aviation Management
National Fire/Incident Highlights — Tuesday, October 18, 2005
Preparedness Level 2
NIFC reported 153 new fires yesterday. Only one became a large fire, and three other large fires were contained. Very high to extreme fire indices were reported in Arizona, California, Montana, Nebraska, South Dakota and Wyoming.
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
| Park | State | Fire | Type | Acres | Percent Contain |
Est. Full Contain |
| Arches National Park | UT | Courthouse Wash Burn Piles | Other Treatment | Slash piles only. Less than 1 acre. | 100 | 10/17/2005 |
 |
||||||
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 |
Hurricane Response |
Tasks |
|
TX |
FEMA |
ACT |
Williams-Rhodes |
Hurricane Rita, Austin, TX |
Coordinating relief efforts |
|
TX |
FEMA |
T2 |
Brunner |
Hurricane Rita, Beaumont, TX |
Receiving/distribution center |
|
LA |
FEMA |
T2 |
Carlson |
Hurricane Katrina, New Orleans, LA |
Managing support base and satellite camps |
|
LA |
FEMA |
T2 |
Floyd |
Hurricane Katrina, Bossier City, LA |
Managing receiving/distribution center |
|
LA |
FEMA |
T2 |
Goheen |
Hurricane Katrina, Pineville, LA |
Managing mobilization center, base camp |
|
MS |
FEMA |
T2 |
D. Johnson |
Hurricane Katrina, Gulfport, MS |
Managing base camps |
|
LA |
FEMA |
T2 |
Lafave |
Hurricane Katrina, Stennis Space Center, MS |
Managing distribution sites |
|
LA |
FEMA |
T2 |
Stewart |
Hurricane Katrina, Hammond, LA |
Assessing timber damage, pre-suppression |
National Resource Commitments
|
Date |
10/4 |
10/5 |
10/6 |
10/11 |
10/12 |
10/16 |
10/17 |
|
Crews |
95 |
96 |
91 |
25 |
9 |
9 |
9 |
|
Engines |
320 |
237 |
224 |
53 |
31 |
27 |
34 |
|
Helicopters |
41 |
29 |
15 |
8 |
3 |
2 |
1 |
|
Air Tankers |
17 |
17 |
17 |
17 |
0 |
17 |
17 |
|
Overhead |
410 |
289 |
388 |
59 |
20 |
14 |
17 |
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
Fire and Aviation Management
GS-13 or GS-14 National Structural Fire Program Manager
Dates: 10/12/2005 - 11/09/2005
The person in this position serves as the Servicewide program manager for the National Park Service's structural fire program. In this role, the program manager is responsible for development, implementation, management, and evaluation of all aspects of a program that encompasses in excess of 30,000 structures of incredible diversity in terms of nature, construction, use, location/environment/isolation, etc.
These structures, many of which are historic and often irreplaceable, include national icons such as Ford's Theater and the Statue of Liberty; such buildings as the historic Ahwanee Hotel in Yosemite NP and the Old Faithful Inn in Yellowstone NP; numerous small historic sites consisting of buildings and other structures; and modern visitor and interpretive centers, lodging, and other visitor service structures. These structures house some 80 million artifacts. ranging from the routine to the unique and/or irreplaceable.
The structural fire program manager serves as the Service's senior structural fire expert and is responsible for the design and ongoing function of a structural fire program based on nationally accepted fire standards. She/he also serves as subject matter specialist to the Directorate, the regions and field areas on the full range of structural fire activities.
The structural fire program manager serves as spokesperson for the structural fire function. In this capacity, he/she represents the Service on agency and interagency committees; establishes and maintains working relationships with national and other fire agencies, e.g., the U.S Fire Administration, the National Fire Protection Association, etc.; maintains contacts and cooperates with other agencies, subject matter experts, etc., in identifying and addressing structural fire management problems, issues and changing technologies.
The structural fire program manager also initiates and/or directs the development and implementation coordination of structural fire management policy, standards, and guidelines, oversees the Service's structural fire training program, and is responsible for guiding others in the use and development of agreements and contracts with other Federal, state, county and/or local governments to assure attainment of Service structural fire management objectives.
This position will be filled at the GS-13 or GS-14 level. If filled below the GS-13, this position offers future promotion potential up to the GS-14 grade level without further competition. However, promotion is not automatic or guaranteed. [Submitted by Edy Williams-Rhodes, edy_rhodes@nps.gov, 202-513-7133] More Information...
Pinnacles National Monument (CA)
Dual Career Opportunities
Dates: 10/13/2005 - 11/03/2005
Three positions are currently open at Pinnacles National Monument: resource management specialist, budget analyst, and supervisory park ranger.
Resource Management Specialist
The person in this position serves as the chief of the resource management division at Pinnacles National Monument. This includes natural and cultural resource management. The thrust of this job will be the directing programs of fire management, scientific research and application of scientifically-based solutions to park planning and operations. The chief will work on the superintendent's management squad, will serve as an advocate for the division and will be expected to adhere to a team approach. The chief will aid the processes of planning and operations by directing or participating in environmental compliance — harmonizing a respect for the process requirements of the various resource protection statutes with the broad mission mandates that include visitor enjoyment. In this iteration of the position, the prime objective will be the development and management of an appropriately sized and sustainable fire organization. This effort will require developing a fire plan, formalizing a joint fire staff with the Hollister BLM organization and applying scientific, resource-based knowledge to a sensitive prescribed fire program. The incumbent will also oversee a staff currently involved in nationally significant programs of night sky protection, invasive species management, endangered species reintroduction and ecosystem restoration. Will be a significant contributor to the development of the Pinnacles general management plan - a project currently underway. The incumbent will be expected to have a background that enables decision-making on an eco-system scale and will work with park neighbors on broad schemes of open-space cooperative management.
Budget Analyst
This position serves as the budget analyst in the Administrative Division at Pinnacles National Monument. The analyst provides parkwide support to program managers; gathers and consolidates budget estimates from the unit's program managers; organizes budget data according to account, object class, and program activity; and provides technical assistance and training to others in formulating and executing current year operation programs using the Administrative Financial System (AFS-3). He/she is responsible for overseeing accounts receivable, accounts payable, reimbursements, voucher preparation and examinations; for maintaing and updating annual operating programs; for reconciling account activity and researching accounting problems; for reviewing new and revised guidelines and directives and ensuring information is disseminated to responsible personnel; for responding to special or urgent budget analyses reports; for utilizing the Federal Financial System (FFS) to perform account reconciliation; for distributing credit card charges to parkwide accounts; and for preparing the monthly GSA Motor Pool Report and GSA Gas Reimbursable Report, bills for collection, and quarterly status of funds reports.
Supervisory Park Ranger
The person in this position serves as chief ranger and is responsible for a wide range of complex visitor and resource protection, education and interpretation programs. The chief ranger's management duties include the planning, direction, and execution of the visitor services and protection division. She/he provides leadership and oversight for a variety of programs including emergency medical services, search and rescue, resource education and interpretation, physical and visitor security, wilderness management, fee collection and special park uses. The chief ranger deals directly with a diverse group of agencies and organizations including representatives of local, state, and federal government; writes and reviews regulations and prepares cooperative agreements, memorandum of understanding, and other agreements with government agencies and private park partners; and directly supervises a protection operations supervisory ranger and an interpretive/resource education supervisory ranger.
[Submitted by Lori Frusetta, lori_frusetta@nps.gov, (831) 389-4485 ext 227]
Submission standards for the Morning Report can be found by clicking here. 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 Visitor and Resource Protection, WASO, with the cooperation and support of Delaware Water Gap NRA.