NATIONAL PARK SERVICE
MORNING REPORT
Thursday, July 17, 2008
===============================================================================================================
INCIDENTS
Whiskeytown NRA
Four Men Burned While Illegally In Closed Wildfire Area
Shasta County's public safety dispatch center received a 911 call from a Spanish-speaking man seeking assistance for a burn victim on Whiskey Creek Road on the afternoon of July 14th. The area was burning vigorously as part of a wildfire in the Motion Fire Complex and several fire engine strike teams, hand crews, bulldozers and other resources were staged along roadways and engaged in fire suppression in that area. The fire was advancing to the north, but no burnout activities had occurred due to adverse burning conditions. Four Hispanic males, wearing military surplus camouflage clothing bearing US Army and National Guard insignia, were located by firefighters a short time later. J.A.F., 25, was flown to Mercy Medical Center with third degree burns and was later transferred to the UC Davis burn unit. A second adult and a juvenile were transferred by ground ambulance, then treated for first and second degree burns and smoke inhalation and released. The juvenile male was treated and released for minor burns. The treated adult and a fourth adult male were arrested on federal charges of being present in a closed area. Investigation revealed that both were Mexican nationals unlawfully present in the United States and ICE holds have been placed on them for deportation. The men - S.C.A., 25, and M.C.A., 24, both of Michoacan - were interviewed and claimed to have been hunting in the park for the previous four or five days. They refused to say where their weapons were. A search of the vicinity by park rangers revealed no weapons. A marijuana cultivation site had been under investigation nearby and fire overhead and suppression personnel had repeatedly been formally and informally briefed over the previous few days as to the specific location of the site and the probability of armed suspects in the area. [Alan Foster, Chief Ranger]
OTHER NEWS
Other stories can be read on InsideNPS at one or the other of these two sites:
NPS readers - HYPERLINK "http://inside.nps.gov/index.cfm?handler=index" http://inside.nps.gov/index.cfm?handler=index
Non-NPS readers - HYPERLINK "http://home.nps.gov/applications/digest/" http://home.nps.gov/applications/digest/
Please note that both publications carry a combined NIFC/NPS fire report. That is generally posted around 8 a.m. Eastern.
Among the stories in today's edition are the following:
Superintendents Summit - Amid expressions of reverence for the national park system's heritage and calls for renewed efforts to prepare the nation's parks for the future, Director Bomar opened the superintendents summit in Snowbird, Utah, on Wednesday.
Superintendents Summit - A keynotes speaker at the summit yesterday addressed the impacts of changing demographics on the National Park Service. A convergence of population and economic trends with new directions in the demographic portrait of the United States demand efforts to re-conceptualize the nation's parks for the future.
* * * * *
Submission standards for the Morning Report can be found at the following web site:
HYPERLINK "http://inside.nps.gov/index.cfm?handler=viewnpsnewsarticle&type=Announcements&id=3363" http://inside.nps.gov/index.cfm?handler=viewnpsnewsarticle&type=Announcements&id=3363
Prepared by the Division of Law Enforcement, Security and Emergency Services, Washington Office, with the support of the Office of the Chief Information Officer and Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area. Edited by Bill Halainen ( HYPERLINK "mailto:Bill_Halainen@nps.gov" Bill_Halainen@nps.gov).
--- ### ---