The Morning Report for Friday, June 11, 2004

INCIDENTS

Great Smoky Mountains National Park
Follow-up on Confrontation with Murderer

Additional details have been released regarding the manhunt for and death of J.P., 27, who was a suspect in the June 4th shooting death of his former girlfriend, C.N., 22. The FBI has notified the park that the autopsy conducted on J.P. has confirmed that he died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head. It appears that he shot himself with his rifle while his vehicle was still in motion and heading northbound on the Newfound Gap Road. All indications are that he died before his car went off the road and down the mountainside.
[Submitted by Jim Northup, Chief Ranger]

Sequoia & Kings Canyon National Parks (CA)
Rescue of Injured Employee

A member of the park's rare plant crew who injured her knee while crossing a creek in Tehipite Valley, a remote area of Kings Canyon, was rescued by helicopter last week. Due to a lack of adequate landing zones, the park's contract helicopter short-hauled ranger/park medic Dave Walton to the site, then short-hauled Walton and the injured woman a short distance to a point where the helicopter could land. She was then brought on board and flown to Cedar Grove. This was the park's first operational short haul, having just finished all the requirements for the program only a day prior to the incident. Cedar Grove area ranger Erin Warrem was incident commander.
[Submitted by Kinsey Shilling, Kings Canyon District Ranger]

FIRE MANAGEMENT

National Interagency Fire Center
NIFC Situation Report Highlights — Friday, June 11, 2004

Preparedness Level 1

Initial attack was again light yesterday, with just 96 fires.

Very high to extreme fire indices were reported in Alaska, Arizona, Colorado, Kansas, Nevada, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Texas and Utah.

Warnings and Watches

No warnings or watches have been posted for today.

National Resource Commitments

Day	Sat	Sun	Mon	Tue	Wed	Thu	Fri
Date	6/5	6/6	6/7	6/8	6/9	6/10	6/11

Crews	31	49	50	74	83	89	63
Engines	103	141	129	151	181	177	157
Helicopters	12	14	25	31	38	130	34
Air Tankers	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Overhead	347	275	227	337	327	326	375

National/State Team Commitments

Newly listed fires (on this report) appear below in boldface. Fires are sorted by type of team; teams are listed in alphabetical order within each type by the IC's last name. Asterisks indicate state teams.

State	Type Team	Team IC	Fire/Location	Acres 6/10	Acres 6/11	Percent Contain	Est Full Contain

CA	T1 *	Henson	Gaviota Fire Santa Barbara	7,440	7,440	100	100

AZ	T2	Kvale	Three Forks Fire Apache-Sitgreaves NF	6,500	7,288	15	6/12

CO	FUM	Cook	Greasewood Fire BLM White River Office	6,870	7,200	N/A	N/A

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 the NPS Fire Management Program Center (FMPC) and on park fires can be found at:

FMPC — http://www.nps.gov/fire

Park fires — http://www.nps.gov/fire/news

OPERATIONAL NOTES

National Interagency Fire Center
Wildland Fire Outlook — June through September 2004

The 2004 fire season is significantly below average to date. As of June 6, nationally the number of fires (32,789) and acres burned (564,973) is respectively 90 and 68 percent of normal. This is due to the fact that the majority of acres burned from January to June usually occur in the South, East and Southwest which so far have had much less acreage burned than usual. However, much of the interior West has the potential for an above normal fire season for the following reasons:

Due to spring rains, the Southwest fire season was delayed until mid-May and fire danger has now escalated to critical levels across much of the Area. Periods of high winds this month have increased large fire potential which will continue until the monsoon begins in July.
Southern California fire danger indices are well above normal and some are at or near record levels. Given that summers in California are normally quite dry, high fire potential is expected into the fall.
A wet and cool May did not eliminate the fire potential in the Northwest and Northern Rockies, but has pushed back the start of fire season a few weeks. Some of the lower elevation areas could see the fire season begin in late June but most areas should begin in July.
Drought, tree and brush mortality from insect damage, and an expected hotter than normal summer all point to increased fire potential this year in much of the West.

Weather

In April, the West was warm and dry except for unseasonably cool and wet weather in the Southwest. May was just the opposite with relatively cool, wet weather in the Northwest and Northern Rockies with warm and dry weather in the Southwest. Florida and portions of Southeast have been quite dry over the last three months and some places in Florida saw the driest May on record.

The summer weather outlook calls for hotter than normal temperatures in the West with near normal rainfall except for some dryness in the Northwest. The monsoon in the Southwest is expected to begin in early July. Rainfall is expected to increase over the next few weeks in Florida as the summer thunderstorm pattern takes hold.

Geographic Area Discussions

Alaska: Potential: Normal. Southeastern Alaska, including the panhandle, has been very dry with Juneau recording their driest May ever (0.84 inch or 24% or normal) while it was the wettest May on record in several parts of the interior and western Alaska. Fairbanks recorded nearly two inches of rain in May or over 300% of normal. June temperatures, rainfall and overall fire danger should be fairly normal across most of the state. By July, rainfall typically increases with a corresponding drop in fire activity.

Southwest: Potential: Normal to Above Normal. May was warmer and drier than usual with most areas in Arizona receiving less than 25% of their usual rainfall and less than 50% of normal in New Mexico. Fire danger indices are now at critical levels across Arizona and the higher elevations of western and central New Mexico. Fire activity began to increase in mid May due to a combination of hot, dry weather and gusty winds as disturbances tracked north of the Area. Fire behavior is expected to be greater than normal due to the effects of low fuel moisture and long-term drought impacts. Fire activity is expected to continue to increase until the monsoon begins in July.

Northern Rockies: Potential: Normal to Above Normal. Fire danger indices have dropped dramatically in northern Idaho, western Montana and along the Canadian border due to significant rainfall and cooler temperatures over the past few weeks. However, southeast Montana and much of the Dakotas were drier than normal. Overall, fire danger should be at or below normal for most of June but should elevate to above normal for much of the Area in July and August. The potential for a severe fire season exists over much of the Area.

Great Basin: Potential: Normal to Above Normal. It was generally warmer and drier than normal in May over most of Nevada and Utah, while Idaho was cooler and wetter than usual. June fire danger should be above normal over southern and central Nevada as well as most of Utah by the end of the month. Due the long-term drought and a relatively dry winter and spring in Nevada and Utah, large fire potential at lower elevations will primarily affect those areas with good fuel continuity. In Idaho, the recent rains have helped push back the onset of fire season in the forested areas until July.

Northwest: Potential: Normal to Above Normal. — Near normal temperature and rainfall are expected in June, while July and August will be typically warm and dry. Fuel moistures will drop below critical values in late June or early July, which indicates an earlier than normal fire season. Drought conditions currently extend across eastern portions of Oregon and Washington with some dryness indicated west of the Cascades. Large timber fires are possible in eastern Washington and eastern Oregon, even at higher elevations. Two to three episodes of dry lightning are expected, with the first episode around mid to late July. Eastern Washington, eastern Oregon and much of western Washington will likely experience a very active fire season, while western Oregon should have a typical fire season

Northern and Southern California: Potential: Normal to Above Normal. A warmer and drier than normal spring has increased the potential for large fires in Southern California with many sites reporting record or near record fire danger. Tree and brush mortality continues to be a major concern, especially in the urban-interface areas. In northern California, green-up is ahead of schedule and fire danger indices are running above normal but not at record levels. The greatest potential in the north will be in Shasta County where snow damage from winter storms has brought down a number of trees and branches and along the east side of the northern Sierra where drought continues to plague that area.

Rocky Mountain: Potential: Normal to Above Normal. Despite a dry March with significant snowmelt, overall drought conditions are not as severe as last year. A wet April helped recover some of the snowpack and helped bring about an early green-up. Due to long-term drought and recent weather trends, the greatest fire potential is expected along the Colorado Front Range, western Colorado and the southern and western portions of Wyoming. Fire potential in northern Wyoming and the Black Hills of South Dakota has been reduced due to recent and projected weather for those areas.

Eastern Area: Potential: Normal to Below Normal. Rainfall was generally above normal over much of the Area in May except for some dryness along the East Coast. It was warmer than normal except in the Great Lakes region. These rains helped alleviate drought conditions over Minnesota. A period of hot, dry weather could result in short periods of elevated fire danger in Minnesota and Maine, otherwise fire potential will be normal to below normal across the Area.

Southern Area: Potential: Normal. May was quite warm and dry across Florida, Georgia, and South Carolina. One of the key measures of fire danger in Florida is the Keetch-Byram Drought Index which is currently running well above normal in many parts the state. However, the summer thunderstorm pattern is becoming more established over the state and the fire danger should slowly decrease over the next couple of weeks. Otherwise, fire potential should be normal across the Area.

[Note: This national outlook and some geographic area assessments are currently available at the NICC and GACC websites. The GACC websites can also be accessed though the NICC webpage at:
www.nifc.gov/news/pred_services/Main_page.htm]

PARKS AND PEOPLE

Fire and Aviation Management
Mesa Verde National Park (CO)
Fire Management Officer

Dates: 06/10/2004 - 06/30/2004

MAJOR DUTIES:

This position is located in the Division of Visitor Protection and Fire
Management, Fire Management Office, Mesa Verde National Park.

Mesa Verde has a significant history of major pinion-juniper wild fires within
the last decade. Initial duties of the selectee will be centered around fire
management planning for Mesa Verde and surrounding parks. This will involve
coordinating fire planning with neighbors, public scoping, gathering of ecosystem
data, and establishing new fire management plans.

In addition, the incumbent manages and provides oversight to the wildland fire,
fire management, and aviation management programs of Mesa Verde National Park and
nine smaller park areas in the Four Corners area. This position directly
supervises three subordinate supervisors in fire and aviation programs and
indirectly up to 14 subordinates. Supervision duties include ensuring safety and
training requirements are met, administering discipline, recommending awards and
recognitions, position management, etc.

Other duties include fire program budgeting and fiscal accountability,
coordination of wildland fire activities with neighboring Federal, state, and
local agencies as well as private entities, representing the Park on interagency
committees and assignments, initiating cooperative agreements, planning and
implementing prescribed fire and hazardous fuel reduction programs, ensuring
agency wildland fire policies are met, etc.

Please visit http://jsearch.usajobs.opm.gov/getjob.asp?jobid=22259001 for specific qualifications and for instructions on how to apply.
[Submitted by L. M. Lenihan , Laura Lenihan/MEVE/NPS, 970-529-5078 ] More Information...

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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.