RANGER ACTIVITIES DIVISION
                           MORNING REPORT

Attention: Directorate
           Regional and Park Chief Rangers, USPP, BIFC, FLETC
           Ranger Activities Division Information Network

Day/Date:  Friday, May 22, 1992

INCIDENTS

92-196/207 - Denali (Alaska) - Follow-up on Multiple SAR Incidents

Alaska Regional Office has provided us with a summary of the past week's
intense activity on Mount McKinley in Denali.  Over that period, rangers
responded to ten incidents involving a total of 18 climbers; of the 18, six
are dead (five of them still on the mountain), nine were airlifted to
hospitals, one was uninjured but is no longer on the mountain, and two are
well and still on McKinley.  Here's a chronology of the events which took
place:

* May 14th - The park received a report from a party of Korean climbers
  that they'd seen a body on Cassin Ridge, but winds were too high to fly
  a confirmation flight.

* May 15th - Morning winds continued to be high, but the park's Lama was
  able to fly in the afternoon.  One body was confirmed at 15,000 feet, and
  a second was suspected.  A pile of ropes was seen at about 11,800 feet.  
  Rangers suspected that the victims were a team of Italian climbers.  While
  on that flight, rangers received a distress call from a three-person
  Korean team at 17,700 feet (not the same group that reported the
  fatality on the 14th).

* May 16th - Winds were blowing at 50 mph, and rangers were unable to fly
  emergency gear to the Koreans at 17,700 feet.  The deaths of the two
  Italians were confirmed.  They had reached the summit and were descending
  Cassin Ridge - a very rare and dangerous route.  At 10:35 a.m., rangers
  received a report that a Swiss climber had died of respiratory problems
  at 14,000 feet.  His family was on site as part of a group of eight
  climbers.  At 5:25 p.m., a report came in that three Koreans from still
  another group had fallen in a crevasse at 15,500 feet at the base of the
  headwall on the West Buttress.  One went all the way through; two were
  stuck up to their arms.  One of them was able to extricate himself and
  report the incident.  The second eventually went all the way down.  An
  11-person rescue team was assembled.  The members were Ron Johnson, Matt
  Culberson, Julie Culberson, Jim Wickwire, John Roskelly, Brian Okenek,
  and five Koreans.  At 8:06 p.m., the rescue team located both victims
  about 60 feet down on the false floor of the crevasse.  Winds were 
  blowing snow at 30 mph.  One of the two was extricated by about 10 p.m.;
  the other was eventually dug out and taken to 14,000 feet with more
  serious injuries.  Weather precluded a helicopter rescue flight.  The
  body of one of the Italian climbers was recovered and flown off the
  mountain by fixed wing aircraft in early evening.

* May 18th - The weather improved, and the Lama was able to evacuate the
  Korean injured in the crevasse fall from 14,000 feet to 7,000 feet,
  where he was transferred to a National Guard Pavehawk and taken to Humana
  Hospital in Anchorage.  Army CH-47 Chinooks were summoned from Fort
  Wainwright.  The park planned to either drop emergency supplies to the
  Koreans at 17,700 feet from the Lama or lower them via the Chinooks.  At
  4:30 p.m, Lama pilot Bill Ramsey dropped a bag of emergency gear to the
  climbers, but it rolled off the mountain.  When the weather calmed, he
  attempted to land about 40 feet from the climbers; when they rushed the
  ship, Ramsey (and ranger Jim Phillips, who was on board) lifted off and
  signalled them that only one climber could be extricated.  Ramsey landed
  again and picked up the worst injured of the three.  After a short
  turnaround at the NPS camp at 14,000 feet, he picked up the second
  climber, then went back again for the third.  The Army Chinooks picked
  up the three climbers and took them straight to the hospital in Anchorage.
  One had severe frostbite on his fingers and toes; the second had severe
  frostbite to his feet and was dehydrated; the third suffered from mild
  dehydration and abdominal pain.  During subsequent interviews, the
  Koreans reported that they discovered an abandoned bottle of stove fuel
  while digging their snow cave.

* May 20th - A translator working with Korean climbers reported that
  two Koreans at 14,000 feet had contacted her to report that another
  three-person Korean team was at 18,000 feet and heading down after
  spending seven days there due to bad weather.  They were on their last
  day of food and water.  The information was passed on to Matt and Julie
  Culberson - both volunteers working with rangers - who had been on patrol
  on the West Rib since May 19th.  At 7:25 p.m., the Culbersons reported
  that they'd found the bodies of three Korean climbers at 15,000 feet at
  the base of the Orient Express, a steep couloir named by climbers for
  previous accidents involving foreign climbers.

* May 21st - Meetings were held in Talkeetna between park and regional staff
  and the Italian consul general from San Francisco.  Italy will send a
  climbing team to recover the body of the remaining Italian climber at
  15,000 feet, and the Service will provide helicopter support in moving
  the body after it's taken to a landing zone.  

There's high media interest both nationally and internationally in the spate
of incidents on the mountain.  Many questions have been raised in the press
and by callers questioning the Service's policy of not charging climbers -
particularly foreign climbers - for rescue costs.  [cc:Mail report from John
Quinley, Public Affairs, ARO, 5/21]

92-210 - Grand Canyon (Arizona) - Rock Slide Fatality

A rare rock slide about two miles below the South Rim on the afternoon of
May 19th killed a 33-year-old female Australian and led to the temporary
closure of the Bright Angel trail.  The victim died of severe injuries.  The
trail was to have opened to foot traffic on Wednesday and to mules yesterday
or today.  The victim, who had a pulse when rangers arrived, did not respond
to CPR and was taken out by helicopter.  [GRCA dispatch via cc:Mail message
from Herb Gercke, RAD/WRO, 5/21]

92-211 - Death Valley (California) - Structural Fire

On the morning of May 13th, park and Furnace Creek volunteer fire brigades
responded to a report of a storage shed fire in the Timbisha Indian village. 
The wood frame and galvanized metal shed was totally destroyed, but the fire
did not extend to a nearby residence.  It's believed that children playing
with matches caused the fire.  The NPS fire brigade has also responded to
three vehicle fires in the last two weeks.  [DEVA dispatch via cc:Mail
message from Herb Gercke, RAD/WRO, 5/21]

92-212 - Ozark (Missouri) - Drowning

While attempting to wade across the Jacks Fork River in the Blue Springs
area to visit a cave on May 21st, J.S., 17, of Mountain View,
Missouri, slipped and fell into an eight foot underwater hole in the river. 
Efforts by a friend to save J.S., who was not a swimmer, were
unsuccessful.  Within 20 minutes, J.S. was pulled into a canoe by
visitors.  Rangers and emergency personnel from Mountain View were notified
of the incident about 40 minutes after it occurred; CPR was begun by
Mountain View rescue personnel within 15 minutes, but J.S. was
pronounced dead upon arrival at St. Francis Hospital shortly thereafter. 
[Tim Blank, CR, OZAR, via telefax from Rich Murphy, RLES, RAD/MWRO, 5/21]

92-213 - C&O Canal (Maryland) - Possible Drowning

N.A., 19, of Bethesda, Maryland, was swept down the Potomac River
on the afternoon of May 20th when he attempted to swim 200 feet across the
river to Hermit Island.  His companion, J.F., was reportedly
assisted by a fisherman in an unsuccessful effort to rescue Anthan.  When
this failed, J.F. went for help.  A search was begun shortly thereafter
by rangers, Park Police and local fire department personnel, but it proved
fruitless.  The search was to be continued by state and park personnel
yesterday.  [Telefax from Keith Whisenant, CHOH, 5/21]

FIRE ACTIVITY

1) FIRE SITUATION - Preparedness Level 1

2) FIRE SUMMARY

State  Agency     Area            Fire               5/21    5/22    Status

 ME    State  State              Yellow Lake        1,000   1,000    CND

 NV    BLM    Carson City Dist. *Fairview Peak          -     800    CN 5/22

NOTES:

- Fires - Asterisk indicates newly reported fire (on this report). T1 and T2
  indicate assigned Type I and Type II Teams.
- Status - The following abbreviations are employed:

  NR - No report received      MS - Modified suppression strategy
  CL - Controlled              MN - Being monitored
  CS - Confinement strategy    NEC - No estimate of containment
  CN (date) - Expected date    CND - Contained
     of containment

3) ANALYSIS - High to extreme fire dangers continue to be reported in
Florida and Mississippi.  One Type I crew and one airtanker were committed
to the Southwest; the airtanker has been released.  
   
5) PROGNOSIS - No resource shortages expected.

[NIFCC Intelligence Section, 0731 MDT, 5/22]  

RESOURCE MANAGEMENT

Reminder: We are interested in field reports on resource management
activities meeting any of the following criteria, which were formulated
jointly with the Wildlife and Vegetation Division:

* The completion of notable resource management projects or the attainment
  of significant benchmarks in such projects.
* New threatened and endangered species listings, significant changes in
  status to listed species, or new threats to listed species.
* Any significant lawsuit pertaining to park natural or cultural resources.
* Any newly discovered threat to park natural or cultural resources.
* Reintroduction of a species to a park.
* Any resource management action affecting park natural or cultural
  resources which is inherently controversial.

Reports may be submitted by telefax (FTS 268-6756), by CompuServe
(WASO-RANGER) or by cc:Mail (WASO Ranger Activities).

We'd also like to know if the criteria should be broadened.  Although there
are many significant resource management activities underway at any time in
the NPS, very few are passed on to us.  

STAFF STATUS

Division Chief: No leave or travel scheduled.

Branch of Resource and Visitor Protection: Schamp at same session (5/18-5/22);
Coffey on annual leave (5/18-5/22).

Branch of Fire and Aviation: Spruill at aviation management seminar, San
Francisco, CA (5/17-5/22); Gale at meeting developing Type II all-risk
management training scenarios, Phoenix, AZ (5/17-5/22); Broyles at NFPA
wildland fire conference, New Orleans, LA (5/17-5/22); Farrel at NFPA annual
meeting and site visit to Jean Lafitte, New Orleans, LA (5/16-5/23); Norum
on annual leave (5/17-5/30).

Prepared by WASO Division of Ranger Activities

Telephone:  Branch of R&VP - FTS 268-4874/6039 or 202-208-4874/6039
            Branch of F&A (WASO) - FTS 268-5572/5573 or 202-208-5572/5573

Telefax:    Branch of R&VP - FTS 268-6756 or 202-208-6756
            Branch of F&A (WASO) - FTS 268-5977 or 202-208-5977

CompuServe: Branch of R&VP - WASO-RANGER
            Branch of F&A (WASO) - WASO-FIRE-WO

cc:Mail     Branch of R&VP - WASO Ranger Activities
            Branch of F&A (WASO) - WASO Fire and Aviation