- Subject: NPS Morning Report - Friday, June 2, 1995
- Date: Fri, 2 Jun 1995
NATIONAL PARK SERVICE
MORNING REPORT
To: All National Park Service Areas and Offices
From: Division of Ranger Activities, Washington Office
Day/Date: Friday, June 2, 1995
Broadcast: By 1000 ET
INCIDENTS
95-246 - Yosemite (California) - Employee Fatality
Kelly Gleason, 33, a nurse at Yosemite Medical Clinic, died of severe head
injuries sustained in a fall while hiking near Mirror Lake on the afternoon of
May 30th. Gleason and two other clinic employees were returning from a day
hike to Hidden Falls, a small cascade on Tenaya Creek about a mile and a half
upstream from the lake, when she slipped on angled, wet granite and fell about
50 feet. Gleason was unconscious when reached by her hiking companions, and
was pronounced dead at the scene. She had worked as a registered nurse at the
clinic since 1993. [PAO, YOSE, 6/1]
95-247 - Zion (Utah) - Multiple Rescues
Over the Memorial Day weekend, rangers were involved in three separate, complex
technical rescues. On May 28th, a 20-year-old male fell 80 feet while
scrambling on slick rock on the east side of the park and landed in a narrow
crack system about 300 feet above the ground. A park medic rappelled to his
location and provided advanced life support while the rescue team set up a
technical haul system. Following a difficult, eight-hour extrication, the
patient was flown to a local hospital, where he was diagnosed with over 50
fractures of his mandible, crushed temporal-mandibular joints, severe fractures
of his right wrist and foot, and numerous other injuries. He will likely
undergo at least five surgical procedures, and has been flown back to his home
state of New Mexico. While rangers were clearing from this rescue, the park
was notified of two injured juveniles in the remote Left Fork slot canyon on
the park's west side. They were raised about 400 feet to the drainage rim the
following morning, then helicoptered to an ambulance. Injuries were confined
to a fractured fibula on one victim, and bilateral ankle sprains on the other.
The two were part of a group of 21 who had ignored posted closures of this
drainage due to high runoff from heavy snow melt and spring rains. On May
29th, four individuals were raised 100 feet out of the Pine Creek slot canyon
after becoming stuck due to a lack of appropriate climbing gear and skills.
This was the third technical rescue from Pine Creek in the last two months.
[Dave Buccello, Frontcountry DR, ZION, 6/1]
95-248 - Grand Canyon (Arizona) - Falling Fatality
Shortly after 6 a.m., Lee's Ferry rangers received a report of a falling victim
at mile one on the river and reached him shortly thereafter. They found that
the victim, 44-year-old D.S. of Tuba City, Arizona, had fallen about
120 feet to his death. The fall is believed to have been accidental. Alcohol
is thought to have been a contributing factor. [Karyn Shinkle, Dispatch, GRCA,
5/28]
95-249 - Blue Ridge (North Carolina/Virginia) - Car Clout Arrests
On May 22nd, rangers Bruce Bytnar and Mark Gall were conducting surveillance at
the Humpback Gap parking lot, where a number of car clouts had occurred during
the previous month, when they saw G.J., 19, and H.J., 37,
both of Charlottesville, break into two vehicles and take a purse and portable
CD player. The pair was arrested. Johnson, a "career criminal" who
specializes in breaking into vehicles, has an extensive criminal history,
including statutory rape, cocaine distribution, grand larceny, breaking and
entering, petty larceny and tampering with motor vehicles. [CRO, BLRI, 5/30]
95-250 - New River Gorge (West Virginia) - Drowning
Rangers and state police officers responded to a 911 call of three people in
distress on the river on May 27th. They found that two of the three had been
recovered by family members, but that a third, two-year-old Robert Cook, was
still missing and last seen in the river. A searcher subsequently saw the
child on the river bottom. Emergency responders and family members formed a
human chain to reach him. He was treated on-scene by paramedics and taken to a
local hospital, where he was pronounced dead. The boy's family had been
fishing along the river bank and didn't notice that the two-year-old and
another four-year-old had gone into the river. The older child was saved by
his uncle. [Dennis Weiland, NERI, 6/1]
95-251 - Rock Creek (D.C.) - Shooting
While walking on the bike path near Thompson's boat house with her daughter on
the evening of May 26th, an off-duty city police officer was accosted by a man
who said he had a gun. The officer, fearing for her safety, shot the man three
times. He is in serious condition in a local hospital. An investigation is
underway. [Bill Lynch, Acting RLES, RAD/NCRO, 6/1]
95-252 - Blue Ridge (North Carolina/Virginia) - MVA with Serious Injuries
Two visitors were critically injured in the early morning hours of May 14th
when a Toyota pickup swerved into the Lanes Pinnacle overlook, passed between
the guardrail and the vehicle the visitors had just exited, struck them, and
forced two other visitors to jump over the embankment. The Toyota then
continued northward on the parkway. The driver, J.B. of Asheville,
called a local sheriff's department a few hours later and reported the
accident. J.B. was subsequently arrested; rangers filed multiple charges
against him. Alcohol was a contributing factor. [CRO, BLRI, 5/19]
95-253 - Kennesaw Mountain (Georgia) - Gang Vandalism
Late on the night of May 31st, members of the FOLKS (Followers of Our Lord King
Satan) and Latin Kings gangs vandalized and spray-painted several sites near
the top of Kennesaw Mountain. The words "FOLKS", "LATIN KINGS" and "LARAZA",
together with numerous other symbols and graffiti, were painted throughout the
area. It was learned that the two gangs have been associated with gang
activity in a nearby community. Police suspect that territorial boundaries are
being claimed. The investigation continues. Damage was placed in excess of
$1,000. [CRO, KEMO, 6/2]
95-254 - Vanderbilt Mansion (New York) - Vehicle Fire
On the morning of May 17th, park employees smelled smoke in the break room area
of the Coach House and subsequently discovered a small fire in the electrical
system of a brand new 1995 GMC 3500 series dump truck. The fire was promptly
extinguished and the truck was pushed outside of the building. The truck had
not been driven, utilized or worked on that day, and has been taken to a
dealership for further investigation as to the cause of the fire. If the fire
had occurred during off-duty hours, the effects could have been significant, as
the Coach House also contains significant collections. [Joe Mazzeo, Structural
Fire Specialist, NE SSO, 5/18]
95-255 - Blue Ridge (North Carolina/Virginia) - Suicide
Early on the morning of May 16th, a visitor reported discovering the body of a
woman at the Roanoke River overlook. The responding ranger found that T.A.,
24, of Roanoke, had died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound. A 12-page
note was found in her vehicle. [CRO, BLRI, 5/18]
95-256 - Rock Creek (D.C.) - Attempted Suicide
Just before 6 a.m. on the morning of May 23rd, a woman leaped from the north
end of the Zoo Tunnel onto Beach Drive and suffered serious injuries. She was
taken to George Washington University Hospital, where she was last reported in
critical condition. The incident is being investigated as an attempted
suicide. [Bill Lynch, Acting RLES, RAD/NCRO, 5/24]
95-257 - Natchez Trace (Mississippi/Alabama/Tennessee) - Attempted Suicide
On May 25th, park visitors came upon D.H., 31, of Jackson, at the
Dean Stand parking area. D.H. had shot himself in the chest. They took
him to a hospital in Jackson, then notified the park. D.H. underwent
surgery and is reportedly in stable condition. He told investigators that he'd
lost his job after 15 years, that he'd been depressed, and that he was under
psychiatric care. [Gordon Wissinger, CR, NATR, 5/31]
FIRE ACTIVITY
1) NATIONAL PREPAREDNESS LEVEL - Level I
2) LARGE FIRE SUMMARY
State Agency Area Fire 6/1 6/2 Status
MT USFS Kootenai NF South Fork - T2 320 395 CN 6/1
WA State - * Taylor Creek - T2 - 200 NEC
CA State San Luis Obispo * Simmler - 1,250 CN 6/1
FL State - * Turkey - 500 CND
- * Indian Lake - 1,100 CND
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 - Containment strategy NEC - No estimate of containment
CND - Contained CN (date) - Expected date of containment
3) FIRES YESTERDAY (BY AGENCY) -
NPS BIA BLM FWS States USFS Total
Number 2 1 4 2 24 27 60
Acreage 11 13 65 1 1,454 101 1,645
4) COMMITTED RESOURCES -
Crews Engines Helicopters Airtankers Overhead
Federal 16 27 6 4 95
Non-federal 9 12 4 2 19
5) CURRENT SITUATION - Fire activity increased yesterday in the Northwest,
Southwest and southern California. Initial attack and large fire activity
continued in Canada, which reported another 364,000 acres burned.
6) OUTLOOK - No assessment today.
[NIFCC Incident Management Situation Report, 6/2]
RESOURCE MANAGEMENT
St. Croix (Wisconsin) - Zebra Mussel Mitigation
A 105-foot vessel traveling from the Great Lakes area was stopped at Redwing
on the Mississippi River for a zebra mussel inspection prior to entry into
St. Croix NSR. Resource management staff from the park assisted in the
inspection. The vessel had been cleaned of zebra mussels before leaving the
Great Lakes, but had traveled through waters infested with the exotic
mollusk. Divers removed over 50 adult zebra mussels from the hull before
permitting it to enter the park. Remediation actions are part of a
preventive program in place at the park to prevent the spread of the zebra
mussels into the river system. The 1995 program includes restricting boater
access into the federal waterway, whereas the 1994 program relied on
voluntary cooperation. This year, boat operators must provide certification
that their vessel has not operated in infested waters or has been cleaned
via a hot water rinse within a 24-hour period. Other control measures
include monitoring, public education and research activities. Zebra mussels
could disrupt the aquatic ecosystem of the river, changing the existing
community's structure and functions. The park provides habitat to 40
species of native mussels, two of which are federally-listed endangered
species. A zebra mussel infestation would pose a serious threat to the
native mussel population. So far, no zebra mussels have been found in the
river. [Sue Jennings, RMS, SACN]
OPERATIONAL NOTES
No notes.
MEMORANDA
No memoranda.
COMING EVENTS CALENDAR
The Coming Events calendar appears in the morning report every other
Thursday. If you know of a significant event of Servicewide interest,
please forward the listing to WASO Ranger Activities. Entries are listed no
earlier than FOUR months before the event. Asterisks indicate new entries.
6/10-18* -- Delaware River Sojourn, Upper Delaware National Scenic River and
Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area, NY/PA/NJ. Ten-day
river trip through the two parks and other areas by a large
canoe flotilla to highlight the extensive resources and natural
beauty of the Delaware River. Educational programs and
presentations will be given all along the way. Contact: Ron
Cooksy, DEWA, 717-296-6952.
6/23-25 -- Seventeenth Annual Homestead Days, Homestead National Monument
of America, NE. The park, in cooperation with the city of
Beatrice, will feature demonstrations of crafts and skills
related to the pioneer era. Featured speakers will give
presentations on African-American homesteaders and the Homestead
Act's effects upon American Indians. Anyone interested in
giving a demonstration should contact park staff. Contact:
HOME, 402-223-3514.
7/1-7/4 -- Grand Opening and Dedication, Steamtown National Historic Site,
Scranton, PA. The park will celebrate its grand opening over
the four day period. Dedication of a new visitor center,
theater, history museum, technology museum, and excursion
platform, as well as the rehabilitated historic roundhouse and
oil house, at 1 p.m. on Saturday, July 1st. Weekend activities
include the arrival of "guest" steam locomotives, special
excursions, living history demonstrations and musical
performances. Contact: STEA.
7/28-30 -- Lowell Folk Festival, Lowell National Historic Park, Lowell, MA.
The largest free folk festival in the United States. Three days
of traditional folk music, dance, craft demonstrations, street
parades, dance parties, and ethnic foods. Takes place on six
outdoor stages, along canals, and in the streets of the city.
Contact: LOWE Public Affairs.
7/29 -- Waterlily Festival, Kenilworth Aquatic Gardens, Washington, DC.
11 a.m. to 3 p.m. The festival highlights the peak blooming
season of the waterlilies and lotus. Ranger-led garden walks
will be scheduled throughout the day, and entertainment will be
provided. Contact: Kenilworth Aquatic Gardens, 202-426-6905.
Prepared by the Division of Ranger Activities, WASO, with the cooperation
and support of Delaware Water Gap NRA.
Telephone: 202-208-4874
Telefax: 202-208-6756
cc:Mail: WASO Ranger Activities
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