NATIONAL PARK SERVICE
                               MORNING REPORT
     
To:         All National Park Service Areas and Offices
     
From:       Division of Ranger Activities, Washington Office
     
Day/Date:   Thursday, May 27, 1999
     
INCIDENTS
     
99-213 - Denali NP&P (AK) - Rescue
     
On the afternoon of Friday, May 21st, Colorado climber M.D., 45, fell 
120 feet while ascending a difficult ice couloir on the southwest ridge of 
Mt. Hunter.  M.D. and his partner, Jim Donini, were 2,600 feet up the route 
when M.D.'s protection failed and he fell, striking Donini in the thigh with 
his crampon points.  M.D. sustained an open fracture of one leg and an ankle 
fracture of the other.  Donini was able to lower M.D. 150 feet, but was 
unable to continue due to both of their injuries.  He secured M.D. at about 
the 10,000 foot level and descended the mixed rock, snow and ice route to 
their camp on the Kahiltna Glacier.  Only minutes later, a passing Talkeetna 
Air Taxi pilot spotted Donini and picked him up.  Darkness and poor weather 
grounded rescue teams until Saturday morning, when an partial assessment of 
the situation was possible.  M.D. was tied into a small ledge 2,400 feet from 
the bottom of the route and 1,100 feet from the small (approximately ten foot 
by ten foot) mushroom-shaped top.  The near vertical slope and deep coulior 
appeared to negate a short-haul helicopter evacuation.  It appeared a raising 
was the only possible means of rescue.  This would require short-hauling 
rescuers to the summit, who would then descend to M.D. and arrange a 
technical raising followed by a short-haul removal of all from the summit. 
The weather forecast was for continued unsettled weather. Due to the several 
previous days of exhausting rescue activity, the Alaska Region's Type II 
incident management team (Hunter Sharp, IC) was called in to assist the 
park's staff.  Throughout Saturday, additional resources were brought in, 
including hand-picked parajumpers from the Air National Guard and five 
members of the Alaska Mountain Rescue Group. As the weather cleared on Sunday 
morning, a slightly different helicopter approach was visible that had been 
obscured by clouds the day before.  Ranger Billy Shott was short-hauled on a 
200-foot rope to a point about 40 feet below M.D..  With the helicopter 
hovering, Shott climbed to M.D. and clipped him into his harness; Lama pilot 
Carl Cotton then backed away, swinging both out to safety.  M.D. was the 
seventh climber rescued this season and the sixth bonafide save.  [Ken 
Kehrer, CR, DENA, 5/25]
     
99-214 - Western Arctic NP (AK) - Search in Progress
     
On the morning of May 22nd, rangers were notified of two overdue hunters who 
had last been seen departing their hunting camp in Cape Krusenstern NM.  The 
missing men - D.S., 70, and R.B., 62 - are lifetime 
residents of the Kotzebue area.  Both maintain traditional, subsistence- 
oriented lifestyles and are highly regarded in the Inupiat Eskimo community 
as expert hunters and travelers.  According to family members, the men left 
their camp on Thursday, May 20th, for a day of oogruk (bearded seal) hunting 
on the pack ice.  They were known to be traveling together by snowmobile and 
were carrying a portable VHF radio.  State troopers were contacted when they 
failed to return by Friday night, and a multi-agency air search was begun on 
Saturday.  Searchers flew grid patterns over the coastlines of Cape 
Krusenstern, Bering Land Bridge NP and much of Kotzebue Sound over the 
weekend.  Low clouds, ice fog and the shifting pack ice complicated efforts. 
By Sunday afternoon, fog and icing conditions had forced some search planes 
to land and overnight on area beaches.  A report of possible VHF 
transmissions from the missing men near the Cape Krusenstern's northwest 
boundary shifted the search focus towards Kivalina on Monday. Weather 
conditions remained marginal, with blowing snow and fog.  By the end of the 
day, pilots and crews had covered approximately 4,500 square miles.  Search 
efforts continued Tuesday, with nine aircraft flying grids from Sealing Point 
in Cape Krusenstern to Cape Thompson.  Local weather has improved, with 
blowing snow changing to low clouds and light fog.  [Greg Dudgeon, CR, WEAR, 
5/25]
     
99-215 - Mount Rainier NP (WA) - Climbing Fatality
     
Two climbers on Thumb Rock, a high camp on Liberty Ridge, called rangers on 
the evening of Monday, May 24th, and reported that a climbing partner was 
missing after an accident.  The 31-year-old man from British Columbia had 
been skiing beneath Black Pyramid when he lost his edge, cartwheeled out of 
control, and disappeared from sight off Liberty Ridge. The Black Pyramid is 
at 12,000 feet; Thumb Rock is at 10,700 feet.  Rangers Debbie Brenchley and 
Mike Gauthier flew in from Kautz Creek and found the man's body on the Carbon 
Glacier beneath the Willis Wall, notorious for frequent ice falls, rock 
falls, and avalanches.  While Brenchley and Gauthier waited on the Carbon 
Glacier for the helicopter to return with additional personnel, an avalanche 
lasting approximately one minute descended down the chute where the victim 
had fallen, partially covering him.  Continued avalanche activity led to the 
decision to remove the rangers from the scene.  Weather permitting, rangers 
were going to attempt to retrieve the body via helicopter yesterday morning 
at first light, before the sun hit the high glacial terrain.  Plans called 
for a second helicopter to hover nearby in case of an avalanche.  The 
victim's name had not yet been released at the time of the report.  Steve 
Winslow is IC.  [Maria Gillett, PIO, MORA, 5/25]
     
99-216 - Denali NP&P (AK) - Assist: Multi-Casualty Accident
     
Rangers responded to a mutual aid request for assistance at a motor vehicle 
accident 75 miles south of park headquarters on the George Parks Highway on 
May 20th.  Park staff responded in an ambulance and joined other units in the 
extrication and stabilization of five critically injured persons and one 
fatality.  Patients were evacuated by air by military and private ambulance 
helicopters.  The single-vehicle accident occurred on a stretch of highway 
between Anchorage and Fairbanks that is as far from medical care as can be 
found in the area.  The park hosted a previously-scheduled, multi-casualty 
drill simulating a bus rollover two days later.  Over 100 people from several 
volunteer EMS and SAR organizations participated.  [Ken Kehrer, CR, DENA, 
5/25]
     
99-217 - Grand Canyon NP (AZ) - Multiple Rescues
     
Park rescue personnel were kept extremely busy with multiple SAR incidents on 
May 10th.  The series of calls started with an afternoon request for 
assistance to an exhausted hiker on the Bright Angel trail, but he was 
eventually able to get out on his own.  Fifteen minutes later, a 31-year-old 
female suffering from hyponatremia (a decreased concentration of sodium in 
the blood) was reported to be in distress a mile-and-a-half down the same 
trail.  Just a minute later, as a response was being initiated, dispatch was 
contacted by staff from the Bureau Of Indian Affairs at Supai Village, who 
reported an injured hiker below Beaver Falls in Havasu Creek within the park. 
The party on the Bright Angel trail was evacuated by a backup NPS helicopter 
with a sodium level of 127 (the normal range is from 135 to 145). The primary 
NPS helicopter responded to Havasu Creek and conducted a helicopter short- 
haul extraction of a 35-year-old male with a broken ankle in rugged terrain. 
The patient was transferred to Classic Air Ambulance, which had staged 
nearby.  Meanwhile, another advanced life support medevac was completed out 
of the Pipe Creek area on the Colorado River below Phantom Ranch for an 80- 
year-old male with dehydration. The man believed that he had driven his car 
to the bottom of the canyon and was hallucinating that there were objects 
that prevented him from moving.  A second backup helicopter had to be brought 
in to complete the mission.  During these incidents, the Bureau Of Indian 
Affairs called back to report a second fall victim in Havasu Creek at Mooney 
Falls.  A 34-year-old man had suffered a possible head injury, a broken 
wrist, and multiple abrasions.  Due to the location outside the park, the 
Coconino County Sheriff's Department was notified and an Arizona Department 
Of Public Safety (DPS) helicopter was dispatched out of Kingman.  When this 
helicopter later developed mechanical problems en route and had to return to 
base, another DPS helicopter was dispatched out of Flagstaff.  The remote 
location and lateness in the day became a concern and the NPS crew from the 
Beaver Falls incident was asked to handle the call at Mooney Falls.  The NPS 
aircraft was able to land near the patient and transport him to the original 
staging helispot for a transfer to Classic Lifeguard, which was still 
standing by with the first patient.  Michael Nash served as the IC for this 
series of calls, which occurred over a period of four hours and involved a 
total of six helicopters. [Ken Phillips, SAR Coordinator, GRCA, 5/25]
     
99-218 - Catoctin Mountain Park (MD) - Ordnance Disposal
     
On May 17th, a visitor reported a suspicious object in a backcountry section 
of the park.  Ranger John Kempisty found what appeared to be an unexploded 
mortar round left over from WWII military use of the area and secured the 
site.  On May 19th, emergency ordnance disposal (EOD) technicians from Fort 
Meade determined that the round was a 60mm, M-49, high-explosive shell and 
destroyed it on site.  Protection, resource management and red-carded 
personnel were involved in the coordinated response.  This is the first WWII 
ordnance item found in the park.  A DOD site restoration survey was recently 
completed; no items were found.  Although no further hazards are thought to 
exist, DOD personnel will be reviewing this earlier assessment.  [Roger 
Steintl, CR, CATO, 5/21]
     
99-219 - Coronado NM (AZ) - Illegal Aliens
     
Over the three-day period from May 23rd to the 25th, Border Patrol agents 
apprehended over 155 undocumented aliens on the park's east boundary.  Two 
associated "load" vehicles were impounded and towed by rangers after being 
abandoned during one particular smuggling attempt.  Backtracking by rangers 
revealed that the vast majority of those apprehended had crossed the 
international border on park lands.  [Fred Moosman, CR, CORO, 5/25]
     
FIRE ACTIVITY
     
NATIONAL PREPAREDNESS LEVEL - Level II
     
LARGE FIRE/INCIDENT SUMMARY 
     
                                                      Mon     Tue    %   Est
State      Unit              Fire/Incident   IMT      5/25    5/26  Con  Con
     
FL   Osceola NF              Friendly         T1    10,000  13,500   NR  6/5
     Apalachicola NF         Bay Creek        --       400     400   NR  NR  
     State                   NW Command       --    12,000  20,000   NR  NR 
     
CA   Modoc NF                Bell West        T2       391     377  100  CND
     
AZ   Coronado NF           * Mexico 8         T2         -   1,500   60  5/27
     
                                  Heading Notes
     
Unit        Agency = BIA area; NF = national forest; RU = CA state resource
            or ranger unit; RD = state ranger district; District = BLM 
            district; NWR = USFWS wildlife refuge
Fire        * = newly reported fire (on this report); Cx = complex; LSS =
            limited suppression strategy; CSS = containment suppression 
            strategy
IMT         T1 = Type 1; T2 = Type II; ST = State Team
% Con       Percent of fire contained; UNK = unknown; NR = no report 
Est Con     Estimated containment date; NEC = no estimated date of
            containment; CND = fully contained; NR = no report
     
NUMBER OF NEW FIRES (FOUR DAY TREND)
     
                    NPS    BIA      BLM     FWS    States   USFS     Total
     
Saturday, 5/22       1      5         4       0       27     17        54 
Sunday, 5/23         2      3         4       0       18     44        71 
Monday, 5/24         0     10         3       0      225     61       299 
Tuesday, 5/25        1      5         3       0       68     31       108
     
TOTAL COMMITTED RESOURCES (FOUR DAY TREND) 
     
                  Crews     Engines    Helicopters    Airtankers   Overhead
     
Saturday, 5/22      30         29           9             0           196 
Sunday, 5/23        49         35          14             0           285 
Monday, 5/24        64         69          18             1           302 
Tuesday, 5/25       88         72          20             2           941
     
CURRENT SITUATION
     
Fires continued to burn in the South and Southwest on Tuesday, but there was 
little activity elsewhere.  Very high and extreme fire indices were reported 
in Georgia, Arizona, Texas and New Mexico.  [NICC Incident Management 
Situation Report, 5/26]
     
RESOURCE MANAGEMENT AND PROTECTION
     
No entries.
     
OPERATIONAL NOTES
     
No entries.
     
MEMORANDA
     
No entries.
     
INTERCHANGE
     
No entries.
     
PARKS AND PEOPLE
     
No entries.
     
                                *  *  *  *  *
     
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Prepared by the Division of Ranger Activities, WASO, with the cooperation and 
support of Delaware Water Gap NRA.
     
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