NATIONAL PARK SERVICE
                           MORNING REPORT


To:         All National Park Service Areas and Offices

From:       Division of Ranger Activities, Washington Office

Day/Date:   Wednesday, May 31, 2000

ALMANAC

On this date in 1889, the South Fork Dam above Johnstown, 
Pennsylvania, broke after heavy rains, killing more than 2,200 
townspeople in the deadliest flood in American history.  Johnstown 
Flood National Memorial commemorates the disaster.

INCIDENTS

00-229 - Denali NP&P (AK) - Search

Climbers G.D., 21, from Montana, and G.H., 22, from 
Australia, disappeared and were presumed dead after being caught in an 
avalanche early on the afternoon on May 27th near the 8,500-foot level 
of 17,400-foot Mount Foraker, the second highest mountain in the 
Alaska Range and the sixth highest peak in North America. The two 
climbers were attempting a difficult route known as the "Infinite 
Spur" on the mountain's southwest face. Two other climbers saw the 
avalanche and reported the incident by radio to rangers at the 
Kahiltna base camp the following morning. Rangers flew to the scene 
but were unable to get a good look at the site because of poor 
lighting in the area. Ranger Kevin Moore later flew to the accident 
site on an Air National Guard Pavehawk helicopter; he spotted the 
climbers' abandoned base camp near the 8,000-foot level on the route 
and saw their tracks covered by avalanche debris. There were no other 
indications that they'd survived. Late that evening, though, ranger 
Daryl Miller received a phone call from the wife of one of the two 
climbers who'd witnessed the avalanche. He had called his spouse on 
his cellular phone and reported that G.D. and G.H. had been seen at 
a camp about 900 feet below his location. The park's Lama helicopter 
flew to the site in the morning and confirmed that the two men were 
uninjured. They had been on the periphery of the avalanche and thus 
escaped. They are continuing their climb of the mountain. [Jane 
Tranel, PIO, DENA, 5/28 and 5/29]

00-230 - Denali NP&P (AK) - Climbing Fatality

Climber S.S., 38, of Salt Lake City, Utah, was killed on the 
evening of May 25th near 8,400-foot Mount Johnson in the Ruth Gorge on 
the Mount McKinley massif. S.S. and fellow climber Tim Wagner, 34, 
also from Salt Lake City, were attempting to climb a serac (a large 
mass of glacier ice remaining behind in a crevasse after glacial 
movement or melting) near the East Buttress of the mountain around 8 
p.m. that evening.  The serac is located near the 4,500-foot level of 
the mountain.  Wagner was near an ice cave at the base of the serac 
testing the ice with an ice axe when a 50-foot wall of ice collapsed 
on top of S.S..  S.S. was standing near the base of the icefall taking 
photographs at the time. Wagner's legs were pinned to the ground by 
falling ice boulders, which also fractured his left fibula, but he was 
able to extricate himself from the debris. He searched for S.S., but 
could not see or hear him under the avalanche debris.  Wagner was able 
to ski up the Ruth Glacier and met with other climbers near Mount 
Dickey. One of those climbers skied to a nearby camp to gather 
additional help; the others skied back to the accident scene to look 
for S.S. and later radioed an air taxi for assistance. The park was 
notified just after 11 a.m. the next morning. An air taxi near the 
scene ferried Wagner off the glacier and to Talkeetna for medical 
assistance.  He was treated at a local clinic and released. Rangers 
from Talkeetna flew to the scene on the evening of May 26th.  They 
determined that S.S. is buried under tons of vehicle-sized ice blocks 
and that the area is unstable.  His body will not be retrieved. S.S. 
was an experience climber, as is Wagner. The pair climbed Mount 
Johnson last week and had been on the glacier since May 15th. [Tom 
Habecker, DR, North District, DENA, 5/27]

00-231 - Denali NP&P (AK) - Rescue

Climbers W.R., 45, and R.G., 34, both of Bend, 
Oregon, were rescued from the 17,200-foot high camp on Mount McKinley 
early on the morning of May 27th. The two were suffering from high 
altitude pulmonary edema/high altitude cerebral edema (HAPE/HACE). 
HAPE and HACE are manifestations of failure to adapt to the stress of 
high altitude and are not individual diseases. Hypoxia (lack of 
oxygen) is the underlying cause in all cases; both HAPE and HACE can 
kill. The park's high-altitude Lama helicopter, piloted by Jim Hood, 
flew to the high camp at 9 a.m. and transferred W.R. and R.G. to 
the base camp at the mountain's 7,200-foot level. They were then flown 
out to a hospital in Anchorage. The two men were on separate guided 
climbs when they became ill. [Jane Tranel, PIO, DENA, 5/27]

00-232 - Grand Canyon NP (AZ) - Rescue

On the evening of May 24th, park dispatch received a call from an 
emergency satellite phone at Tuweep, a remote North Rim location. The 
caller reported that 16 hikers were in trouble on the difficult Lava 
Falls route. The group, all of whom were from Lehigh College in 
Pennsylvania, were part of a Horizon Training Services advanced 
leadership forum. Temperatures during the day had been over 100 
degrees. Six made it out and contacted a visitor, who made the call. 
Two of the six had altered levels of consciousness; many of the ten 
hikers below the rim were reportedly in and out of consciousness and 
others were vomiting. North Rim rangers responded by vehicle, but it 
took three hours to arrive on scene. They contacted one of the 
remaining ten hikers, who had made it out. He reported that the other 
nine had hiked back to the river to spend the night and that there 
were no immediate life-threatening medical problems. At first light, 
an Arizona DPS helicopter flew all nine back to the trailhead. One was 
then flown to Flagstaff Medical Center with a knee injury. None of the 
remaining 15 required medical attention. Over 20 interagency rescuers 
responded from the park, Mojave County and Colorado City and were 
supported by three helicopters, one each from the park, DPS, and 
Classic Lifeguard Helicopter. [Jeff Martinelli, IC, GRCA, 5/26]

00-233 - Assateague Island NS (MD/VA) - Special Event

President Clinton visited the park on Friday, May 26th, to unveil new 
federal initiatives to protect U.S. coastal waters, beaches and coral 
reefs. Staff participation was nearly total because of the nature of 
the event. State, county and municipal agencies supported the park's 
protection staff, which had been augmented by a Northeast Region SET 
team. There were no incidents. [John Burns, CR, ASIS, 5/30]

00-234 - Olympic NP (WA) - Search

J.B., 22, of Forks, Washington, remains missing two days after his 
canoe tipped over on Lake Ozette in windy conditions and rough water. 
Bos and two companions, also from Forks, were canoeing on the lake on 
Monday afternoon when their canoe was swamped by wind-driven waves. 
The two other men were able to swim to shore; when J.B. did not appear, 
they hiked back to their car and drove to a nearby residence to report 
him missing. Rangers searched along the lake by boat and by walking 
and wading along the shore. An additional patrol boat was brought to 
Ozette from Lake Crescent late on Monday night to aid in the search. A 
team of five park divers joined them on Tuesday morning. [Curt Sauer, 
CR, OLYM, 5/30]

00-235 - Lake Meredith NRA (TX) - Drowning

On the evening of May 18th, J.F., 15, of Amarillo, was visiting 
Stilling Basin below the Sanford Dam with his older sister, brother 
and other family members. Since he suffered from Down's Syndrome, his 
family kept him out of the water. J.F.'s sister left to get him a 
sandwich; when she returned less than a minute later, he was gone. The 
family searched for him in the crowded day use area for over an hour 
before notifying the park. A search was begun with ranger Mary Dyer as 
IC. It went on for 13 hours and eventually involved 60 people from 
agencies in the surrounding communities. Two aircraft also flew over 
the search area. Infrared and night vision equipment assisted ground 
searchers, who walked the swamps with flashlights through the night. A 
helicopter observer spotted the boy's body in the lake at 8 a.m. the 
following morning. He was in nine feet of water. The F. family 
thanked the park's staff for all its efforts. This is the first 
fatality in the park in 1,260 days. There were 98 fatalities in the 
park during it's first 32 years of existence. [John Benjamin, 
Superintendent, LAMR, 5/29]

00-236 - Lake Mead NRA (NV/AZ) - Drowning

E.M., 17, was swimming in Government Wash with some friends on 
the afternoon of Monday, May 29th. E.M., who was not a good swimmer, 
disappeared under the water. Park and Nevada Division of Wildlife 
personnel searched for him in the lake and found him about 20 feet off 
shore. He was flown by helicopter to a hospital in Las Vegas, where he 
was pronounced dead. [Dispatch, LAME, 5/30]

00-237 - Little River Canyon NP (AL) - Drowning

Ranger Jon Newman received a report of a missing 15-year-old at Canyon 
Mouth Park on May 28th. Although he was part of an Hispanic group 
which spoke no English, Newman was able to acquire enough information 
to lead him to believe that the boy had been last seen wading into the 
river downstream from a popular swimming area and that he had been 
missing for over an hour. A local rescue squad was summoned to assist 
in the search. Three boats were utilized to drag that portion of the 
river. Search teams found him in about six feet of water approximately 
ten feet from shore, just downstream from the point where he'd last 
been seen. The boy's sister was part  of the group. She told rangers 
through an interpreter that her brother had just arrived in the U.S. 
from Guatemala about a week earlier. [Dwight Dixon, CR, LIRI, 5/29]

FIRE ACTIVITY

NATIONAL PREPAREDNESS LEVEL - Level III

CURRENT SITUATION

New large fires were reported yesterday in the South, western Great 
Basin and the Rockies. Initial attack was moderate in the South, 
California and the Rockies and light elsewhere. High winds and low 
relative humidities are forecast for Colorado, New Mexico, Utah and 
Arizona this afternoon and will challenge suppression efforts on all 
large fires in those areas.

The following resources were committed nationwide as of yesterday 
(changes from yesterday's numbers in parentheses): 120 crews (+ 4), 
702 overhead (- 1), 239 engines (+ 63), 49 helicopters (- 12), and 37 
air tankers (+ 7).

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

NPS FIRES

Bandelier NM (NM) - An area command team and two Type II teams are 
assigned to the fire, which is still active within containment lines 
on the west side. Crews are unable to reach the fire directly due to 
extremely steep terrain. A total of 20 crews, two engines and three 
helicopters remain committed to the fire.

SIGNIFICANT NON-NPS FIRES 

Kaibab NF (AZ) - The Pumpkin fire (25 miles northwest of Flagstaff) 
has now burned 7,500 acres. It's 30% contained. A total of 904 
firefighters and overhead have been committed.

Santa Fe NF (NM) - The Viveash fire (five miles northwest of Pecos) 
has burned 7,000 acres. It was extremely active yesterday, and 
long-range spotting continued until after dark. Numerous summer and 
year-round homes are threatened. 

Florida State - The 5,480-acre Carlton Reserve fire (10 miles 
northwest of Port Charlotte) was reported contained last Saturday, but 
extremely dry conditions caused the fire to cross lines and burn 
another 770 acres. 

OUTLOOK

NICC has posted a RED FLAG WARNING for low relative humidity and 
strong winds in western Colorado and northern California, and FIRE 
WEATHER WATCHES for low relative humidity and strong winds in northern 
Arizona, low relative humidity and strong winds and high Haines 
indices in northern New Mexico, and low relative humidity and unstable 
air in the Florida Panhandle.

[NICC Incident Management Situation Report, 5/31]

CULTURAL/NATURAL RESOURCE MANAGEMENT

No submissions.

OPERATIONAL NOTES

Smoke Alarm Recall - Universal Security Systems, in cooperation with 
the Consumer Product Safety Commission, is voluntarily recalling about 
34,000 smoke alarms. The smoke alarms can fail to sound when smoke or 
fire is present; a capacitor in the alarm can burn out, releasing 
smoke and melting the cover. The model number can be identified by 
removing the cover from the base and looking on the back for the 
manufacture date code and model number. The smoke alarms are made of 
white plastic. Brands, models, descriptions and date codes are as 
follows:

Safe-T-Alert, Model SA-785 - AC only unit - date code BCSR
Universal, Model SS-785 - AC unit only - date code BCSR
Universal, Model SS-795 - AC/DC unit with battery backup - date code 
BESS
USI Electric, Model USI-1203 - AC/DC unit with battery backup - date 
code BESS

Some alarms do not have the brand name printed on the unit; consumers 
should look at the model number. Most alarms were sold between April, 
1998, and June, 1999. If you have one, call Universal Security 
Instruments toll-free at 800-390-4321 and receive a free, replacement 
alarm. [Joe Mazzeo, NERO]

MEMORANDA

No submissions.

INTERCHANGE

No submissions.

PARKS AND PEOPLE

No submissions.

TRAINING/MEETING CALENDAR

The NPS training/meeting calendar follows this edition of the Morning 
Report as a separate message.

                            *  *  *  *  *

Distribution of the Morning Report is through a mailing list managed 
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address requests pertaining to receipt of the Morning Report to your 
servicing hub coordinator.  The Morning Report is also available on 
the web at http://www.nps.gov/morningreport

Prepared by the Division of Ranger Activities, WASO, with the 
cooperation and support of Delaware Water Gap NRA.

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