NPS Morning Report - Monday, April 22, 2002


                           NATIONAL PARK SERVICE
                              MORNING REPORT


To:         All National Park Service Areas and Offices

From:       Division of Ranger Activities, Washington Office

Day/Date:   Monday, April 22, 2002

                              *** NOTICE ***

National Park Service employees can now access the Morning Report and a
host of other major NPS web sites from a single source - InsideNPS, the
Service's new Intranet web page. It can be found at
http://www.inside.nps.gov/, but is accessible only through government
terminals. The site continues to evolve. Effective today, it has a new
"People" section where you can enter or find information on your colleagues
and friends from across the NPS.

INCIDENTS

02-119 - Cuyahoga Valley NRA (OH) - Rescue

A 13-year-old boy sustained serious injuries when he slipped and fell 65
feet from the top of Brandywine Falls around 5:30 p.m. on April 17th.
Rangers Cheryl Hess and Cindy Swaggard were notified by park dispatch and
responded. They found that five boys, ages 12 and 13, had climbed to the
top of the falls and crossed the fencing into the closed area above the
falls. They were playing with a raft that one of them had brought along
when one of the boys walked to the edge of the falls and began throwing
things off. He lost his footing while trying to dislodge a log stuck at the
edge of the falls and went over. Two visitors, M.W. and M.G.,
were at the falls with their children and saw the boy fall. M.W.
made his way to the boy, who was lying faced down in a deep pool, while
M.G. called 911 on his cell phone. M.W. entered the pool, which was over
his head, and swam to the northern edge of the stream with the boy,
supporting him as he went. He then put the boy's head on a rock and let his
body float in the water. The boy wasn't breathing, so M.W. gave him two
rescue breaths and compressions, at which point the boy vomited and resumed
breathing on his own. M.G. entered the water to help M.W.. The water
level of the stream was rising, so M.W. grabbed a life preserver floating
nearby, placed it under the boy's neck, and moved him up on a rock shelf.
When Swaggard arrived, she managed the scene, working with county deputies
to maintain a safe closure around the area and interview witnesses; Hess
called in the county SAR team (of which she is an active member), assisted
in the technical rescue, and coordinated the landing of the medevac
helicopter. Swaggard and Hess communicated information via radio for teams
on both sides of the falls due to the number of agencies involved and the
lack of common radio frequencies. A high-angle rescue system was set up;
the boy was stabilized, placed on a litter, and brought up the vertical
north side of the gorge at 6:50 p.m. The boy was taken to Akron Children's
Hospital, where he is listed in critical condition following surgery.
M.W. and M.G. were then extricated. M.G. sustained an injury to his
left ankle during the rescue and was taken to a local medical center for
treatment. Firefighters, EMS personnel and police officers from twelve
agencies responded to the incident. An on-scene debriefing was conducted
for the 60 personnel involved in the operations. [Mosie Welch, DR, North
District, CUVA, 4/18]

02-220 - Mojave NP (CA) - Rescue

On the evening of April 12th, ranges Kirk Gebicke and Tim Duncan rescued a
visiting physician from Belgium who had been injured while hiking with his
family in the Silver Peak area in Granite Mountains. The doctor had lost
his footing and dislocated his shoulder in the subsequent fall. He was in
severe pain and could not walk. Also responding were local sheriff, fire
and EMS personnel. The doctor and his family were about three miles into a
wilderness area. Due to the steep shale slope and surrounding mountains,
rescuers decided to wait until daylight to evacuate him. San Bernadino
County Sheriff's Office air rescue flew to the scene and paramedics
administered pain medication. The injured physician was then flown by
helicopter to Palm Springs Hospital. [Sean McGuinness, CR, MOJA, 4/18]

02-221 - Blue Ridge Parkway (NC/VA) - Drug Interdiction

Ranger Steve Buxton investigated a dumping incident in the park on the
morning of April 8th which led to the discovery of discarded manufacturing
equipment - and 99 marijuana plants. A suspect was also identified, and a
check on him led to the discovery that there were active warrants against
him and that he had an extensive history of trafficking in controlled
substances. Buxton, DEA agents, and Roanoke officers conducted a "knock and
talk" with the suspect at his residence. He was in the process of packing
to move out of the state when contacted. Through information obtained
during the interview, plain view observations, and a consent search, Buxton
and the officers found and seized more than two pounds of processed
marijuana, 102 cakes of mushrooms, and a .40 caliber handgun with an
altered serial number. The man was taken into custody on local charges;
federal charges are being reviewed. Buxton is the case ranger. [John
Garrison, LES, BLRI, 4/18]

FIRE MANAGEMENT

National Fire Situation

Daily preparation and dissemination of the national fire report has been
temporarily suspended due to lack of activity.

Park Fire Situation

Indiana Dunes NL (IN) - The Bingo Fire was contained at 396 acres on the
evening of April 18th. Miller Woods was reopened for public use the same
day. During the time it was burning, the fire threatened 50 residences, 15
commercial properties and four outbuildings; among the buildings threatened
was a steel mill coal handling facility, a large apartment complex, a
number of single-family dwellings, and the park's environmental education
center. Sections of the boardwalk adjacent the center were lost, however;
the estimated cost of replacement has been placed at $100,000. The fire may
have been caused by a train, as both the Bingo Fire and separate Bingo 2
Fire began along railroad tracks. [ICS-209, Bingo Fire, prepared by Al
Nash, FMO, INDU]

Park Fire Danger

Extreme - Lake Mead NRA
Very High - N/A
High - Hawaii Volcanoes NP

[NPS Situation Summary Report, 4/21]

                               *  *  *  *  *

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

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