Canyonlands National Park (UT)
Self-Rescue from Blue John Canyon
On the afternoon of Saturday, April 26th, A.R., 27, of Aspen,
Colorado, was solo canyoneering in remote Blue John Canyon, adjacent to
the park's Maze District. His intended one-day route was down the main
fork of Blue John Canyon to its intersection with Horseshoe Canyon, then
down Horseshoe Canyon into the Maze District, then out via Horseshoe
Canyon. In a three-foot wide and hundred-foot high section of Blue John
Canyon, a boulder weighing approximately 800 pounds and measuring about
42 by 54 by 30 inches shifted, pinning A.R.'s right arm. He was
unable to move and was trapped in a standing position. A.R.
unsuccessfully attempted to rescue himself from his stranded location
utilizing technical climbing equipment that he carried with him. On the
morning of Tuesday, April 29th, A.R. ran out of water. On Thursday,
the park and Emery County Sheriff's Office were notified that A.R.
was missing and four days overdue from reporting for work. ICS was put
into effect with a unified command; each agency assumed a command
function and provided resources. Additional support and resources were
provided by Utah Public Safety, the Wayne County Sheriff's Office, the
Moab Valley Fire Department, the Bureau of Land Management and Grand
County Search and Rescue. That same morning, A.R. realized that his
survival required drastic action, so he amputated his arm below the
elbow utilizing his pocketknife. He then applied a tourniquet and
administered first aid, rigged anchors and fixed a rope to rappel to the
floor of Blue John Canyon, and hiked downstream into Horseshoe Canyon.
A.R. was found there by a Utah Public Safety helicopter at 3 p.m. and
was transported to Allen Memorial Hospital in Moab. He was stabilized
there, then transported to St. Mary's Hospital in Grand Junction,
Colorado, by a Care Flight helicopter for further treatment. A.R.'s
arm was recovered on May 4th. Several strategies were considered for
recovering the arm by the park's safety officer, engineer and other
employees. An assortment of equipment was backpacked into the site,
including jacks, hoists, ropes, pulleys, wrecking bars and cribbing.
Once on site, the riggers determined that a grip hoist could be used to
lift the boulder, so a raising station was set up. The boulder was
wrapped in heavy duty webbing and the grip hoist was used along with a
heavy duty jack to lift and shift the boulder far enough to remove the
trapped limb. A.R. is an avid outdoors person and in exceptional
physical condition. He is known to have climbed 49 of the 14,000-foot
peaks in Colorado, and was preparing for an upcoming Denali expedition.
His outdoor pursuits are outlined on his web page at www.geocities.com/
aronralston. Media interest has been extremely intense. The park has
had as many as five information officers working simultaneously to
handle calls, including numerous requests for live
appearances.
[Submitted by Steve Swanke, Unified Incident
Commander]
Canyonlands National Park (UT)
Rescue of Seriously-Injured Hiker
Ba.S., 69, was hiking in a remote section of the Island
in the Sky District on Monday, April 28th, when she fell about 30 feet
in steep and rugged terrain. Ba.S. sustained an angulated fracture
of one arm and a significant head injury that caused her to lose
consciousness. Her husband, Bi.S., attempted to drag her into
the shade, but was unable to move her due to the terrain. He then hiked
about a mile to the road, flagged down a vehicle, and reported the
accident. ICS was put into effect, with ranger Alyssa Van Schmus as IC.
Ranger/EMT Mark Pita was first on scene and provided life-saving care.
Ba.S. was evacuated through the steep and rugged terrain by
a litter team and flown via Care Flight helicopter to St. Mary's
Hospital in Grand Junction, where she remains unconscious and in
critical condition.
[Submitted by Steve Swanke, Acting Chief
Ranger]
Acadia National Park (ME)
Search in Progress
C.C., 30, who lives adjacent to the park in Bar Harbor,
has been missing from his home since 5 a.m. on April 28th. C.C., who
has been described as despondent, was last seen outside his residence
and said that he was going for a hike. Rangers, Bar Harbor PD officers,
and Maine Department of Inland Fisheries officers have been conducting
search operations and investigations under ICS. As of yesterday, C.C.
was still missing. Approximately 100 people are involved in the effort,
including grid searchers, dog teams, divers, hose teams and boat and air
searchers.
[Submitted by Kevin Cochary, Incident Commander]
FIRE MANAGEMENT
National Interagency Fire Center
NIFC Situation Report - Monday, May 5, 2003
Preparedness Level 2
There were 165 new fires on Friday, 33 on Saturday, and just 11 yesterday. As of this morning, there were only three large fires burning in the country — a 2,150-acre blaze in Minnesota that is 80% contained, a wildland use fire that has reached 9,300 acres in the Gila NF in New Mexico, and a 4,900-acre fire that's 90% contained on Eglin AFB in Florida.
Columbia Response search operations have been completed in Texas. Two Type 2 teams (Mollinex and Swope) are closing out operations in Longview and Corsicana. Searchers from 48 agencies covered a total of 719,858 acres and recovered 37% of the total weight of the shuttle. A Type 2 team (Suwyn) has been assigned to search operations near Modena, Utah. Approximately 10% of the assigned search area — a total of about 865 acres — has been covered so far.
Fire Danger
| State |
4/30 |
5/1 |
5/2 |
5/3 |
5/4 |
5/5 |
| Alaska |
-- |
-- |
-- |
VH |
-- |
-- |
| Arizona |
VX |
VH |
VX |
VH |
VX |
VX |
| Colorado |
VX |
VH |
-- |
-- |
VX |
-- |
| Kansas |
-- |
-- |
-- |
-- |
VX |
-- |
| Massachusetts |
VX |
VH |
VX |
-- |
-- |
-- |
| Michigan |
-- |
-- |
-- |
VH |
VX |
VX |
| Minnesota |
VX |
VH |
VX |
VH |
VX |
VX |
| N. Hampshire |
VX |
VH |
-- |
-- |
-- |
-- |
| New Mexico |
-- |
-- |
VX |
-- |
VX |
VX |
| Oklahoma |
-- |
-- |
-- |
-- |
-- |
VX |
| Texas |
-- |
-- |
-- |
-- |
-- |
VX |
| Wisconsin |
-- |
-- |
-- |
VH |
VX |
VX |
VH — Very high
EX — Extreme
VX — Very high to extreme
Fire Weather Watches and Warnings
No watches or warnings are posted for today.
National Resource Commitments
| Day |
4/29 |
4/30 |
5/1 |
5/2 |
5/3 |
5/4 |
5/5 |
| Crews |
63 |
54 |
38 |
11 |
64 |
65 |
67 |
| Engines |
48 |
73 |
52 |
37 |
28 |
24 |
20 |
| Helicopters |
11 |
10 |
3 |
7 |
5 |
4 |
3 |
| Air Tankers |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
| Overhead |
1,351 |
1,356 |
1,130 |
952 |
715 |
384 |
384 |
National Team Commitments
| State |
Type Team |
Team IC |
Incident/Fire |
Acres |
Percent Contain |
Est Full Contain |
| TX |
T2 |
Mollinex |
Columbia Response |
719,858 |
100% |
N/A |
| TX |
T2 |
Swope |
" |
" |
" |
" |
| UT |
T2 |
Suwyn |
" |
865 |
10% |
" |
OPERATIONAL NOTES
Office of Policy
Director's Order #60 Available for Review and Comment
Draft Director's Order #60: Aviation Management, is available for review and comment for a 14-day period. The draft includes minor revisions based on comments received during the 60-day review period. Any further comments should be sent to Bill Spruill, the National Aviation Manager by no later than May 19. The 14-day draft can be viewed on the policy web site at www.nps.gov/policy/DOrders/DO60--14-day.htm. [Submitted by Chick Fagan, chick_fagan@nps.gov, 202-208-7469] More Information...
Servicewide Training
Weekly Listing of Operations Training Opportunities
Operations Training Calendar
This calendar appears every Monday as an addendum to the Morning Report and a separate entry for InsideNPS. It is not meant to be replace the Learning Place; rather it is a quick summary of available training with links (as available) to relevant Learning Place pages. Please note:
- New entries are in bold face.
- Submissions for other training courses should conform to the style used here.
- Please include the URL to the web sites where readers can obtain the requisite forms and/or find out additional information about the training course. If a URL is not specifically listed, the announcement can likely be found on the Learning Place, the NPS training page found at http://www.nps.gov/training/announcements/index.doc.
- Closing dates for applications are underscored.
**********************************************************************************************
May
May 12: Park Medic Refresher, University Medical Center, Fresno, CA. Twelve hours of advanced life support continuing education. The course will cover a large portion of the NREMT mandatory core refresher requirements for EMT intermediates. To register, contact Donna Armijo at UMC (559-459-5105); for general information, call Debbie Brenchely at Sequoia-Kings Canyon NP (559-565-4334). [Randy-Coffman@nps.gov]
June
June 9 — June 10: Root Cause Analysis for Incident Investigation, Phoenix, AZ. Root cause analysis is a critical element of the incident investigation and reporting management system. This course, presented by Apollo Associated Services, Inc, is designed to establish a cadre of practitioners within each region. Participants will learn to understand, and apply the problem solving and decision making process of root cause analysis to their "real world" problems by developing clear and quantified problem definitions, establishing the cause and effect relationships for the problem, and, most importantly, developing creative solutions that attack and eliminate the causes of the problems. Closes on May 9th. For further information and a nomination form, contact Shirley Rowley via email or at 303-969-2536. [Shirley_Rowley@nps.gov]
June 11 — June 12: Root Cause Analysis for Incident Investigation, Phoenix, AZ. Same as above.
June 17 — June 19: NFPA 101 — Life Safety Code Seminar, Reno, NV. The course will provide a better understanding of the life safety code and applications of the code to NPS structures. It will provide a bridge between NFPA 101 and other related NFPA standards. Applications myst be submitted to Shirley Rowley in Risk Management (303-969-2536) by May 12th. For further information, contact either Shirley Rowley or Hal Spencer at NIFC (208-387-5245). [Shirley Rowley, WASO]
June 24 — October 3: Basic Law Enforcement Training (NPRI-306), FLETC, Glynco, GA. Closes on May 19th. [Wiley_Golden@nps.gov]
July
July 14 — July 18: Archeological Resource Protection Training (XP-ARPTP-301), Juneau, AK. Closes on June 2nd. [Wiley_Golden@nps.gov]
August
August 5 — August 8: Fundamentals of Special Park Uses, Albuquerque, NM. The course provides comprehensive guidance on all aspects of special park uses. Closes on June 27th. Email nomination forms via Lotus Notes to Margie Fresquez or fax them to her at 505-988-6099. [Delpha Maunders, IMRO]
August 11 — August 15: Archeological Resource Protection Training (XP-ARPTP-301), Milwaukee, WI. Closes on June 26th. [Wiley_Golden@nps.gov]
PARKS AND PEOPLE
Fort McHenry National Monument and Historic Shrine (MD)
Law Enforcement Ranger(s)
The park will be hiring up to two law enforcement rangers to provide law enforcement and undertake counter-terrorism operations and event security. One may also serve as the park EMS, fire protection, and safety lead. The park will be backfilling for up to a year (effective June 1st) behind an employee on military leave. This is a great opportunity to obtain incident and interagency management skills. The park consists of an 18th century star-shaped fort on 40 acres of riverfront. Park housing may be available and reasonable housing is adjacent to the park. Baltimore has a variety of cultural attractions, and is close to other national park sites, including Gettysburg and the National Mall sites in Washington, D.C. Applicants should contact Charlie Strickfaden, chief ranger, at 410-962-4290, ext. 224, for more information, and send applications directly to the park at 2400 East Fort Avenue, Baltimore, MD 21230. [Charlie Strickfaden, FOMC]
Submission standards for the Morning Report can be found on the left side of the front page of InsideNPS. All reports should be submitted via email to Bill Halainen at Delaware Water Gap NRA, with a copy to your regional office and a copy to Dennis Burnett in Division of Law Enforcement and Emergency Services, WASO.
Prepared by the Division of Law Enforcement and Emergency Services, WASO, with the cooperation and support of Delaware Water Gap NRA.