|
NATIONAL PARK SERVICE MORNING REPORT BLACKBERRY EDITION Tuesday, May 16, 2006 =============================================================================================================== NOTICE The White House Flags Ordered to Remain at Half-Staff By order of President Bush, all United States flags lowered to half staff on Monday, May 15th, for Peace Officers Memorial Day are to remain at half staff through Tuesday, May 16th, in honor of former Congressman Gillespie “Sonny” Montgomery, who passed away last Friday. INCIDENTS Salem Maritime NHS/Saugus Ironworks NHS Heavy Rains and Flooding The very heavy rains that have been falling on coastal areas in Massachusetts led the governor to declare a state of emergency in Essex County on Sunday. Saugus Ironworks NHS was accordingly closed to visitation. The river there is at flood stage; the dock in the park is underwater and a nearby warehouse is flooded. Many of the streets surrounding the ironworks have also been closed. Flooding was also reported in several basements at Salem Maritime NHS, including those in the Derby House, Hawkes House and St. Joseph's Hall. In the latter, the flooding came within inches of the electric power service. At the request of both the park and the city, power was cut off to the building to avoid a potential explosion and damage to the structure. Water was also reportedly seeping into and flowing down some of the chimneys at the historic Narbonne House and Derby House. At the time of the report on late Sunday, however, the park remained open. Rain is expected to continue in the area for several days. [Patricia S. Trap, Superintendent] Lake Mead NRA Boating Accident, Follow-up on Drownings On the afternoon of Saturday, May 13th, an 18-year-old woman from California was critically injured when hit by a boat propeller. The woman was riding on the back of a personal watercraft (PWC) being driven by a 16-year-old girl when the PWC drove in front of a boat operated by a 16-year-old male. He tried to avoid the PWC, but was not able to miss it completely. The boat hit the rear end of the PWC and the passenger was hit several times by the boat's propeller. A witness to the accident called for help at about 2:20 p.m. and brought the injured woman to the launch ramp. She was treated by rangers and EMS personnel, then flown to UMC Trauma in Las Vegas. Meanwhile, searches continued yesterday for the two people who drowned in the lake over the weekend. On Sunday morning, rangers and the park's dive team recovered the body of the 16-year-old who drowned on Saturday night. They then resumed the search for the 39-year-old man who disappeared on Friday night in Overton Arm (not the Arizona side of the park as was previously reported). The search proved fruitless, though, and was called off at 5 p.m. [Roxanne Dey, Public Affairs Specialist] Glen Echo Park Fire in Maintenance Facility Just after 8 a.m. on Friday, May 12th, park staff notified USPP dispatch of smoke and a possible fire in a fenced maintenance facility within Glen Echo Park in Glen Echo, Maryland. The facility is used to house and store maintenance equipment and park operations support materials. Damage to the facility and equipment was estimated by fire investigators at approximately $20,000. No historic structures, artifacts or museum items were affected by the fire. The cause of the fire was determined to be accidental by Montgomery County and NPS structural fire officials. A faulty 120-volt electrical outlet located in an office/storage area was the fire's point of origin. [Kym Elder, Site Manager] OTHER NEWS Update on the NPS uniform program: HYPERLINK "http://inside.nps.gov/index.cfm?handler=viewnpsnewsarticle&type=Announcements&id=4455" http://inside.nps.gov/index.cfm?handler=viewnpsnewsarticle&type=Announcements&id=4455 Grady Arrington retires: HYPERLINK "http://inside.nps.gov/index.cfm?handler=viewcommunityarticle&type=PeopleNews&id=1226" http://inside.nps.gov/index.cfm?handler=viewcommunityarticle&type=PeopleNews&id=1226 Two GS-9 ranger positions at EVER: HYPERLINK "http://inside.nps.gov/index.cfm?handler=viewjobdetails&type=Jobs&id=2384" http://inside.nps.gov/index.cfm?handler=viewjobdetails&type=Jobs&id=2384 SDR position available at GLAC: HYPERLINK "http://inside.nps.gov/index.cfm?handler=viewjobdetails&type=Jobs&id=2383" http://inside.nps.gov/index.cfm?handler=viewjobdetails&type=Jobs&id=2383 * * * * * Prepared by Visitor and Resource Protection, WASO, with the cooperation and support of Delaware Water Gap NRA. --- ### --- |