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NATIONAL PARK SERVICE MORNING REPORT BLACKBERRY EDITION Tuesday, June 27, 2006 =============================================================================================================== INCIDENTS Great Smoky Mountains NP Multiple Significant Incidents Over the three week period between June 3rd and June 21st, rangers handled a number of significant incidents throughout the park along with 22 motor vehicle accidents, ten alcohol-related incidents, eight drug-related incidents, 20 SAR/EMS incidents, and numerous other frontcountry and backcountry incidents: Visitor Seriously Burned in Accident - On the evening of June 15th, a 31-year-old man from Lewisville, North Carolina, was camping in the Cosby campground with his 10-year-old son and two 14-year-old nephews. He directed the boys to fill their camping stoves from a can of white gas, which they did in an open area beside a fire ring. After filling the stoves, the man attempted to light a campfire within the fire ring, unaware that the boys had spilled some fuel on the ground. He started the fire with the white gas can still sitting beside the fire ring. The fuel on the ground ignited and set the can on fire. The man tried to kick it to the road with his left leg, but instead knocked it over. He kicked it again with his right leg, causing the fuel to splash on his legs and onto the ground, setting both his pants and the ground on fire. He patted his pants with his hand, then pulled them off. Other campers showed up and helped put the fire out. Witnesses said that there was a wall of fire about eight feet high. After receiving advice from other campers, the man got into his truck with the three boys and drove to Fort Sanders Hospital in Sevierville, about 30 miles away. He received initial treatment there, then was flown to the Chattanooga Burn Center. Doctors determined that he'd sustained second and third degree burns over about 50% of his body. Both of his legs, both arms, and his left hand were burned. He was scheduled to spend four days in the burn center, then to recuperate at home. Ranger Larry Hartman is the lead investigator for this incident. Pedestrian Hit By Car - On Saturday, June 17th, a 47-year-old motorcyclist from Peoria, Illinois, stopped along the Newfound Gap Road and walked across the road to take photos of the scenery. When he turned to walk back to his bike, he stepped directly into the path of an on-coming mini-van. Great Smokies rangers Melody Morrison, April Lee and KK Stuart and Blue Ridge ranger Chip Buchanan responded. When they arrived, they found that the man was semi-conscious and suffering from severe trauma, including a possible pelvis fracture, acute deformity in both lower extremities, probable internal abdominal injuries resulting in uncontrollable internal hemorrhaging, and severe deformity of his right shoulder. The rangers administered basic life support. The road was closed, making it possible for a LifeStar medevac helicopter to land near the accident site. Attempts to obtain an adequate airway were unsuccessful, so he was flown to the UT Trauma Center in Knoxville. He was at first in critical condition, but now has been upgraded to serious condition. The man was still wearing his motorcycle helmet at the time, which probably saved his life. Assist With Car Clout Arrest - Ranger Carin Harvey saw three people in a vehicle in the Lakeview area of the park acting suspiciously, causing her to suspect that they were braking into cars. She contacted them and saw a crowbar in the vehicle. After the vehicle left the area, Harvey began surveillance of the parking lot in anticipation of their return. After a short time, they reappeared and Harvey saw some items thrown from the vehicle into a trashcan. The vehicle then quickly left the area. Harvey checked the trashcan, found a purse, and called the Swain County Sheriff's Office to report her suspicions. Swain County deputies stopped the vehicle in Bryson City and found other evidence of stolen property inside it. All three eventually confessed to breaking into cars and stealing items from them. All the thefts were outside the park and are being handled by the sheriff's office. Near Drowning, Life Saved - Ranger Bill Ramsey received a report of a drowning victim on the Little River just outside the park in Townsend. Ramsey responded and helped Townsend FD personnel administer CPR. The CPR proved effective and rescuers were able to detect a weak pulse and respiration after a few minutes. The victim was flown to the UT Medical Center and didn't regain consciousness for several days. A full recovery is now expected. Multiple Car Clouts - The park received a total of 13 car clout reports on June 21st. Each of the vehicles had a window shattered and each had pry marks under the window frames. The incidents occurred throughout the Tennessee side of the park - at Alum Cave trailhead on the Newfound Gap Road, Laurel Falls trailhead on Little River Road, Metcalf Bottoms picnic area on Little River Road, and Townsend Wye on the western side of the park. Purses with cash and credit cards were taken from each of the vehicles. Some leads have been developed and an investigation is underway. [Rick Brown, Assistant Chief Ranger] Cumberland Island NS Two Teenage Boys Drown Two 16-year-old boys drowned while swimming off Sea Camp beach late on the morning of Saturday, June 24th. Witnesses report that the two young men were swimming for about 15 minutes when family members lost sight of them. As soon as they received the call, rangers began a search for them. They were assisted by two officers and two rescue divers from the Georgia Department of National Resources as well as personnel from the Coast Guard. One of the boys was found about 40 minutes after he'd last been seen. Rangers administered CPR until a medevac helicopter arrived and flew him to Shands Hospital in Jacksonville, Florida. Shortly after the helicopter departed, rangers found the second boy and again administered CPR until a second helicopter arrived on scene to take him to Shands Hospital. Both were later pronounced dead. [Dennis Parsons, Chief Ranger] Harpers Ferry NHP Sentencing in Poaching Case Ranger Tim Morrison was conducting a poaching patrol at School House Ridge South Battlefield just before 7 a.m. last Thanksgiving when he heard several gunshots and saw two men wearing camouflage and carrying long arms. Ranger Robert Baker backed up Morrison and the two men were taken into custody. One was identified as R.L.L., 23, a convicted felon; the other was a juvenile. At the time, R.L.L was wearing an NPS fleece jacket with an arrowhead patch on the left sleeve. Investigators determined that the jacket had been stolen from a park maintenance worker two months earlier at the same location (it had been hung on a fence while the employee worked). The juvenile reported that R.L.L intended to impersonate a protection ranger and confiscate weapons from other poachers that they might contact that morning. On January 18th, Morrison and an ATF special agent testified before a federal grand jury in Martinsburg, West Virginia. The grand jury indicted R.L.L on charges of being a felon in possession of a firearm and of impersonating an officer. On March 27th, R.L.L entered into a plea agreement with the government and pled guilty to the first charge. On June 20th, R.L.L was sentenced to 18 months in federal prison with no possibility of early release. [Jennifer Flynn, Chief Ranger] OTHER NEWS Other news of interest from today's edition of InsideNPS, which can be found at this address if your inside the NPS ( HYPERLINK "http://inside.nps.gov/" http://inside.nps.gov/) and at this address if you're outside the NPS ( HYPERLINK "http://www.nps.gov/applications/digest/" http://www.nps.gov/applications/digest/). Note that not all articles that appear in the former make it into the latter: Grand Canyon NP - The North Rim of the Grand Canyon has closed due to spread of Warm Fire and will remain closed until further notice: HYPERLINK "http://inside.nps.gov/index.cfm?handler=viewnpsnewsarticle&type=Announcements&id=4588" http://inside.nps.gov/index.cfm?handler=viewnpsnewsarticle&type=Announcements&id=4588 NAGPRA - Updated guidance for NPS compliance with NAGPRA is now available in hard copy notebook form. HYPERLINK "http://inside.nps.gov/index.cfm?handler=viewnpsnewsarticle&type=Announcements&id=4584" http://inside.nps.gov/index.cfm?handler=viewnpsnewsarticle&type=Announcements&id=4584 Park Planning and Special Studies - A new tool has been created to assist parks and planners with the selection of indicators and standards for user capacity. This new user capacity database is now available for all NPS offices. HYPERLINK "http://inside.nps.gov/index.cfm?handler=viewnpsnewsarticle&type=Announcements&id=4580" http://inside.nps.gov/index.cfm?handler=viewnpsnewsarticle&type=Announcements&id=4580 Redwood NP - This is the 40th and last season in the NPS for Bill and Nadine Pierce. Bill's last day as superintendent at Redwood is August 18th. HYPERLINK "http://inside.nps.gov/index.cfm?handler=viewcommunityarticle&type=PeopleNews&id=1271" http://inside.nps.gov/index.cfm?handler=viewcommunityarticle&type=PeopleNews&id=1271 * * * * * Prepared by Visitor and Resource Protection, WASO, with the cooperation and support of Delaware Water Gap NRA. --- ### --- |