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NATIONAL PARK SERVICE MORNING REPORT BLACKBERRY EDITION Thursday, July 6, 2006 =============================================================================================================== INCIDENTS Olympic NP Search For Overdue Hiker Scaled Back On Tuesday night, search managers decided to scale back efforts to find G.G., 47, who has been missing since June 24th. Efforts to determine his travel plans or find any clues as to his whereabouts have been entirely fruitless. “We've explored both the logical and the more remote scenarios of what Mr. G.G. may have done, decisions he may have made, and routes he may have chosen, but none of them produced results,” said ranger Mike Danisiewicz, who headed the search effort. “No one knew of his plans, and we've found nothing to help determine where he might have gone. We've reached the limits of what we can do.” Rangers found G.G.'s car in the Staircase parking lot on the morning of Tuesday, June 27th, and began a search that daily included 40 to 60 rescue workers in addition to planning and support personnel. The search area covered waters of the North Fork Skokomish River, headwaters of Lake Cushman, forested slopes, high elevation meadows, and peaks surrounding the river valley. Ground and search dog teams, a helicopter and fixed-wing aircraft, kayakers, snorkelers, and river rescue personnel combed the 35 square mile search area for eight days. Despite excellent visibility, swiftwater rescue experts found no clues from an underwater camera search of whitewater reaches in the North Fork Skokomish River. Park and volunteer search and rescue personnel logged over 5,000 hours in ground searches of the area. Although the major search is now suspended, park rangers will continue a reduced search for G.G. over coming days. [Cat Hawkins Hoffman, Incident Information Officer] Yellowstone NP Commercial Vehicle Inspections Turn Up Dozens Of Violations All but a handful of the commercial vehicles inspected in the park during a multi-agency operation last week were found to have some type of safety defect. Rangers, special agents and volunteers set up a commercial vehicle inspection checkpoint on U.S. Highway 191 at milepost 22 near the Fawn Pass Trailhead on June 26th and 27th. They conducted unannounced, full-level inspections with the assistance of the Motor Carrier Services Division of the Montana Department of Transportation, the Wyoming Highway Patrol's Commercial Carrier Division, and the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration. Of the 176 commercial trucks and buses inspected, 160 were discovered to have some kind of safety violation. Over 100 operators were ticketed. There were 77 “out-of-service” infractions which required either a vehicle or driver to be taken off the road due to serious violations. Among the worst of these were cracked trailer frames, unsecured loads, or trailers without brakes. In addition, four undocumented foreign nationals were arrested and turned over to the custody of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. This is the eighth year of the interagency inspection program. Last year's inspection at Old Faithful focused on buses. Tickets were issued to 76 of the 144 commercial vehicles and drivers inspected in 2005. [Public Affairs] Denali NP&P Climber Dies While Descending Mount McKinley Climber S.K., 53, of Seoul, Korea, died of unknown causes while descending Mt. McKinley's West Buttress route on the evening of Thursday, June 29th. S.K., a client on an Alaska Mountaineering School guided expedition, was descending a section of the route known as the Headwall when he collapsed, or sat down, at an elevation of roughly 15,800 feet. S.K. was unconscious and unresponsive when his guides reached him. NPS ranger assistance was requested via radio and CPR was immediately begun and continued for 30 minutes. A ground crew of Denali mountaineering rangers, volunteers, and mountain guides from the 14,200 foot camp reached the party at approximately 8 p.m. S.K. was strapped into a rescue litter and transported down to the ranger medical tent at the camp for closer examination. The climber was pronounced dead at 11:30 p.m. Thursday night. Although the cause of death remains unknown pending further medical examination, the fatality does not appear to be a result of a fall or other trauma. In their attempt of Mt. McKinley's summit, the eight-member team had reached a maximum elevation of 18,600 feet. According to his guides and teammates, S.K. had not shown any previous signs of altitude-related illness or other physical problems since the expedition began on June 13th. [Maureen McLaughlin] Christiansted NHS Burglary At Customs House On June 21st, the historic Customs House was broken into and two NPS laptop computers were stolen. The value of the computers, combined with the cost to repair damage to the building, came to a total of about $6,000. Rangers processed the crime scene and are working with Virgin Islands PD in the investigation. [John Wilkins, Chief Ranger] Cape Hatteras NS Two Drown In Separate Incidents Two visitors drowned in separate incidents in the park on June 28th and 29th. On the afternoon of June 28th, K.B., 80, of Orrtanna, Pennsylvania, went swimming in the ocean from a beach at the end of Atlantic View Drive in Hatteras Village. He'd been in the water for a few minutes when family members noticed that he was drifting too far from shore and looked as though he was beginning to struggle. Three family members swam to him and found that he was face down in the water and not breathing. They brought him to shore and began CPR, which was soon augmented by ALS measures provided by two responding rescue squads. They were unable to save him, though, and he was pronounced dead at the scene. On the following day, a drowning occurred at Pea Island NWR, which is within the park's boundaries. V.L., 51, of Catawba, North Carolina, had spent several hours fishing with his family on the rock jetty on the north end of the island. When they finished up and prepared to leave, V.L. went down to water to wash off sand. He went underwater once, surfaced, then went under again and disappeared. A multi-agency search was begun and continued through the following day, but no sign of him was found. Periodic patrols of the island are being conducted in case his body appears. Ranger Gary Henson investigated the first incident; ranger Doug Murphy had the second. [Paul Stevens, Law Enforcement Specialist] Shenandoah NP Fatal Motorcycle Accident On Skyline Drive A 60-year-old man from Florida was riding his Harley Davidson motorcycle on Skyline Drive on the afternoon of June 28th when he lost control of the bike on a curve and ended up in a ditch. He was found by his brother, who was riding another motorcycle ahead of him. Rangers responded along with fire and EMS units from Grottoes. First on scene was a ranger who began administering basic life support and called for Pegasus air ambulance from the University of Virginia Hospital. The man had sustained injuries to his head and chest; although conscious, he complained of difficulty breathing. The rescue squad arrived shortly thereafter and began providing advanced life support. The man was taken by ambulance to a landing zone. About the time the helicopter landed, he went into cardiac arrest. The ranger, rescue squad personnel and the flight nurses worked on him for more than half an hour, but without success. He was declared dead at the landing zone. A preliminary investigation revealed no obvious evidence of reckless driving, nor any unusual environmental conditions. Ranger Joe Sargeant is the case agent. [Clay Jordan, Deputy 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: George Washington Memorial Parkway and C&O Canal - During a weekend "BioBlitz" of the Potomac Gorge, located within the two parks, 160 biologists and naturalists identified about a thousand species in a number of historically under-surveyed species groups. HYPERLINK "http://inside.nps.gov/index.cfm?handler=viewnpsnewsarticle&type=Announcements&id=4598" http://inside.nps.gov/index.cfm?handler=viewnpsnewsarticle&type=Announcements&id=4598 Media - News article from Denver Post on what happens when visitors mess with park animals: HYPERLINK "http://www.sltrib.com/utah/ci_4012740" http://www.sltrib.com/utah/ci_4012740 Fort Stanwix - Ken Mabery named acting superintendent: HYPERLINK "http://inside.nps.gov/index.cfm?handler=viewcommunityarticle&type=PeopleNews&id=1278" http://inside.nps.gov/index.cfm?handler=viewcommunityarticle&type=PeopleNews&id=1278 * * * * * Prepared by Visitor and Resource Protection, WASO, with the cooperation and support of Delaware Water Gap NRA. --- ### --- |