|
NATIONAL PARK SERVICE MORNING REPORT Monday, June 18, 2007 =============================================================================================================== INCIDENTS Hawai‘i Volcanoes NP Roads, Trails Closed Following Earthquake Swarm On Sunday morning, the park took a number of precautionary measures to protect visitors after an earthquake swarm shook the upper east rift of Kilauea Volcano. Most of the park is now temporarily closed, but Kilauea Visitor Center, Jaggar Museum, Volcano House Hotel, Kilauea Military Camp, and Volcano Art Center Gallery remain open. Beginning at about 2:15 a.m., the earthquake swarm shook the upper east rift of Kilauea Volcano. About 70 shallow earthquakes occurred at an estimated depth of from one to two miles, centered about one mile southwest of Mauna Ulu. As of 4:30 a.m., ten of the quakes had magnitudes greater than three and were felt by nearby residents. Earthquake activity continues. Scientists at the Hawaiian Volcano Observatory are monitoring the situation closely. Rangers have mobilized to provide for visitor safety and information. To see information on recent earthquakes in Hawai‘i, go the USGS Hawaiian Volcano Observatory's website at HYPERLINK "http://tux.wr.usgs.gov/" http://tux.wr.usgs.gov/ . [Mardie Lane, Park Ranger] Wrangell-St. Elias NP&P Missing Hiker Found And Rescued On the evening of Thursday, June 13th, staff were notified that R.P., 25, of McCarthy, Alaska, was overdue from a day hike in the Kennecott area of the park. R.P. had left a note at a friend's residence saying that she was hiking up to the Erie Mine site, that she was starting her trip at 10 a.m., and that she would return later that evening. Friends advised that R.P. had just moved to the area this spring and that she was not that familiar with either the area or the route to the Erie Mine. A search and rescue team began looking for R.P. early on the morning of June 14th. Five ground teams, consisting of a total of 15 park employees and mountaineering guides, were organized and began looking for her. Two aircraft were also brought in. An NPS trail crew member reported that he'd seen a woman matching R.P.'s description hiking on the Root Glacier trail near the Jumbo Creek Bridge the previous afternoon. Based on this information, search efforts were redirected to the trails leading to and across the Root Glacier and to the Erie Mine site. Mountaineering guide P.H. spotted R.P. waving her jacket at the NPS search aircraft as it passed below her location. R.P. was approximately 700 feet above the Erie Mine Bunkhouse at the 5,000 foot elevation. Team members attempted to approach her location but found the terrain to be too hazardous to climb due to the condition of the rock and the steepness of the approach. They determined that R.P. would have to be short-hauled from her location. Food, water and a message were dropped to her from the park aircraft, the latter telling her to stay put and that a helicopter was en route to her location. Denali's high altitude Lama helicopter was requested and dispatched to the scene. Crew chief Dave Kreutzer performed the short haul using a 100 foot line. R.P. was lifted from the mountain and flown to the toe of the Root Glacier, where she got into the Lama and was flown to the McCarthy Airport. R.P. reported that she'd attempted to find better footing while traversing the mine site. While in the process of doing so, she had climbed up onto a steeper section of the rock where she did not believe it was safe to either continue up the rock face or climb down the ascent route she had taken. She'd become stranded the evening before and decided to wait for help. [Pete Dalton, Incident Commander] Lake Mead NRA Water Skier Dies In Accident Park dispatch received an emergency call reporting an injury to a 25-year-old man around 5 p.m. on Thursday, June 14th. The man had been water skiing at a high rate of speed in the Boulder Basin area and evidently lost control and slammed into the water. Rangers, state wardens and a Mercy Air 11 helicopter responded. Rangers attempted to revive the man, but were unsuccessful. An investigation into the cause of death is underway. This is the park's twelfth fatality this year. [Roxanne Dey, Public Affairs Officer] OTHER NEWS The following stories (among others) can be read on either the InsideNPS web site (if you are within the National Park Service) or at the InsideNPS public ‘news digest' site (if you are outside of the NPS). The web sites appear below: Scotts Bluff NM - On June 14th, the annual Pony Express re-ride, which runs from St. Joseph, Missouri, to Sacramento, California, passed through the park. US Park Police - Major Daniel G. Walters, national law enforcement specialist in the Washington Office, has retired after 31 years of service. To see the above articles, go to InsideNPS ( HYPERLINK "http://inside.nps.gov/" http://inside.nps.gov/) or NPS Digest ( HYPERLINK "http://home.nps.gov/applications/digest/" http://home.nps.gov/applications/digest/). For NPS incident reporting standards, go to HYPERLINK "http://inside.nps.gov/index.cfm?handler=viewnpsnewsarticle&type=Announcements&id=3363" http://inside.nps.gov/index.cfm?handler=viewnpsnewsarticle&type=Announcements&id=3363 * * * * * Prepared by the Division of Law Enforcement, Security and Emergency Services, Washington Office, with the cooperation and support of Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area. Edited by Bill Halainen ( HYPERLINK "mailto:Bill_Halainen@nps.gov" Bill_Halainen@nps.gov, 570-426-2430). --- ### --- |