NATIONAL PARK SERVICE

MORNING REPORT

Tuesday, September 14, 2010

INCIDENTS

Glacier NP

Construction Worker Rescued After Fall From Sun Road

Rangers rescued a construction worker yesterday after he took a 35-foot fall. The worker, 33-year-old W.N. of Coeur d'Alene, was operating a small excavator when it became unbalanced and fell from Going-to-the-Sun Road near the East Tunnel. Witnesses said that W.N. jumped clear of the excavator as it went over the edge of the road, fell about 35 feet, then slid and tumbled down the hill, ending up about 100 feet below Sun Road on a loose rock debris field. The excavator remained in front of him and tumbled to the bottom of the debris field about 200 feet further down the embankment. Witnesses also reported that W.N. was able to stand and briefly walk after the fall. Coworkers immediately scrambled down the rocks to his location and kept him still and warm until help could arrive. Rangers and EMS personnel descended to Dan's location, put him in a litter, raised him to the road, then put him in an ambulance that took him to Logan Pass. He was picked up there by a medevac helicopter and flown to Kalispell Regional Medical Center. He was conscious throughout the evacuation. W.N. is an employee of G.M., Inc. of Vancouver, Washington, one of the subcontractors working for HKC Inc. on the Sun Road rehabilitation project. He was moving rocks when the accident happened. [Wade Muehlhof]

OTHER NEWS

The following stories are among those in today's edition of InsideNPS. To see the full text, including images, NPS employees should go to the InsideNPS home page ( HYPERLINK "http://inside.nps.gov/index.cfm?handler=index" http://inside.nps.gov/index.cfm?handler=index). Non-NPS employees can see most of them on the NPS Digest page ( HYPERLINK "http://home.nps.gov/applications/digest/" http://home.nps.gov/applications/digest/):

Blue Ridge Parkway - With the Virginia and North Carolina Piedmont providing a stunning backdrop for the day, both state governors and a variety of federal officials paid tribute to the Blue Ridge Parkway's 75-year legacy at a ceremony in the park this past Saturday.

Climate Change Response Program - The September 2010 issue of the Climate Change Response Program's newsletter is now available. A link is provided.

Office of Public Affairs - Is your park cool in the cold? Quiet in winter? A sure thing for snowshoers? Or an escape from the chill? If it's a great place to visit during the late fall and winter, consider nominating it as a National Park Getaway.

Great Smoky Mountains NP - Jeff Troutman has been named the new chief of resource management and science at Great Smoky Mountains.

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Prepared by the Division of Law Enforcement, Security and Emergency Services, Washington Office, with the support of the Office of the Chief Information Officer. Edited by Bill Halainen ( HYPERLINK "mailto:Bill_Halainen@nps.gov" Bill_Halainen@nps.gov).

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