NATIONAL PARK SERVICE

MORNING REPORT

Tuesday, February 7, 2012

INCIDENTS

Gateway NRA

Five Juveniles Charged With Setting Fires

Five local juveniles were arrested by Park Police officers at Spring Creek, a wildland area of the park, on Monday, January 30th. They were charged with lighting a fire in an undesignated area. The youths, ages 16 to 17, were from Ozone Park, a community near Spring Creek. The park area directly adjoins the Howard Beach residential neighborhood in Queens. While patrolling the area during high fire danger conditions, park firefighters noticed the five acting suspiciously. After they entered park land, firefighters attempted to locate them, first by vehicle and then on foot. While walking the trails, firefighters saw and smelled smoke and headed in that direction. All five were standing near an uncontained fire on an ATV trail. They admitted to lighting the fire, which was being pushed by gusty winds toward tall stands of phragmites a short distance away. While extinguishing the blaze, firefighters detained the teens and contacted Park Police. Officers responded quickly and took the teens into custody, charging them with lighting a fire in an undesignated area (36 CFR 2.13(a)(1). Each was cited to appear in federal court and released to a guardian. Since last November, 16 fires have burned in Spring Creek. The largest of these fires burned five acres on December 17th. Gateway experienced 42 fires in 2011, making the urban park the third most active park unit for wildland fires in the National Park Service. [John Harlan Warren, Public Affairs Specialist]

Great Smoky Mountains NP

Rangers Investigate Two Suicides Within Ten Days

Rangers investigated two suicides in the park's South District during the last days of January. On the afternoon of January 20th, dispatch received a phone call reporting a vehicle parked in the Newfound Gap parking area with a suicide note on the dash and a body of a man lying on the ground below the overlook who looked like he was not breathing. Rangers responded and found the man sitting at the base of a rock wall with an obvious self-inflicted gunshot wound to his head. A large caliber revolver was recovered at the scene. A suicide note was found in the victim's vehicle parked nearby. Rangers were assisted on scene by Cherokee Tribal EMS and an NPS special agent. The victim was a 56-year-old man from Florida. Next of kin were notified later that evening. Investigators determined that he'd placed the telephone call to park dispatch just prior to committing suicide. They also learned that he'd been charged with 22 counts of possessing child pornography and that his trial was scheduled to begin in Florida the following week. Ranger Mike Scheid is the case officer. Ten days later, on the afternoon of January 30th, park dispatch received a report from two hikers of a man down on the Bradley Fork Trail and lying in a pool of blood. Rangers responded to the scene, which was a third of a mile up the trail from Smokemont Campground. They found a man lying face down in the middle of the trail with a large pool of blood on the ground to his left. He had no vital signs and had an obvious gunshot wound behind the left ear. A loaded .40 caliber pistol was found at the scene. Additional ranger staff and an NPS special agent responded along with Cherokee Tribal EMS and Cherokee Fire Rescue. The victim's vehicle was located at the Smokemont Baptist Church parking area and his wallet and a large sum of cash were found under the pulpit in the church. The victim was a 36-year-old man from South Carolina. No suicide note was found on his person or in the belongings recovered from his vehicle or the church. Next of kin were notified later that day. Ranger Carman Barnard is the case officer. [Curt R. Dimmick, South District Ranger]

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/):

Office of Communications - The Service's newest online travel itinerary, entitled “Bureau of Reclamation Historic Dams and Water Projects: Managing Water in the West,” is now available online. Each of the 25 historic dams in the itinerary is listed in the National Register of Historic Places, which is maintained by the NPS.

Grand Canyon NP - A new exhibit at Kolb Studio documents the lives and adventures of brothers Emery and Ellsworth Kolb, pioneering photographers who built a business and raised a family right on the rim of the Grand Canyon. Several of the Kolb's descendents attended the exhibit's opening.

History Program - The NPS History e-Library has added 48 reports to its ever expanding collection of electronic publications. Another 100 new park brochures have also been added to the National Park Service park brochures web page.

San Juan Island NHP - A historic building that housed Army officers' quarters, acquired by the NPS in 2010, was returned to the park and placed on a permanent foundation late last month.

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The Morning Report is a publication of the Division of Law Enforcement, Security and Emergency Services, Washington Office, produced with the support of the Office of the Assistant Director for Information Resources and 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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