NATIONAL PARK SERVICE

MORNING REPORT

Wednesday, June 13, 2012

INCIDENTS

Crater Lake NP

Rangers Rescue Women From Caldera

On the afternoon of Sunday, June 10th, rangers received a request for help from a visitor who spotted two women stuck in deep snow in the Crater Lake caldera. They were unable to climb back up and continued to slide down toward the lake. The park SAR team responded and was assisted by staff from other divisions, including fire, natural resources, and fee collection. Rangers Seth Macey and Paul Schauer rappelled down to the two women, secured them, and raised them up to the rim. The women complained of being cold and wet but had no reported injuries. Operations supervisor Jason Ramsdell coordinated the operation. The women, both from Chicago, were illegally hiking in the caldera, which is prohibited due to the steep and dangerous nature of the area. The Cleetwood Cove Trail is the only exception to this regulation. Neither woman was near that trail, so they were cited for being in a closed area. [Jan Lemons, Acting Chief Ranger]

Hot Springs NP

Suspicious Package Found And Destroyed

On Memorial Day morning, security guards at the nearby Arlington Hotel called 911 to report a suspicious package in the park near the fountain on the Arlington lawn. Ranger David Van Nest was dispatched and arrived on scene moments later. He found the suspicious package and evacuated the area. The package, wrapped in red duct tape, was placed at the foot of the water cascade. Assistance was brought in from the Hot Springs fire and police departments, the FBI, Little Rock Police Department and the Arkansas State Police bomb unit. A Little Rock bomb unit was brought in and the package was x-rayed. A water cannon was utilized to destroy the package after determining that this approach would be the safest way to neutralize it. The package turned out to be a hoax and the area was reopened to the public. While this incident was taking place, a "gawker" traveling down Central Avenue in front of the park ran into a large statue in the median, injuring several inside of the vehicle. This significantly added to the number of emergency personnel working the incident and further disrupted pedestrian and vehicular traffic in the area. The park was reopened after midnight. Ranger Jeff Johnson was incident commander. [John K Hughes, Chief 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/):

Homestead NM - Last month, more than 4,000 people helped Homestead National Monument of America commemorate the 150th anniversary of the signing of the Homestead Act by President Abraham Lincoln on May 20, 1862.

Office of Communications - Director Jarvis recently presented the 2012 James V. Murfin Award to Rose Fennell, a Bevinetto Fellow in Washington.

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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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