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NATIONAL PARK SERVICE MORNING REPORT Thursday, June 28, 2012 INCIDENTS Mount Rainier NP Recovery Efforts Await Improved Safety Conditions Recovery efforts for Ranger Nick Hall await improved safety conditions. After a number of days of poor weather conditions and several feet of new snow on the upper elevations of Mount Rainier, the park yesterday received its first day of a forecasted 36-hour window of good weather for a recovery effort. But high avalanche danger on the mountain on Wednesday resulted in unsafe conditions that precluded efforts to recover his body. ‘We want to recover Nick as soon as it is safe to do so,” said Superintendent Randy King. “Conditions must be stable before it is safe to put recovery teams on the mountain.” Efforts yesterday focused on overflights to assess conditions from the air, evaluation of mountain conditions and snowpack at Camp Schurman (elevation 9,510 feet), and completion of a plan for a recovery attempt on Thursday providing that conditions are favorable and safe. Nick Hall died on Mount Rainier on Thursday, June 21st, after he fell approximately 2,500 feet down the Emmons Glacier while assisting on an upper mountain rescue. The memorial service for Nick Hall will be held on Friday at the Jackson Visitor Center at Paradise in Mount Rainier National Park. Nick's family, friends, colleagues and co-workers will be attending. The Visitor Center will be closed to accommodate the service. The park is currently working to offer alternative methods to view the service. Inquiries regarding memorial services should be sent to Barb Maynes ( HYPERLINK "mailto:Barb_Maynes@nps.gov" Barb_Maynes@nps.gov). The Hall family has asked that donations in honor of Nick Hall be made in lieu of flowers. Donations that support search and rescue in Maine and assist the Hall family with expenses related to the tragedy may be made through the following accounts, either the National Park Foundation at HYPERLINK "http://www.nationalparks.org/nickhall_" www.nationalparks.org/nickhall, or Nick Hall Memorial Fund, P.O Box 431, Patten, ME 04765. Donations to the fund that supports Mount Rainier National Park's search and rescue program in honor of Nick Hall may be made to MORA Search and Rescue Fund (with checks payable to DOI-NPS), 55210 238th Ave E, Ashford, WA 98304. Cards and condolences may also be sent to the above addresses. The park is being assisted throughout this incident by mountain rescue units from Tacoma and Everett, a Chinook helicopter with crew from Joint Base Lewis McChord, a MD500 helicopter from Northwest Helicopters out of Olympia, the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife, Pierce County Sheriff's Office, and The Soup Ladies. Additionally, gracious support has also been received by businesses and other partners in many of the gateway communities. [Kathy Steichen] White Sands NM Hikers In Distress Saved Through Quick EMS Response On Sunday, June 24th, rangers responded to a 911 report of two hikers suffering from heat exhaustion at milepost three on the Alkali Flat Loop Trail. A father, 66, and his daughter, 22, left to hike the Alkali Flat Loop at approximately 8:30 a.m.; just before noon, they made the 911 call, reporting that they were completely out of water and unable to complete their hike. Rangers, Alamo West Volunteer Fire and Rescue personnel, and paramedics responded immediately. Ranger Joe Salvini hiked quickly up the trail to the hikers. Ranger Joshua Wright also responded with additional water and cooling aids. Alamo West responded with paramedics utilizing their EMS UTV from the opposite direction at the trailhead. When Salvini reached milepost three, he was unable to find the lost hikers, who had climbed to the top of a dune. While Salvini was searching the immediate area for them, the father called again and reported that his daughter was having difficulty breathing. Salvini located them and began EMS treatment. Wright, after climbing to the top of a large dune, was able to visually locate Salvini and the hikers. He then ran three miles cross country to cut the loop and actually arrived on scene before the paramedics driving the UTV. The paramedics provided advanced life support. The hikers were transported back to their vehicle, where they declined further treatment. Kelly Roche was IC. [Becky Wiles, Chief of Interpretation] 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/): Fire and Aviation Management - Due to the rapid increase in the number and intensity of large wildland fires over the past few days, the National Interagency Fire Center yesterday moved to Preparedness Level 4, the next to the highest preparedness level. Northeast Region - Fort Monroe National Monument welcomes 11 year NPS veteran Eola L. Dance as the park's first chief of visitor services and resources management. Dance began her duties at the park on June 17th. Southeast Region - Lisa Garrett has been selected as Southeast Region's chief of inventory and monitoring. She replaces Larry West, who recently retired. * * * * 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). --- ### --- |