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NATIONAL PARK SERVICE MORNING REPORT Monday, August 13, 2012 INCIDENTS Grand Teton NP Five Boaters Rescued From Snake River While conducting an afternoon scenic float trip on the Snake River last Friday afternoon, a Triangle X Ranch river guide rescued five boaters after their 12-foot Tributary raft hit a downed tree lodged in a channel near the historic Bar BC Ranch and flipped upside down. All five rafters were thrown into the fast-flowing water and ended up swimming until they could get to a riverbank and pull themselves from the current. K.P. was rowing her friend M.J.M.'s boat when she struck the downed tree with its ‘root ball' facing upstream. The strong current flipped the raft upside down and temporarily trapped some of the boaters underneath before they were able to swim away from the craft and get downstream, away from the tree and its branches. K.P. and her fellow rafters began their float trip on the Snake River at Deadman's Bar landing, about seven miles upstream of the accident. The Triangle X Ranch boatman called the Teton Interagency Dispatch Center to report the rafting accident and then helped the five women get aboard his raft and floated them with his onboard guests to the Moose landing, where rangers met them and determined that none needed medical care. River rangers expressed their appreciation for the help given by the Triangle X Ranch river guide. Park concessioners are often the first to arrive after a river accident occurs, and their ‘Good Samaritan' rescues can help boaters who may otherwise be stranded or in need of medical attention before rangers can reach a remote river location. [Jackie Skaggs, Public Affairs Officer] Mount Rainier NP Boy Rescued Following Fall Into Canyon On the afternoon of August 8th, a 13-year-old boy fell 40 feet into the narrow box canyon chasm below the popular viewpoint at Christine Falls. Miraculously, he suffered only a broken arm in the far. Rangers treated him at the scene, set up a technical high-angle raising system, lifted him out, and transported him to Morton General Hospital. Eighteen people were involved in the operation. The incident commander of this rescue was Stefan Lofgren. [R. Chuck Young, Chief Ranger] Mount Rainier NP Climber Rescued From Mountain An Alpine Ascents International concessions guide came upon a 48-year-old climber exhibiting symptoms of a myocardial infarction at about 8,000 feet on the Muir Snowfield on the afternoon of August 8th. Climbing rangers responded from Camp Muir, while a litter team was organized and ascended from Paradise. He was packaged and moved via a ski patrol litter to a point where they were met by the litter team from Paradise. The man was carried out to Paradise, where he was transferred to the care of the crew of an Airlift Northwest helicopter that had landed at a helispot just below Paradise. Eleven people were involved in the rescue operation. Climbing supervisor Brian Hasebe served as IC for this operation. [R. Chuck Young, Chief Ranger] Chiricahua NM Follow-up On Flash Flood On July 23rd, Bonita Creek experienced one of the largest flash floods to have occurred in the park in at least three decades, causing the HYPERLINK "http://classicinside.nps.gov/headline.cfm?type=Incidents&id=6269" closure of the Bonita Creek Campground. A storm dropped eight-tenths of an inch of rain on soils that had been saturated by several days of rain, producing six feet of floodwater. Bonita Creek is usually a dry wash, but this flash flood filled low water crossings and overtopped a foot bridge. Floodwater is known to have reached this height only twice in the past 30 years, including a 1993 flood in which a 2.8 inch rain event followed several days of lighter rains. Burned Area Emergency Response (BAER) team hydrologists had predicted that such a flood would be approximately three times larger following the 2011 Horseshoe II Fire. In anticipation of this increased flood risk, BAER implementation personnel had worked in collaboration with park staff to develop strategic closure plans for the campground. These closures prevented the entrapment of visitors and possible loss of property and injury. To view a video on Burned Area Emergency Response, visit an NPS-produced interactive case study at HYPERLINK "http://www.nps.gov/fire/wildland-fire/learning-center/fireside-chats/ BAER-case-study.cfm" this link. Click on HYPERLINK "http://www.nps.gov/fire/wildland-fire/what-we-do/rehabilitation-and- recovery.cfm" this link for more information on BAER. [Adam Springer] 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/): Grand Canyon NP - Grand Canyon National Park recently held its first living history event, entitled “Echoes from the Canyon.” Rangers took turns leading groups of 60 people on tours along the South Rim in Grand Canyon Village and introducing them to important figures from Grand Canyon's past. Alaska Region - Twenty-one fires totaling 72,512 acres burned this summer in Alaska's national parks. The total acreage state wide was low due to a cool, damp summer with considerably less lightning than normal. Mount Rainier NP - Ted Cox, 70, a seasonal trails laborer at Camp Muir, passed away from complications related to an aggressive form of cancer on August 5th. Workforce Management - Marcia Schramm, senior advisor to the workforce management associate director, is retiring on Friday, August 31st. * * * * 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). --- ### --- |