NATIONAL PARK SERVICE

MORNING REPORT

Wednesday, August 15, 2012

INCIDENTS

Buffalo NR

Three Rescued From Car Hanging On Mountainside

Rangers Ben Henthorne and Billy Bell responded to a motor vehicle accident outside of park jurisdiction at the request of Arkansas State Police on August 3rd. The driver of the vehicle had veered off of the road at a scenic overlook, driven over a parking bollard, and then gone through a wooden split rail fence and down the side of a mountain. When the rangers arrived on scene, the vehicle was out of sight due to thick vegetation. Due to the extreme angle of the slope, Henthorne and Bell rigged a hand line to aid in efforts to reach the vehicle and asked an NPS fire crew stationed nearby to bring extra SAR gear. Bell took an EMS bag and began down the mountain, followed shortly thereafter by Henthorne. They found that all the vehicle's occupants - a grandfather, grandmother and their five-year-old grandson - were unharmed and safe with their seat belts still on. The vehicle was situated about 200 to 250 feet down the side of the mountain and had come to rest tangled in greenbriers and grape vines. The thick vines had kept the vehicle from careening off a ten-foot ledge and striking a large tree. It appeared to the rangers the vines were the only thing holding the vehicle in place, so they quickly removed the occupants. With everyone safely out of the vehicle, Henthorne carried the child up the mountain. Bell, assisted by fire crew members, set up a low angle rope system with a prussic belay. Fire crew members went down the mountain, placed safety harnesses on the grandparents, and aided them in their climb up. The grandfather told rangers he believed flip-flops were to blame for the accident. Never having driven in flip-flops, he believes they caused his foot to slip off the brake and onto the gas, sending them over the edge. [Karen L. Bradford, Chief Ranger]

Blue Ridge Parkway

Suicide Victim Found At Overlook

On Thursday, August 9th, rangers located the body of a 25-year-old Asheville woman with a self-inflicted gunshot wound to her head at the Rough Butt Bald Overlook. Rangers had noticed a vehicle at that location earlier in the day and checked on it later and found items and notes in the vehicle indicating that the woman was going to harm herself. Investigation revealed the woman had been suffering from depression. [Tim Francis, Pisgah 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/):

Denver Service Center - Carlsbad Caverns National Park's visitor center and cave tours closed for two days in July following employee exposure to chemical vapors in the visitor center. Seventeen employees were treated at local medical centers and released, with others suffering from symptoms including headaches, respiratory difficulties, and nausea.

Pacific West Region - David Szymanski has been selected as the new superintendent of Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area. He will assume his new duties this fall.

Learning and Development Division - Laura Rotegard has been selected as the new superintendent for Albright Training Center and John Curwen has been selected as the NPS Fundamentals team lead.

Southeast Region - Stuart Johnson, superintendent of Stones River National Battlefield, is retiring on October 1st after 32 years with the National Park Service.

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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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