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NATIONAL PARK SERVICE MORNING REPORT Wednesday, September 19, 2012 INCIDENTS Golden Gate NRA Bicycle Safety Operation Conducted In order to improve safety for the thousands of annual users of park roads in the Marin Headlands, the park conducted a bicycle safety education initiative entitled “Operation Safe Cycle” on the afternoon of Saturday, September 15th. The operation focused on the popular roadways within Marin Headlands where serious accident are all too common, particularly Conzelman, Bunker and McCullough Roads. Bicycle accidents in the Marin Headlands are the most common cause of serious injury to park visitors in the entire 80,000-acre park. Rangers educated bicyclists and motorists about the rules of the road and how to prevent the conflicts between bikes and cars that frequently occur on the roads in the Headlands. Rangers made over 300 vehicle, pedestrian, and bicycle contacts for infractions ranging from speeding to failing to yield to a pedestrian/bicyclist. They also wrote five citations for speeding and conducted 26 visitor assists. The safety initiative will continue in the future in partnership with local agencies. [Randy Lavasseur, Deputy Chief Ranger] Death Valley NP Park Engine Company Suppresses Vehicle Fire On the afternoon of July 10th, rangers responded to a report of a vehicle fire at the Dante's View parking lot. Ranger Dave Brenner, who was first to arrive at the scene, found a fully involved two-door convertible. Brenner determined that the car's two occupants were uninjured and not in the vehicle. He then evacuated the other vehicles in the parking lot and secured the steep, narrow, winding road that approached the lot in anticipation of the arrival of the park fire engine. Death Valley Rescue Engine 1 arrived on scene staffed by park volunteer Mike Wehmeyer and park maintenance employee Pete Avena. Rangers Jacob Tung and Matt Martin arrived on scene several minutes later and joined the fire suppression efforts. The fire was quickly suppressed, but, unfortunately, no salvageable property was recovered from the car. The couple from Belgium, who were on their honeymoon, lost everything, including their identification, protection division administrative assistant Marilyn Pitassi provided translation services for the couple to ensure that the rental car, food and lodging were taken care of, including setting up appointments with the Belgian consulate for the next day in Los Angeles. Furnace Creek Ranch, located on private property inside the park, graciously assisted the couple with accommodations for the evening. [Lynne Stokes, 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/): Death Valley NP - Long known as the hottest, lowest, and driest place in the United States, Death Valley has now been officially recognized as the hottest spot on the planet. The World Meteorological Organization has announced that the official highest recorded surface temperature of 134° F was measured at Greenland Ranch on July 10, 1913. Natural Resource Stewardship and Science - The most recent edition of Park Science has been published and is now available online. A link is provided to the webpage. Office of Communications - David Vela, currently regional director for Southeast Region, has been selected as the new associate director for workforce management in the Washington Office. US Park Police - On Wednesday, September 12th, the US Park Police Aviation Section honored the achievements of its three newest members - two received paramedic wings and the third his pilot wings. * * * * The Morning Report is a publication of the Division of Law Enforcement, Security and Emergency Services, Washington Office, produced by the Office of Communications with the support of the Office of the Associate Director for Information Resources. Edited by Bill Halainen ( HYPERLINK "mailto:Bill_Halainen@nps.gov" Bill_Halainen@nps.gov). --- ### --- |