NATIONAL PARK SERVICE
MORNING REPORT
Tuesday, June 11, 2013
INCIDENTS
Buffalo NR
Man Drowns Following Jump From High Bluff
On the afternoon of Friday, May 31st, Newton County Arkansas 911 was notified by cell phone of an accident that occurred within the park just downstream from Erbie at a place known as the Charcoal Fields. The reporting party said that a man had jumped from a 40-foot bluff, landing on his face, and that he did not resurface. First on scene were National Park Service SAR team members, augmented by personnel from the Newton County Search and Rescue Team, Tri-County Search and Rescue and the Mennonite Disaster Service. The watershed had received significant rainfall on Thursday evening and Friday morning, raising the river to a high level. Search conditions were hampered by fast moving water and zero visibility due to turbidity. Four boats were launched from lower Pruitt, two of which were equipped with sonar. The search was suspended at sunset but resumed the next day. On Saturday morning, search teams prepared to resume operations, but heavy rains throughout the night had brought river conditions to full flood stage, making further efforts hazardous. Later in the day the river receded enough to resume operations for a few hours. The victim, 27-year-old S.C. of Austin, Texas, was found around 4 p.m. on Sunday in about four feet of water and approximately 25 yards downstream from the point where he was last seen. The Mennonite team located the remains using side-scan sonar; the actual recovery was made by Harrison Swift Water Rescue. [Karen Bradford, Chief Ranger]
Cape Hatteras NS
Rip Current Claims Swimmer
Rangers and personnel from the Hyde County Sheriffs' Office, Ocracoke EMS, and Ocracoke Fire Department were dispatched to a report of a man caught in a rip current off Ocracoke Beach on the evening of May 31st. A ranger and Ocracoke EMS were first on scene and spotted the man about 300 yards from shore. The ranger and a deputy put on life vests and swam to him, but found him floating face down and unresponsive. He was pulled from the water and taken to Ocracoke Health Center, but efforts to resuscitate him proved fruitless. [Jon Anglin, Operations Chief]
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/):
Parashant NM - Public lands agencies and partners from across southern Utah, northern Arizona, and as far away as Nevada participated in the second annual National Get Outdoors Day in Ivins, Utah, on June 1st.
Crater Lake NP - National Park Service libraries were featured in a full length cover story article entitled “Greeting from America's National Park Libraries” in the May 2013 issue of the flagship publication of the American Libraries Association.
US Park Police - On April 4th, officers from the San Francisco Field Office and protection rangers from Golden Gate National Recreational Area partnered with the Presidio of San Francisco Bay School administration to conduct an intruder drill at the school.
Yosemite NP - Yosemite National Park set a new record for a high temperature on Saturday, June 8th, when the temperature reached 105 degrees in Yosemite Valley.
Southeast Region - Melissa Memory, currently chief of cultural resources at Everglades National Parks, will assume the role of superintendent of Fort Pulaski National Monument in late July.
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Guidance on incident notification can be found under the “Hot Topics” heading on InsideNPS or at HYPERLINK "http://inside.nps.gov/waso/custompages.cfm?prg=45&id=8728&lv=2&pgid=3504" http://inside.nps.gov/waso/custompages.cfm?prg=45&id=8728&lv=2&pgid=3504.
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@contractor.nps.gov" Bill_Halainen@contractor.nps.gov).
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