NATIONAL PARK SERVICE

MORNING REPORT

Friday, July 11, 2014

INCIDENTS

Black Canyon of the Gunnison NP

Two Rescues Conducted In Canyon

Rangers and Black Canyon Volunteer Search and Rescue Team members responded to two separate incidents over the Fourth of July weekend.

On Thursday, July 3rd, a 35-year-old Minnesota man who was backpacking with a friend on the South Rim's Warner Route stepped off a 16-inch rock and broke his lower leg. The pair attempted to splint the lower leg with a trekking pole and a fishing rod, but the steep, loose terrain of Black Canyon made self-rescue impossible.

Rangers and a paramedic spent the night in the canyon with the pair and the SAR team and park personnel conducted a scree evacuation the following morning. The man was transported by ambulance to Montrose Memorial Hospital later that morning.

On Saturday, July 5th, a visitor at South Rim's Chasm View overlook reported hearing a whistle and cries for help. Rangers on the South Rim were able to spot an individual toward the bottom of the North Rim's S.O.B. Gully.

A climbing ranger hiked down to the 28-year-old hiker, who had fallen approximately 10 feet and suffered a compound leg fracture. Rangers and a paramedic spent the night with him to provide care, while a scree evacuation was staged for first light the following morning.

Black Canyon Volunteer Search and Rescue, park personnel, Western State Colorado University Search and Rescue, and West Elk Search and Rescue used 11 main and belay line stations of approximately 130 vertical feet each to raise the man a total of 1400 vertical feet. He was then transported via Tri State Care Flight to St. Mary's Hospital in Grand Junction.

All the inner canyon routes in Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park are infamous for loose rock, steep drop-offs and abundant poison ivy.

[Lisa Lynch, IT Specialist]

Buffalo NR

Visitor Saves Two Others From Drowning

On the afternoon of July 2nd, a father and daughter were saved from drowning by the heroic act of a visitor.

A man and his 10-year-old daughter were swimming in Buffalo River upstream from the Ponca low-water bridge when they were swept into deep water by the swift current. Neither of them were strong swimmers and both quickly became distressed. Michael Hogrefe of London Arkansas, who later revealed he is a cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) instructor and former lifeguard, went to their aid.

Hogrefe swam to the child and was pulling her back to shallow water when the father grabbed him. Hogrefe had almost reached shallow water with both victims when the swift current pulled all three back downriver and against the bridge abutment.

The current was pulling all three towards the bridge opening even though Hogrefe was frantically trying to prevent this while grabbing and scraping his fingernails and fingertips along the concrete abutment. He could no longer hold onto the father and daughter and let both go. He immediately got out of the water and went to the downstream side of the bridge, where the child's mother was holding a branch out to her husband.

The husband latched into the branch while holding his daughter by her heel. Hogrefe pulled the child out of the water. He found that she was unconscious, blue and not breathing, so immediately began CPR and was on his fourth cycle when he could feel her heart beat. She began blinking her eyes, coughed up water and started asking for her mother. Witness's estimated the time the child was underwater to be about six minutes.

While this rescue was in progress, Hogrefe's girlfriend drove to Ponca, which is a very short distance from the bridge, where Buffalo River Outfitters contacted Midwest Region Ozark Communication Center with information regarding a possible drowning.

District Ranger Mark Miller, BUFFSAR member Glenn Wheeler, and North Arkansas Regional Medical Center paramedics responded. The father and daughter were assessed on scene by NARMC ambulance personnel. The family refused ambulance transport but did self-transport to the hospital for treatment.

[Karen Bradford, Chief Ranger]

Jefferson NEM

Two Arrested For Possessing Mobile Meth Lab

While watching the park's closed circuit TV system on July 6th, dispatcher Ulissa Brown saw two people entering the bushes near the grounds maintenance facility, an area often used by the local homeless to sleep and/or store their belongings. Field training ranger Thad Lucas and his trainee, ranger Bill Boss, responded and contacted the man and woman.

During the contact, Boss noted indications on the woman that she was an intravenous drug user and she admitted the use of methamphetamine earlier in the day. The pair had numerous bags with them and were evasive about ownership, claiming that they had “found” the bags. A consent search of the bags found paraphernalia for manufacturing methamphetamine using the “shake-and-bake” method.

When Boss realized that he might be dealing with an active meth lab, the rangers took the two into custody and moved away from the immediate area. The Saint Louis Fire Department hazmat team responded and confirmed that the rangers were dealing with a meth lab.

The man and woman were arrested and booked into the Saint Louis City Justice Center for safekeeping. The man was found to be on parole and the woman on probation. Their state probation/parole officers were notified and state warrants were issued.

The investigation continues and charges are pending for federal and state violations.

[Mike Horton, Law Enforcement Specialist]

OTHER NEWS

The following stories are among those in today's webpage editions of InsideNPS (available to NPS employees only) and the Morning Report (available to all readers):

Office of Communications - Secretary Jewell visited Richmond National Battlefield Park yesterday to announce a 285-acre expansion of the park's Gaines' Mill battlefield. The acquisition was funded in part by the federal Land and Water Conservation Fund and the announcement was part of a weeklong series of events across the country highlighting the 50th anniversary of the fund.

Denali NP&P - The National Park Service celebrated the accomplishments and legacy of Alaska native Walter Harper during the dedication ceremony for the Walter Harper Talkeetna Ranger Station on Wednesday, July 2nd.

Office of Communications - The Service has awarded $830,000 in grant money to help preserve more than 48 acres of land associated with the Battle of Chattanooga, one of America's most threatened Civil War battlefields.

Office of International Affairs - The inclusion of the Louisiana archeological site at Poverty Point on the World Heritage List was the highlight of the recent World Heritage Committee session in Doha, Qatar.

Office of Learning and Development - Keith Tyler has been named the new program manager for the Leadership Development Group in the Office of Learning and Development in Washington DC.

Servicewide Training Calendar - A NAGPRA webinar in September has been added to this week's updated calendar.

To see the full text of these stories, readers should go to one or the other of the following sites:

NPS employees - HYPERLINK "http://inside.nps.gov/index.cfm?handler=index" http://inside.nps.gov/index.cfm?handler=index

Non-NPS employees - HYPERLINK "http://www.nps.gov/morningreport/" http://www.nps.gov/morningreport/

The Morning Report is 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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