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NATIONAL PARK SERVICE MORNING REPORT Friday, November 14, 2014 INCIDENTS Sequoia-Kings Canyon NPs Overdue Backpacker Found In Good Condition On the afternoon of Wednesday, November 6th, overdue hiker W.R. was located outside Kings Canyon National Park in the adjacent Sierra National Forest. Searchers found the 62-year-old Virginia man in good condition in Crown Valley. On October 30th, W.R. departed alone from the Rancheria Trailhead on the Sierra National Forest. He planned to hike to Tehipite Dome in Kings Canyon National Park, then, after several days in Tehipite Valley, return to the Rancherita Trailhead by November 3rd. Dispatch was notified that he was overdue on the morning of November 5th. Sixteen National Park Service and twenty Fresno County Sheriff's Office search and rescue personnel were involved in searching by ground and helicopter, conducting interviews, and planning search operations. An NPS helicopter, Fresno County Sheriff's Office helicopter Eagle One, and California Highway Patrol's helicopter H40 also assisted. The search area, located approximately 35 miles southeast of Huntington Lake, ranged from elevations of 4,000 to 9,000 feet. The first significant storm of the season passed through the area on October 31st and November 1st, resulting in 12 to 18 inches of snowfall at higher elevations and heavy rain at lower elevations. [Ned Kelleher, Incident Commander, and Michelle Fidler, Acting Public Affairs Officer] New River Gorge NR Rangers Successfully Intervene In Attempted Suicide On the morning of Monday, November 10th, rangers were dispatched to the New River Gorge Bridge to check on a possible suicidal man. The Fayette County 911 center had received a call from a man who claimed to be on the bridge and said that he was about to jump. Rangers responded along with several first responders and officers from the Fayette County Sheriff's Office and the West Virginia State Police. Trained NPS and sheriff's office negotiators took turns talking to the man, who was perched on crossbeams under the bridge deck. They worked with the man from the service walkway under the bridge, 876 feet above the New River. A tactical team backed up the negotiating team from a discrete distance. Other rangers and state troopers found the man's vehicle. Inside were pill bottles, a suicide note, and an HYPERLINK "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Airsoft_gun" airsoft gun with the orange ring carefully blacked out, which made it look like a real weapon. Negotiators were advised of the pill bottles and the airsoft gun. The man admitted to taking the pills and was getting lethargic. After three hours of negotiations, he agreed to be rescued. Since he was perched rather precariously at the intersection of several beams 30 feet from the catwalk, rescuers decided to come in from above. The southbound traffic lanes of the bridge were shut down and the man was rescued from the support area underneath the bridge by the Fayette County High Angle Rescue Team. When the man was searched, a BB pistol was located in his waistband - this also looked like a live firearm. The man was from Virginia and was apparently a veteran having difficulties. He was transported to a local medical center and later transferred to a Veterans Affairs hospital for further evaluation and treatment. [Jeff West, Chief Ranger] 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): National Mall and Memorial Parks - On Tuesday, November 11th, both traditional and unconventional Veterans Day events at the World War II Memorial, Vietnam Veterans Memorial and along the National Mall provided a reminder to all Americans of the sacrifices of veterans and their families. Today's Almanac - A storm will bring heavy snow, strong winds and freezing rain to the Northwest and northern Rockies. Arctic air with temperatures up to 40 degrees below normal will move into much of the East and South. Northeast Region - On November 6th, President Barack Obama officially awarded 1st Lt. Alonzo H. Cushing the Medal of Honor for gallantry during the Battle of Gettysburg. Centennial Office - The Centennial Office is still soliciting your stories on your passion for the National Park Service through its “Share Your Story” program. Submissions are due by November 30th. Abraham Lincoln Birthplace NHP - On Saturday, October 25th, the park broke ground for the first phase of site improvements at the Abraham Lincoln Birthplace NHP Boyhood Home Unit at Knob Creek. Intermountain Region - Bruce Noble, a 28-year veteran of the National Park Service, has been named superintendent of both Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park and Curecanti National Recreation Area in Colorado. Sequoia and Kings Canyon NPs - After 32 years of service, Ben Jacobs hung up his Nomex on October 31st and called Division 3 out of service for the last time. Servicewide Training Calendar - Added to this week's calendar are the following - a class on command and general staff functions for local incident management teams at NCTC in February and four new Centennial Office webinars on preparing for the upcoming NPS centennial. 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). --- ### --- |