Day/date: July 13, 1987
FIELD INCIDENT REPORT
Incident type: Follow-up: Incendiary Attack
Log number: 87-138B
Date/time of incident: 7/4, midnight Date/time received: 7/13, pm
Park: Joshua Tree Location: Park headquarters
Reported by: Paul Henry, Chief Ranger, JCTR
Received by: Bill Halainen, Ranger Activities, WASO
Summary:
Incident Summary: L.M. drove through a wall in front of park headquarters,
then ignited his vehicle, which was full of acetylene, butane and gasoline.
L.M. was badly burned. Police stated that this was "a planned human
incendiary attack on a government installation."
Follow-up: It's since been learned that L.M. was well known to rangers at
Grand Canyon. He was arrested for assaulting a ranger there some time ago,
and had filed an unsuccessful torte claim against the park which had claimed
that the arrest was illegal. He reportedly had great hatred for the Park
Service and for the IRS, and had recently lost his house to the latter for
non-payment of taxes. L.M. is said to have been a great admirer of the
"monkey wrench" approach to environmental radicalism; one of the tenets of
that philosophy is that a person who believes in "monkey wrenching" and is for
some reason disposed to commit suicide should at the same time destroy
something man-made - such as a dam or power plant - which is perceived to be
environmentally intrusive. It has been determined that the visitor center and
headquarters of the park were L.M.'s target, not the Marine base at 29 Palms.
L.M. made several attempts to ignite the flammables in his vehicle before
succeeding, then shot himself with a derringer. Although wounded and burned
over 44% of his body, he is still alive and in intensive care. The FBI has
estimated that the material in his vehicle had the explosive equivalent of
1,150 sticks of dynamite; it failed to explode as such because the cans
containing the materials vented as designed when exposed to extreme heat.
Persons involved:
Name Address DOB or age
L.M. Los Angeles, CA Not given
FIELD INCIDENT REPORT
Incident type: Air Accident With Injuries
Log number: 87-154
Date/time of incident: 7/10, 3 pm Date/time received: 7/13, 8 am
Park: Voyageurs Location: Loiten Lake
Reported by: John Townsend, Ranger Activities, MWRO
Received by: Bill Halainen, Ranger Activities, WASO
Summary:
S. and his daughter attempted to take off from Loiten Lake in their 1982
Taylorcraft, a small two-seater aircraft, but did not clear the trees at
the end of the lake. His plane was totally destroyed. A state game warden
was fishing on the lake, and was able to get to the scene of the accident
quickly. Neither of the family members had suffered serious injuries, and they
were transported to a nearby resort. Rangers responded to the resort
and are investigating.
Persons involved:
Name Address DOB or age
S. Unknown 46
Daughter Unknown 10
FIELD INCIDENT REPORT
Incident type: Boat Sinking
Log number: 87-155
Date/time of incident: 7/12,1:00pm Date/time received: 7/13, 4:20pm
Park: Glacier Bay Location: 1 mile north of Ancon Buoy
Reported by: Dave Nemeth, GLBA thru ARO
Received by: William Halainen, WASO
Summary:
At approximately 12:45pm personnel at Glacier Bay National Park received a
call of a boat in distress, taking on water. The NPS boat Serac responded at
approximately 1:05pm. An attempt was made to pump 60 gallons of fuel from
the distress boat onto the Serac and to tow the boat to shallow water. The
boat sank by 1:25, in 180 feet of water. It is thought to be unrecoverable.
The Coast Guard has been notified. All passengers are fine. Boat's estimated
value to be $60,000.
Persons involved:
Name Address DOB or age
Six members of the V. Family Kirkland, WA unknown