RANGER ACTIVITIES DIVISION
MORNING REPORT
Attention: Directorate
Regional and Park Chief Rangers, USPP, BIFC, FLETC
CC: RAD Information Net
Day/date: Friday, May 17, 1991
INCIDENTS
91-164 - Denali (Alaska) - Rescue in Progress
On the afternoon of Wednesday, May 15th, a combination
Swiss-American climbing team was attempting to reach the summit
of Mt. McKinley when they came across a Korean climber lying in
the snow at the 18,000-foot level about a quarter of a mile from
his tent. The climber, who was a member of the nine-member Blue
Fire Expedition that had begun an ascent of the West Buttress on
May 1st, had evidently fallen and appeared to be suffering from
a broken arm, broken ribs and frostbite. Three more Koreans,
all of them weak but uninjured, were found in the tent, and a
fifth Korean rejoined the group shortly thereafter. They'd
apparently been at that location for four to five days. The
Swiss-American climbers learned that the Blue Fire Expedition had
split into four and five-man teams during the ascent, and that
the remaining Korean climbers were elsewhere on the mountain.
The incident was reported to rangers who were at the 14,000-foot
level. A rescue effort was begun, but bad weather precluded any
flights that day. Meanwhile, a climbing team from the Army's
Northern Warfare Training Center that had reached the 17,000-foot
level saw two climbers from another party fall while descending
from Denali Pass. They went to the injured climbers and
assisted them to the Army camp. One of the climbers was unhurt,
but the other apparently had internal injuries. The two
climbers were members of the other Blue Fire team. The park's
contract helicopter was able to fly to the mountain early on
Thursday morning. Two of the rangers at the 14,000-foot level
were picked up; one was taken to 17,000 feet and the other to
18,000 feet. The two most seriously injured climbers were
evacuated and taken to Talkeetna, where they were transferred by
helicopter to a hospital in Anchorage. Of the three Korean
climbers remaining at the 14,000-foot level, one has a knee
injury and a second has frostbite on his hands. The park was
unable to rescue them yesterday because of weather conditions,
but will take them off as soon as the weather permits. This
incident brought into service an NPS rescue helicopter stationed
in Talkeetna for the first time this season. The NPS has never
before had a high-altitude-capable helicopter dedicated to work on
Mount McKinley and other high peaks in Alaska. Without this
contract rescue helicopter, rangers would have to have lowered
the injured climbers by ropes on sleds to the 10,000-foot level
of the mountain before flying them out. Rangers Jim Phillips,
Renny Jackson and Jim Woodmency participated in the rescue
effort. [Telefax from RAD/ARO, 5/16]
91-165 - Hawaii Volcanoes (Hawaii) - Serious Visitor Injury
P.Q., 24, of Del Mar, New York, received second
degree burns to his feet and ankles when he waded into the water
near a lava flow in the Wahaula area of the park on the evening
of the 15th. P.Q. told hospital personnel that he'd intended
to jump into the water, but that he'd decided to test it with
his feet first. He was treated at the hospital, then released.
No park personnel were on duty in the area at the time, but
P.Q. had passed a number of warning and cautionary signs
before entering the water. [Jim Martin, CR, HAVO, via
CompuServe message from Carl Christensen, RAD/WRO, 5/16]
OPERATIONAL NOTES
1) Western Regional Office moved to a new building on March 1st,
requiring a change of address and of all telephone numbers.
Information on these changes has been slow in being distributed,
so all interested offices should make note of the information
that follows:
* ADDRESS (all divisions and offices):
National Park Service
Western Regional Office
600 Harrison Street, Suite 600
San Francisco, CA 94107-1372
* TELEPHONES:
FTS Commercial
Ranger Services (all staff) 484-3921 415-744-3921
Fire Branch only 484-3878 415-744-3878
Natural Resources 484-3955 415-744-3955
Interpretation 484-3910 415-744-3910
Safety 484-3914 415-744-3914
ARD, Operations 484-3926 415-744-3926
Field Solicitor, San Francisco 484-4095 415-744-4095
* TELEFAX:
Ranger Services only 484-4045 415-484-4045
All other offices 484-4043 415-484-4043
THIS DAY IN NPS SAR HISTORY...
May 17, 1960 - The "greatest rescue ever" (according to Life
Magazine) was successfully concluded on Mt. McKinley. Helga
Belding and John Day were injured in two separate incidents on
the same day. Nearly 60 mountaineers from the Pacific Northwest
were brought to the park to participate in the rescue effort.
Belding was suffering from high altitude pulmonary edema and
would have died if a helicopter had not landed at the 17,000foot
level and extricated her; at the time, it was the highest
helicopter landing ever undertaken. The entire rescue effort
took over a week to complete.
STAFF STATUS
Division Chief: Dabney on annual leave (5/14-5/17).
Branch of Resource & Visitor Protection: Martin at FLETC, Glynco, GA
(5/16-5/17).
Branch of Fire: Gale at fire program review of parks in Dakotas
(5/13-5/17); Broyles at training working team meeting, Nashville, TN
(5/13-5/17).
Prepared by WASO Division of Ranger Activities
Telephone: FTS 268-4874/6039 or 202-208-4874/6039
Telefax: FTS 268-5977 or 202-208-5977
CompuServe: WASO-RANGER (Branch of R&VP); WASO-FIRE-WO (Branch of Fire)
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