Fort McHenry National Monument and Historic Shrine (MD)
Water Taxi Accident with Multiple Drownings
On the afternoon of March 6th, a commercial water shuttle boat that provides transportation to the park from Baltimore's popular Inner Harbor tourist area on the Patapsco River capsized during a sudden thunderstorm. The "Seaport Taxi," operated by the National Historic Seaport in Baltimore, was carrying 25 people at the time. Most were recovered by Navy personnel stationed at the Naval Reserve Training Center adjacent to the park. They witnessed the capsizing, responded with a Navy landing craft, and pulled most of the passengers out of the water. The rest were rescued by Baltimore Fire Department rescue boats. All were sent to local hospitals. At least one person died, and another three were still missing as of yesterday morning. Initial response to triage and recovery involved more than 30 different agencies, including the Baltimore City Police and Fire Department, Baltimore County Police and Fire Department, Maryland State Police, US Coast Guard, and local municipalities. Park staff provided traffic control at the entrance to the park and incident command post, supported park partners adjacent to the park, served as interagency liaisons, and provided media support. The park picnic area, adjacent to the incident command post, is being used for media staging and briefings for over 30 different media organizations. The investigation is being handled by the National Transportation Safety Board.
[Submitted by Charles Strickfaden, Chief Ranger]
Acadia National Park (ME)
Search and Recovery
On Saturday, March 6th, a patrol ranger came upon a vehicle parked at the entrance to the Park Loop Road and Route 233 which had also been their the previous day. A checked of the Ohio license plate revealed that a "be on the lookout" message had been posted for the owner by the Ohio State Police. The 21-year-old man, who was relocating from Ohio to Maine, had called a friend on March 4th and told him that he was going to commit suicide. An immediate search of the area was begun, which built through the day. Searchers covered the area on foot and by snowmobile and employed search dogs in an effort to find him. The search effort resumed on Sunday morning with about 50 people from the park, Mount Desert Island SAR, other Maine SAR teams, and a Maine Air National Guard helicopter. The man's body was spotted from the helicopter on the top of Great Hill on the east side of the park. He had died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound.
[Submitted by Dustin Warner]
OPERATIONAL NOTES
NPS Office at the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center
Field Training Update
The members of National Park Ranger Integrated Class (NPRI) 401 have arrived at their field training parks and the program is moving along very smoothly. As a reminder, the trainees assigned to a field training area are still considered students of FLETC and fall under the purview of the FLETC superintendent. Parks with trainees assigned to field training areas should direct their questions and concerns relative to the program to the FLETC staff and not the field training leads or field training rangers. As adjunct FLETC instructors, field training leads and field training rangers have been instructed to refer all programmatic issues back to FLETC. Being a Servicewide program, it is imperative the NPS Field Training Program be consistent Servicewide. It is also imperative that field training sites be protected from any undue pressure or influences that may affect the training experience. The fastest way to resolve a program issue is to e-mail it to Liz Dodson, Jodi Rods and JR Tomasovic and it will be answered immediately.
[Submitted by Superintendent]
PARKS AND PEOPLE
Park Facility Management Division
GS-0020-13/14 Community Planner (Transportation)
Dates: 03/03/2004 - 04/05/2004
A vacancy announcement advertising a permanent full-time Community Planner (Transportation), GS-0020-13/14 with the Alternative Transportation Program, Park Facility Management Division located in Washington, DC.
The job is listed on USAJOBS under announcement # NPS WASO-04-016. It opened March 3, 2004 and closes April 5, 2004.
This is an excellent and unique opportunity to fulfill a much needed role in the Alternative Transportation Program by working with the Northeast Region to interface with State Transportation Officials and local stakeholders to promote and integrate National Park Service transportation projects, issues, and policies.
[Submitted by Lou DeLorme, 202-513-7028] More Information...
Submission standards for the Morning Report can be found on the left side of the front page of InsideNPS. All reports should be submitted via email to Bill Halainen at Delaware Water Gap NRA, with a copy to your regional office and a copy to Dennis Burnett in Division of Law Enforcement and Emergency Services, WASO.
Prepared by the Division of Law Enforcement and Emergency Services, WASO, with the cooperation and support of Delaware Water Gap NRA.