Mount Rainier National Park (WA)
Climber Succumbs After Evacuation Following Major Rescue Effort
Early on the morning of Saturday, May 15th, P.C., 39, of Cape
Elizabeth, Maine, was ascending Liberty Ridge with companion Scott
Richards, 42, when he fell at the 11,800-foot level. Although the rope
and belay arrested his fall and he was wearing a helmet, he suffered a
severe head injury and possible leg and arm injuries. Richards contacted
the park via cell phone just after 6
a.m. and reported the accident. Rescue efforts were immediately begun,
but were hindered for two days by poor weather, steep terrain and the
high elevation. In the interim, Richards carved out a flat platform for
a tent on the 45 degree slope, got P.C. into a sleeping bag, and cared
for him. After nearly three full days of concerted efforts by several
teams of rescuers, rangers were finally able to get to P.C. late on
Monday. The weather that had been the principal problem abated, making
it possible for an Oregon National Guard Chinook helicopter to fly to
the ridge. P.C. was strapped into a rescue litter and was hoisted into
the hovering helicopter. Although still alive when extricated, he did
not survive the flight and was pronounced dead upon arrival at Madigan
Army Hospital. Participants in this major rescue effort included nearly
70 people from the park, Tacoma Mountain Rescue, Rainier Mountaineering
and the Oregon National Guard. Mike Gauthier was IC.
[Submitted
by Patti Wold, Public Information Officer]
Wrangell - St Elias National Park & Preserve (AK)
Search for Missing Climber Suspended
On Tuesday, May 4th, J.H. hired an air taxi to drop him off
at Windy Ridge for a climb of 16,237 foot Mt. Sanford, located in the
northern portion of the park. When pilot H.M. returned to pick
him up at the appointed time on Sunday, May 9th, J.H. was nowhere to
be found. H.M. searched the immediate area on the ground and made
aerial searches for several days. On May 12th, H.M. notified the
park. An immediate investigation was begun by air and ground. Over the
ensuing days, Alaska State Troopers, National Park Service, the Rescue
Coordination Center of the Air National Guard, volunteer mountain rescue
teams, and volunteer climbers joined in the search effort. A state
trooper served as co-incident commander with park ranger/SAR coordinator
Pete Dalton. Ranger/pilot Rich Richotte served as air and ground
operations coordinator. While NPS pilots flew the climbing route and
possible exit routes, J.H.'s car was located and inventoried. The
Rescue Coordination Center was notified and a Pavehawk helicopter and
C-130 aircraft flew in on Wednesday evening. The H. family had
planned a reunion in Salt Lake City on May 12th. When J.H.
did not arrive, J.H.'s father, D.H., and brother, also Do.H., flew to
Anchorage, arriving at the search incident command post in Gulkana that
evening. On Thursday, May 13th, aircraft flew numerous search patters
along the Mt. Sanford climbing route and possible off-routes and escape
routes. Meanwhile, the Pavehawk helicopter, equipped with
forward-looking infrared, flew the climbing route to the summit. The
crew found some evidence of previous climbing parties, none of them
linked to J.H. More helicopters were ordered. On Friday, May 14th, an
NPS aircraft made numerous passes over possible escape routes from the
mountain toward the Copper River and along Boulder Creek. J.H.'s
father was also flown over the climbing route. A contract helicopter
flew low-level searches along the snow and ice portions of the route and
off-route possibilities, and Denali NP's contract high-elevation rescue
helicopter shuttled a team of four climbers from that park to a point
above the icefall on Sheep Glacier. Team members then descended through
the icefall. They found that they could not safely approach many of the
crevasses for visual inspection, though, so were extracted. On Saturday,
May 15th, search dog teams from the Mountain Rescue Unit in Anchorage
were flown to Windy Ridge airstrip, where J.H. had been dropped off to
begin his climb. The teams made a visual search of the area while
the dogs sniffed for human scent. Tracks leading downhill from Windy
Ridge were found, but soon faded. The four-person climbing team from
Denali, supplemented by two accomplished local climbers, found a base
camp that J.H. had made during his summit attempt, probably on May
4th. J.H. had used a snow shelter built by a climbing party several
weeks previous to his effort. He'd left most of his camping gear in the
snow shelter and headed up the mountain in a presumed fast, light,
one-day summit attempt. He carried an ice axe, crampons, 40 meters
of rope, shovel, and some other gear. J.H. did not return, and
in the ensuing days the shelter collapsed, making it undetectable from
the air. Sunday, May 16th, was the last day of intensive searching
for J.H., as it had been 12 days since he'd last been seen.
Winds rose and a cloud cap moved in over Mt. Sanford as the climbing
parties were extracted by helicopter from the Sheep Glacier. Two
helicopters and an aircraft flew the climbing route above J.H.'s base
camp, but without finding any trace of him. Other resources were
released, and J.H.'s father and brother flew home. Rangers plan to fly
higher portions of the climbing route during future patrols, checking
the area as snow conditions change.
[Submitted by Smitty
Parratt, Information Officer]
Hawaii Volcanoes National Park (HI)
New Chapter in Eruption of Kilauea
A new and active lava flow is within three-quarters of a mile from
the end of the park's Chain of Craters Road — the first lava flow
in over six months that has been readily accessible to the public. The
numbers of visitors has been increasing daily, as word has gotten around
about the flow. The park has accordingly activated one of its three Type
3 all-risk incident management teams to coordinate its response to the
challenge of managing visitors in a hazardous environment. A trail has
been flagged to the flow to make it easier for visitors to find their
way to a point where they can view the lava. If the flow continues for
the next few weeks, it's likely that the number of visitors will
increase significantly due to the end of the school year and to
nationwide news coverage of the event. The park is running two shifts of
rangers and emergency hires. These employees are scouting around the end
of the road for safe routes to viewing points, establishing trails with
reflectors, answering thousands of questions daily, giving short talks
on how to safely view the lava flow, and handling emergencies as they
arise.
[Submitted by Paul M. Ducasse, Chief Ranger]
Everglades National Park (FL)
Plane Crashes Near Gulf Coast Ranger Station
A single-engine Piper aircraft with four people onboard crashed near
the Gulf Coast Ranger Station around 2
p.m. on Sunday, May 16th. The plane was departing from Everglades City
Airpark when power was apparently lost and it banked down into the trees
behind a park residence. NPS maintenance worker David Westphal, who at
the time of the incident was mowing the lawn adjacent to the ranger
station, was one of the first responders on scene. The pilot, W.C.
of Tampa, Florida, and the front seat passenger, R.G. of
Union City, Tennessee, were flown by helicopter to the Lee Memorial
Hospital Trauma Center in Fort Meyers. Rear seat passengers S.C.
and C.G. were transported via ambulance to nearby Naples
Community Hospital. All four accident victims were listed in
stable condition at the time of the report late Tuesday. Rangers Dan
Camiccia and Kenny Clarke facilitated the initial investigation and
secured the crash site. The exact cause of the crash is unknown at this
time. The FAA and NTSB will be conducting an
investigation.
[Submitted by Bill Wright, Chief Ranger]
FIRE MANAGEMENT
National Interagency Fire Center
NIFC Situation Report — Wednesday, May 19, 2004
Preparedness Level 1
Initial attack was again light yesterday, with 100 new fires reported — all but one caught by initial attack.
Very high to extreme fire indices were reported in Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Florida, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Texas, Utah and Wyominb.
Warnings and Watches
FIRE WEATHER WATCHES have been issued for today for southwest Colorado (wind, low relative humidity and dry fuels below 8,500 feet) and for northeast New Mexico this afternoon (strong southwest winds, low humidity).
National Resource Commitments
| Day |
Thu |
Fri |
Sat |
Sun |
Mon |
Tue |
Wed |
|
Date |
5/13 |
5/14 |
5/15 |
5/16 |
5/17 |
5/18 |
5/19 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Crews |
1 |
36 |
75 |
60 |
48 |
13 |
22 |
|
Engines |
18 |
22 |
46 |
30 |
26 |
35 |
44 |
|
Helicopters |
4 |
14 |
18 |
9 |
15 |
12 |
14 |
|
Air Tankers |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
|
Overhead |
55 |
109 |
143 |
174 |
122 |
65 |
109 |
National Team Commitments
No national teams committed.
OPERATIONAL NOTES
Risk Management Division
Heat Injury Prevention: Cool Ideas on a Hot Topic
Dates: 05/27/2004
Times: 10 am and 2:00 pm
Location: TELNPS
The Risk Management Division presents a TEL station training session: "Heat Injury Prevention: Cool Ideas on a Hot Topic - A Program Implementation Workshop."
The two hour interactive workshop will be presented on May 27th at 10 a.m. and repeated at 2:30 EDT This workshop is designed to enable park leadership, safety officers and supervisors to understand how to properly implement a program to reduce the risk of heat injury to employees and visitors. Registration is now open.
Go to www.telnps.net to register your site and individual registration.
[Submitted by CAPT David Bleicher USPHS, CIH, David_Bleicher@nps.gov, 202-513-7224] 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.