INCIDENTS

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Alaska Region
Climber Rescued from Mt. McKinley

A multi-day rescue effort to save an injured Korean climber was begun on Thursday, May 20th, following a late night emergency call to the Alaska Rescue Coordination Center (RCC), which in turn notified mountaineering staff at Denali National Park & Preserve. Forty-year-old I.H.C. of South Korea, leader of the Daejeon Mt. McKinley Expedition, reportedly fell 50 to 60 feet just above Denali Pass at 18,300 feet during a descent of the West Buttress route. I.H.C. was unable to descend any further due to his injuries. Climbing partners wrapped him in layers of down clothing, insulated him from the snow with a backpack, then descended to the 17,200-foot high camp to get help. Throughout the early morning hours, members of several Korean climbing parties made two separate attempts to return to I.H.C. with emergency supplies, but were turned back by high winds and whiteout conditions. On Friday morning, a Hercules HC-130 aircraft from the 210th Rescue Squadron out of Kulis Air Force Base in Anchorage flew to the park, but could not find I.H.C. due to overcast skies. In a remarkable 15-hour push made on Friday, an NPS ground rescue team climbed from the 14,200 foot ranger camp to where I.H.C. lay at 18,300 feet. The team then executed a technical lowering of the injured climber, reaching high camp at about 10 p.m. The team was led by Renny Jackson, a climbing ranger from Grand Teton National Park on temporary detail to Denali. Jackson's team consisted of four other Teton climbing rangers who volunteered their time to join Jackson during his detail.At high camp, I.H.C. was stabilized and treated overnight for exhaustion, hypothermia, dehydration, frostbite, and a possible head injury. On Saturday, poor visibility continued to preclude a helicopter evacuation, so Jackson led a further technical rope lowering of I.H.C. down the "Rescue Gully" from the 17,200-foot high camp to the 14,200-foot ranger camp. This was the second time in a week that the Grand Teton-based patrol and other volunteers had executed a 3,000-foot rope lowering of an injured climber down the Rescue Gully. When skies cleared on Monday morning, May 24th, the park's contract high altitude Lama helicopter flew into the 14,200-foot camp and evacuated I.H.C. to 7,200-foot basecamp, where he was transferred to an airplane and taken to Anchorage for further medical care. Denali mountaineering ranger Gordy Kito served as the incident commander for the rescue, with mountaineering ranger John Evans directing ground operations from the 14,200-foot camp. The overall effort involved the entire South District ranger staff, the 210th Rescue Squadron, and over 35 volunteers at various camps on the mountain.

Maureen McLaughlin, Public Information Officer, Talkeetna Ranger Station
[Submitted by Maureen McLaughlin, maureen_mcclaughlin@nps.gov, 733-2231]

FIRE MANAGEMENT

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National Interagency Fire Center
NIFC Situation Report Highlights — Tuesday, May 25, 2004

Preparedness Level 1

NIFC reported 122 new fires yesterday, two of which became large fires.

Very high to extreme fire indices were reported in Arizona, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Texas and Utah.

Warnings and Watches

A RED FLAG WARNING has been posted today for strong southwest winds and low humidity for much of northern New Mexico.

FIRE WEATHER WATCHES have been issued today for strong southwest winds and low humidity parts of eastern Arizona and much of southern New Mexico, and for winds, dry humidity and dry fuels for southwest Colorado.

National Resource Commitments

Day	Wed	Thu	Fri	Sat	Sun	Mon	Tue
Date	5/19	5/20	5/21	5/22	5/23	5/24	5/25
Crews	22	21	22	40	51	42	50
Engines	44	25	24	62	70	68	60
Helicopters	14	10	6	7	16	16	14
Air Tankers	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Overhead	109	39	57	129	175	352	410

National Team Commitments

Newly listed fires (on this report) appear below in boldface. Fires are sorted by type of team; teams are listed in alphabetical order within each type by the IC's last name.

State	Type Team	Team IC	Fire/Location	Acres 5/24	Acres 5/25	Percent Contain	Est Full Contain
NM	T2	Bateman	Peppin Fire Lincoln NF	---	9,500	1	6/5
AZ	T2	Kvale	KP Fire Apache-Sitgreaves NF	6,642	9,379	20	UNK
AZ	T2	Kvale	Rose Fire Apache-Sitgreaves NF	780	780	100	CND
NM	T2	Winchester	Lookout Fire Cibola NF	4,600	4,750	60	5/27

Further Information

This report is meant to present just highlights of the current fire situation. Two other NIFC sites provide much greater detail:

Full NIFC Situation Report (PDF file) — http://www.nifc.gov/news/sitreprt.pdf

National Fire News — http://www.nifc.gov/fireinfo/nfn.html

Information on the NPS Fire Management Program Center (FMPC) and on park fires can be found at:

FMPC — http://www.nps.gov/fire

Park fires — http://www.nps.gov/fire/news

OPERATIONAL NOTES

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Fire and Aviation Management
Memorandum: "Implementation of Interagency Wildland Fire Key Messages"

May 14, 2004

Y14 (9560)


Memorandum

To: Regional Directors
Attn: Superintendents

From: Associate Director, Visitor and Resource Protection /s/ Karen Taylor-Goodrich

Subject: Implementation of Interagency Wildland Fire Key Messages

The National Wildfire Coordinating Group (NWCG) has approved the attached Interagency Wildland Fire Key Messages. Historically, the communication of fire issues has been extensive throughout the interagency wildland fire community; and sometimes, our messages have not always been consistent. For our internal and external publics to truly understand the role of wildland fire, we must communicate clearly and consistently across all agencies and all disciplines.

With this end in mind, the NWCG's Wildland Fire Education Working Team (WFEWT) sponsored a Fire Messaging Task group for this significant effort. Facilitated by Fleishman Hillard Communications, the task group coordinated the research and development of these messages with the assistance of a focus group comprised of knowledgeable and experienced fire management and communications personnel from all levels of the NWCG member organizations.

National Park Service policy stresses managing fire, not just suppressing it. Clearly, this means understanding fire regimes, planning for fires, and using fire as a land management tool. Our goal is to protect lives, property, and resources while restoring where appropriate, fire's role as a dynamic and necessary natural process in maintaining healthy ecosystems. The Interagency Wildland Fire Key Messages strongly support our overall policy and I encourage you to include these messages when discussing wildland fire management within the National Park Service.

If you have questions or need additional information, please contact your Regional Fire Management Officer, National Fire Communications Program Leader (NPS representative to the WFEWT) Roberta D'Amico at 208-387-5239, or National Fire Management Officer Sue Vap at 208-387-5225.
Attachments [Submitted by Regional Fire Management Officers] More Information...

PARKS AND PEOPLE

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Intermountain Region
Passing of Don Higgins

Don Higgins, a long-time park friend of Chiricahua National Monument, died in a traffic accident in early May. A geologist by training he became a passionate dark-sky advocate and astronomer. Don traveled throughout the west, and was involved in many conservation projects. He first joined Chiricahua National Monument as a VIP, giving geology tours. His thirst for knowledge was insatiable. He was a staunch preservation advocate and supported those efforts at Chiricahua National Monument and Fort Bowie National Historic Site, but was also capable of criticizing the NPS for not following his own philosophy of what constituted appropriate preservation. Four park superintendents can attest to his tenacity and his penchant for appearing suddenly at 5 p.m. on a Friday requesting a long list of park documents.

 

Don helped Chiricahua, which has some of the darkest night skies of any NPS area, identify and correct inappropriate outdoor light fixtures. He was a leader in those efforts in the county and other areas, as well as in other NPS sites.

Park employees and neighbors will remember him for his intelligence, his exceedingly individual nature, his love of things wild, his ability to debate a topic, his quizzical frowns, and his earthy laugh.
[Submitted by Alan Whalon, alan_whalon@nps.gov, 520-824-3560 Ext. 202]

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.