Yosemite National Park (CA)
Multiple SAR Operations
Between August 19th and 22nd, park staff conducted several SAR missions — two of which required the callout of assistance from other agencies and lasted through the night. The first of these was the search for Michael Virga (previously reported in these pages), which concluded on the 20th; the second was for Inhyuk Hwang, an autistic eight-year-old Korean boy who wandered away from his family as they were beginning a hike to Sentinel Dome on the 21st.
The report on the missing boy came in around 8 p.m. Due to the possibility that the boy had been abducted, the Glacier Point Road was closed and checkpoints were setup at all park exits to check vehicles. Meanwhile, a hasty search was conducted of all area trails, a grid search was completed of the area surrounding the point last seen, and trackers and search dogs worked through the night to find the boy. At 6 a.m. an infrared-equipped helicopter provided by the California Highway Patrol began an air search and ground teams were redeployed. Around noon, Hwang was located by helicopter 500 feet below the rim of Yosemite Valley on a small ledge above a cliff. A technical raising was used to extricate the boy. He was not injured. Rescuers brought him to the trailhead and reunited him with his family.
While these two major searches were underway, park staff also dealt with the following:
- On the 20th, Mather District rangers were asked to evacuate a visitor with an ankle fracture from the Pate Valley. A helicopter and medical personnel were diverted from the Virga search to extricate the victim and fly him from the Pate Valley to Yosemite Valley and eventually to the Yosemite Medical Clinic.
- A report was received from the Vogelsang High Sierra Camp of a man with chest pains at 10:30 a.m. that same morning. A ranger/paramedic was flown in and he was evacuated by helicopter to Tuolumne Meadows, then transported by ground ambulance to Mammoth Lakes Hospital.
- At 2:20 p.m. on the 20th, a Virga ground searcher fractured his lower leg in Tenaya Canyon. The California Highway Patrol helicopter provided a hoist-equipped helicopter and the injured searcher was hoisted from the scene and transported to the Yosemite Medical Clinic.
- Around 4 p.m. the same day, a visitor with a lower leg injury near Nevada Falls asked for assistance. A SAR team member hiked to the falls and the patient was flown to the Yosemite Medical Center by an aircraft diverted from the Virga incident.
- Around 1:45 p.m. on the 21st, a concession mule trip guide reported that a 39-year-old man was having a heart attack just below the shoulder of Half Dome. A ranger/park medic and a SAR technician/RN flew in and provided advanced life support. He was transported to the Yosemite Medical Clinic by helicopter.
- While this operation was underway, a 74-year-old woman fell from her mule and injured her hip on the Half Dome trail. Rangers were flown to the scene, immobilized her in a vacuum splint, and flew her to the Ahwahnee Meadow. She was then transferred to the care of the Yosemite Medical Clinic.
- At 7 p.m. that evening, rangers in Little Yosemite Valley were contacted by visitors who reported that their 15-year-old family member was suffering from acute abdominal pain. A ranger/park medic responded and provided advanced life support. She was transported by a "call when needed" helicopter to the Yosemite Medical Clinic.
[Submitted by Keith Lober, Yosemite Search and Rescue Manager]
Joshua Tree National Park (CA)
Former Employee Again Arrested
In October, 2001, park employees determined that G.F., the
superintendent's secretary, had apparently been misusing her government
credit card. An investigation was begun, headed by special agent Todd
Swain, and it was determined that G.F. had stolen and embezzled a
total of $6,378.35 from the park, National Park Association, Employee
and Alumni Association, and a private company. G.F. was arrested after
refusing to meet with either her court-appointed attorney or a federal
probation officer, as had been ordered by the court. After nearly a week
in federal custody, she appeared before the judge and was sentenced to a
year's supervised probation and ordered to pay the full amount in
restitution. This past July, park staff learned that G.F. had failed
to comply with her federal probation requirements and that a warrant had
been issued for her arrest. G.F. was subsequently located in
Twenty-Nine Palms and taken into custody by an NPS agent and a Joshua
Tree ranger. G.F. appeared before a federal judge on August 9th and
was sentenced to five weeks in jail and another year of supervised
probation. She was again ordered to pay restitution to the park and the
other victims.
[Submitted by Todd Swain, Special Agent]
FIRE MANAGEMENT
NIFC/NPS Fire and Aviation Management
National Fire Situation Highlights — Tuesday, September 7, 2004
NPS Fires
For a brief supplemental narrative on each fire, click on the bar with the arrow. Internal NPS readers can link directly to full reports on each fire by clicking on the notepad icon; public readers of the Morning Report can obtain similar information by going to http://www.nps.gov/fire/news
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National Situation Report
The full NIFC Incident Management Situation Report for today can be obtained at http://www.nifc.gov/news/sitreprt.pdf. NIFC's national fire news is at http://www.nifc.gov/fireinfo/nfn.html
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.