NATIONAL PARK SERVICE

MORNING REPORT

Friday, May 22, 2009

INCIDENTS

Death Valley NP

Hiker Dies Of Exposure In Mesquite Sand Dunes

On the morning of Tuesday, May 19th, the park received a report of an overdue hiker in the Mesquite Sand Dunes near Stove Pipe Wells Village. The hiker was identified as J.H., 69, of Dayton, Ohio, who'd been traveling with his old college roommate, recreating a trip that the two had taken over 40 years ago. According to his traveling companion, J.H. had left their motel room at Stove Pipe Wells at 6:30 a.m., saying that he was going to the dunes to take some photographs. Rangers found his rental vehicle at the sand dunes and began a hasty search. Air temperatures reached 112 degrees Fahrenheit, with substantially higher ground temperatures within the dunes. A California Highway Patrol H80 helicopter assisted in the search. Because of the extreme conditions, searchers had to be rotated out of assignments for rest and rehabilitation at hour-and-a-half to two hour intervals. The winds picked up in the afternoon, creating some blowing sand and visibility problems. Search efforts for the first operational period ended shortly before nightfall with no sign of J.H. detected. Search efforts resumed at 6 a.m. on Wednesday, with additional resources brought in, including an air scent/cadaver dog from Inyo County Search and Rescue. The CHP H80 was back on scene by 9 a.m. and located J.H.'s body within minutes. The Inyo County coroner came to the scene and pronounced him dead. After the coroner conducted his initial investigation, J.H.'s body was flown out to the incident command post at the Stove Pipe Wells Ranger Station and was later transported to a funeral home in Lone Pine, California. An autopsy will be conducted, but all indications are that exposure, possibly combined with other significant medical issues, lead to his death, probably on the previous day. J.H. was a well-known restaurant owner in his hometown of Dayton, and news media interest from the Dayton area was high. J.H.'s wife and daughter had flown to Las Vegas overnight and arrived at the ICP at around 1 p.m. Ranger Ryan Gallagher served as IC for the incident. For a Dayton News article on Jay J.H., click on the link below. [Brent Pennington, Chief Ranger]

HYPERLINK "http://www.daytondailynews.com/news/dayton-news/haverstick-loved-dayton-was-proud-of-dayton-127829.html" http://www.daytondailynews.com/news/dayton-news/haverstick-loved-dayton-was-proud-of-dayton-127829.html

Denali NP&P

Search Underway For Missing Climber On Mt. McKinley

G.M., a 41-year-old resident of Centennial, Colorado, began a long solo bid for the summit of Mt. McKinley during the early morning hours of Tuesday, May 19th. According to a note left for his three climbing partners, G.M. departed the 14,200-foot camp around 4:30 a.m. He was next seen at the 17,200-foot high camp at approximately 11:00 a.m. that same morning, grabbing his skis and digging into a cache that the team had left there on a previous acclimatization day. Other sightings that afternoon were made on the traverse to Denali Pass at 18,600 feet and then again near 18,900 feet. According to rangers on patrol at high camp, G.M. did not return to camp on Tuesday night. During their investigations the following day, rangers learned that G.M. was seen by another party at approximately 2:45 p.m. on Wednesday as he climbed the ridge approaching the mountain's 20,320-foot summit. Members of a team travelling approximately two hours behind the earlier party did not see any sign of the soloist during their summit bid, and G.M. did not return to high camp Wednesday night. At the time, weather high on the mountain was deteriorating, with winds gusting 40 to 50 mph. An aerial search in an Air National Guard HC-130 Hercules was conducted yesterday. Although G.M. was not seen, there was considerable cloud cover and high winds at upper elevation that greatly limited the search. G.M. was reportedly carrying skis on his backpack when he was spotted near the summit. Based on equipment left at various caches on the mountain, it is expected that G.M. was carrying minimal survival gear at the time of his disappearance. While he departed camp in warm clothing, G.M. was travelling light and did not appear to take a sleeping bag, thermal pad, bivy sac, or a stove for melting snow. It is unknown how much food or water he had in his pack. According to his partners, the climber was likely carrying his FRS ‘family band' radio as well as a SPOT locator beacon. G.M. had programmed his SPOT device with three button settings: “OK, moving up”, “OK, but not moving”, and “911”. According to the GPS data recorded by the SPOT, the last electronically recorded location was the 17,200-foot camp at 10:50 a.m. on May 19, when G.M. had recorded his position by pressing the “OK, moving up” button. Throughout his trip, G.M. had reportedly been making one position recording each day. Aerial searching will continue as visibility and winds allow. NPS rangers and volunteers at the 14,200-foot camp and at high camp have been conducting visual searches via spotting scope of possible ski descent routes. Currently, visibility is generally obscured by clouds, with wind gusting to 45 mph near the summit. [Maureen McLaughlin, Public Information Office]

Big South Fork NRRA

Overlook Substantially Damaged By Lightning-Caused Fire

Rangers received a phone call on the morning of May 17th reporting a fire at Blue Heron overlook. The overlook consists of an approximately 2000 square feet of deck with a metal-roofed structure over half of the deck. The visitor reported that it appeared that lightning had struck the overlook and that it was burning and nearly fully consumed. Rangers and fire crew personnel responded and found the overlook approximately 70 percent consumed and still actively burning. The fire was immediately extinguished using the park's engine, with unburned sections of the overlook saved by cutting away burning portions. A small section of woods also burned adjacent to the overlook. An investigation revealed no sign of vandalism and that there was substantial lightning the evening before the fire was reported. The structure is still being evaluated to estimate how much can be saved. Ranger Jimmy Barna was IC and investigating ranger on this incident. [Frank Graham, Chief Ranger]

OTHER NEWS

The following stories are among those in today's edition of InsideNPS:

Office of Public Affairs - Monday is Memorial Day, and Congress has asked that Americans stop what they're doing and take time out to observe a National Moment of Remembrance in mid afternoon. Wherever you are, the National Park Service encourages everyone to participate in the special event.

HYPERLINK "http://home.nps.gov/applications/digest/headline.cfm?type=Announcements&id=7720" http://home.nps.gov/applications/digest/headline.cfm?type=Announcements&id=7720

Law Enforcement, Security and Emergency Services - This week is National Emergency Medical Services Week. The annual observance honors those public safety personnel who provide the day-to-day lifesaving services essential to our nation.

HYPERLINK "http://home.nps.gov/applications/digest/headline.cfm?type=Announcements&id=7725" http://home.nps.gov/applications/digest/headline.cfm?type=Announcements&id=7725

Office of Public Affairs - A photo taken by public affairs chief Dave Barna from the top of the Washington Monument during President Obama's inauguration has been selected as a winner in the FOTOBAMA international photography contest.

HYPERLINK "http://home.nps.gov/applications/digest/headline.cfm?type=Announcements&id=7726" http://home.nps.gov/applications/digest/headline.cfm?type=Announcements&id=7726

Training Calendar - A listing of upcoming training courses offered by the NPS and its partners across the nation. Added this week are an all-hazards resource advisor training course at Point Reyes next month and an interdisciplinary resource protection and law class at Glacier in September.

HYPERLINK "http://home.nps.gov/applications/digest/headline.cfm?type=Conferences&id=1768" http://home.nps.gov/applications/digest/headline.cfm?type=Conferences&id=1768

* * * * *

Submission standards for the Morning Report can be found at the following web site:

HYPERLINK "http://inside.nps.gov/index.cfm?handler=viewnpsnewsarticle&type=Announcements&id=3363" http://inside.nps.gov/index.cfm?handler=viewnpsnewsarticle&type=Announcements&id=3363

Prepared by the Division of Law Enforcement, Security and Emergency Services, Washington Office, with the support of the Office of the Chief Information Officer and Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area. Edited by Bill Halainen ( HYPERLINK "mailto:Bill_Halainen@nps.gov" Bill_Halainen@nps.gov).

--- ### ---