NATIONAL PARK SERVICE

MORNING REPORT

Monday, August 10, 2009

NOTICE

Lake Mead NRA

Rangers Rescue Six Family Members From Lake

Rangers rescued six members of a California family last Thursday after they had to abandon their boat near Castle Cove when it was swamped by four-foot waves created by high winds on the lake. The boat then sank, leaving them in the water for about an hour until rangers reached them. Fortunately, all were wearing lifejackets, which almost certainly saved their lives. The original report of the sinking was made to marina staff at Las Vegas Boat Harbor, who in turn advised the park. Boat Harbor staff were first on-scene with two boats and pulled three of the people from the water. There was only one injury - a woman in her 60s suffered minor lacerations and exhaustion and was taken to a hospital. A wind advisory was in effect at the time, calling for winds of 20 to 35 mph with gusts over 50 mph. [Andrew S. Muñoz, Public Affairs Officer]

Death Valley NP

Boy Dies Of Exposure, Mother Survives

Rangers received several phone calls from concerned family members on the evening of August 5th regarding the failure of a woman and her son to return from a camping trip in the park. A.S., 28, a traveling nurse, was scheduled to report back to her current assignment at a Las Vegas hospital that evening, but hadn't yet appeared. The family reported that she'd planned to come to the park with her 11-year-old son to camp and visit Scotty's Castle, and that she'd sent a text message on August 1st saying that she was in the desert and changing a flat tire. Ranger Matt Martin checked the high elevation campgrounds in the Panamint Mountains (Wildrose, Mahogany Flats, and Thorndike) and district ranger Aaron Shandor checked the Furnace Creek campground and the surrounding developed area - neither with any success. Rangers then began planning for a full-scale search beginning at first light on Thursday August 6th, including the use of a VX-31 SAR helicopter from China Lake Naval Air Station. The VX-31, with rangers providing ground support, began searching the south end of the park at 6 a.m., as did other rangers and members of the Civil Air Patrol. At 10 a.m., ranger Amber Nattrass came upon a wheel rim with a flat tire and a water bottle on a dirt road leading into the Owlshead Mountains at the southwest corner of the park. Only one set of tire tracks were seen. Nattrass followed this set of tire tracks and discovered that the vehicle had left the established roadway and been driven into designated wilderness. Nattrass continued to follow the tracks and found A.S.'s vehicle just after 11 a.m. She found the woman conscious but suffering from exposure and severe dehydration; her son had not survived. Nattrass, a park medic, began treating A.S. after requesting a medevac. VX-31 with paramedics on board responded, and they began assisting Nattrass with medical care. A medevac helicopter from Mercy Air in Pahrump, Nevada, arrived and transported A.S. to Sunrise Hospital in Las Vegas. Nattrass was later joined by rangers Scott Bagocious and Mike Nattrass, and an Inyo County sheriff's deputy. San Bernardino County Sheriffs Department investigators arrived later in the afternoon. San Bernadino County is leading the investigation. Lake Mead is providing CISM support. [Brent Pennington, Chief Ranger]

HYPERLINK "http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5h8B3QtNKD974PokDDXFIEUlpGIcwD99UBDVG0" http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5h8B3QtNKD974PokDDXFIEUlpGIcwD99UBDVG0

Sequoia-Kings Canyon NPs

Two Teenage Girls Drown In Separate Incidents

Two young girls, ages 13 and 14, lost their lives in separate drowning incidents on the Kaweah River at Hospital Rock in mid-July. On Saturday, July 18th, park dispatch received a 911 call at about 3 p.m. from a pay phone in the Hospital Rock picnic area. The caller reported that a 13-year-old girl was trapped under a rock and drowning. Rangers arrived on scene within 15 minutes. The young girl was visible beneath the surface, but rescue efforts were unsuccessful, as one of her lower limbs was apparently caught under a rock or limb under a large, partially submerged boulder. Rangers were able to recover her body two hours later. On the next day, park dispatch received another 911 call from the Hospital Rock picnic area at about 8 p.m. The caller stated that a 14-year-old girl had disappeared under a large rock while swimming with her family and did not reappear on the downstream side of the rock. Rangers again arrived on scene with 15 minutes of the report. They immediately searched the area of the boulder under which the girl had disappeared, but were unsuccessful. A search of the downstream river banks continued until midnight. Large searchlights were set up after dark and downstream containment was conducted throughout the night. At first light, a park contract helicopter searched the river corridor, focusing on deep pools downstream of the point where she'd last been seen. Park swiftwater rescue technicians and a local dive team from the Tulare County Sheriff's Office also arrived to search the underwater area beneath the large boulder where the girl was last seen. At 11 a.m., helicopter crew members spotted what might be her body at the bottom of a large deep pool about 300 feet downstream from the point last seen. Divers from the Sheriff's Office searched the pool and recovered the body of the 14-year old girl. Statistics from past drownings in the park show that most occur in late spring and early summer, when temperatures are often in excess of 100° F, river currents are very high (averaging above 1000 cubic feet per second, with flow rates in May 2009 above 2700 cubic feet per second), and water temperatures are below 50° F. Daytime air temperatures during the weekend were above 105° F, water temperature ranged in the high 60s to low 70s, and the river was flowing at less than 150 cubic feet per second. Signs in English and Spanish warned visitors of dangerous river conditions. Volunteer river rovers were on duty both Saturday and Sunday afternoon, warning visitors of dangerous river currents. The weekend was also a “fee free” weekend, resulting in high visitation in the lower foothills river access areas. [Dan Pontbriand, Sequoia District Ranger]

New River Gorge NR

Fisherman Drowns In Bluestone River

On Saturday, August 3rd, M.J., 29, of Jumping Branch, West Virginia, drowned in the Bluestone River. According to witness R.H., also of Jumping Branch, the two men were floating down the river fishing - R.H. in a raft and M.J. in an inner tube. The two became separated late in the afternoon, with R.H. proceeding further down the river. When R.H. reached the takeout at Lilly, he looked back up stream for his friend and saw what appeared to be M.J.'s inner tube floating upside down in the river. R.H. ran up the river bank, calling and looking for his friend, but was unable to find him. R.H. returned to his vehicle, parked at Lilly, and called 911 to report that his friend was missing. Rangers responded along with personnel from a number of state and local agencies. A search of the river was conducted until dark with no success. On Sunday, an organized search of the river was conducted near the point last scene. Forty-seven searchers from 14 different agencies and organizations participated in the search effort, which was organized under ICS. Ranger CW Mitchem served as the IC for the incident. Rangers employed boats equipped with sonar to establish priority areas for the search, and local volunteer dive teams set up grid searches of the river bottom. Divers found and recovered his body in one of the high priority areas just before 2 p.m. M.J. was not wearing a life jacket at the time of the incident. [Gary Hartley, Chief Ranger]

Upper Delaware S&RR

Man Drowns In Delaware River

B.G., 28, and five friends were camping just north of the Stalker-Kellam Bridge at the Soaring Eagle campground on July 26th when they decided to go for a morning swim. None were wearing lifejackets. They swam downstream to a point where the water was swifter and deeper, at which point they began to tire and panic. They worked to help each other and all but B.G. made it to shore. A multi-agency search was begun for him. His body was recovered in about 15 feet of water south of the bridge by personnel from the Equinunk Fire Department. A Honesdale EMS paramedic pronounced him dead at the scene. An investigation is being conducted by rangers, Pennsylvania State Police, the Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission, and Wayne County Coroner's Office. [Joe Nicholson, Supervisory Park Ranger]

Gateway NRA

After-Hours Swimmer Drowns Off Park Beach

A.B., a 21-year-old Brooklyn resident, entered the ocean at Jacob Riis Park around 8 p.m. on Monday, August 3rd, two hours after park lifeguards went off duty. Shortly thereafter, a 911 call was made reporting his disappearance, bringing emergency responders from the Park Police, NYPD and FDNY to the scene. Efforts to find him that evening and the next day were unavailing. On Wednesday, a body believed to be his washed ashore in the early morning hours. At the time of the report, a city medical examiner was working to establish positive identification and cause of death. [Brian Feeney, Public Affairs Officer]

OTHER NEWS

The following stories are among those in today's edition of InsideNPS. The first story on the list is the lead story.

Office of Legislative and Congressional Affairs - This week's update on past and upcoming hearings and the status of legislation pertinent to the National Park Service.

HYPERLINK "http://home.nps.gov/applications/digest/headline.cfm?type=Announcements&id=8020" http://home.nps.gov/applications/digest/headline.cfm?type=Announcements&id=8020

Law Enforcement, Security and Emergency Services - The draft of the reference manual for search and rescue (RM-59) was released for review and comment on July 10th. The comment period will close at the end of this week.

HYPERLINK "http://home.nps.gov/applications/digest/headline.cfm?type=Announcements&id=8021" http://home.nps.gov/applications/digest/headline.cfm?type=Announcements&id=8021

National Capital Region - Einar Olsen, NCR assistant regional director for management analysis, has been commended for coming to the assistance of a bus driver who was attacked by a drunk.

HYPERLINK "http://home.nps.gov/applications/digest/headline.cfm?type=PeopleNews&id=2435" http://home.nps.gov/applications/digest/headline.cfm?type=PeopleNews&id=2435

Office of Legislative and Congressional Affairs - The Office of Legislative and Congressional Affairs is recruiting for one or two GS-0301-12/13 legislative affairs specialists who will serve as Bevinetto Congressional Fellows for 2010 and 2011. The announcement is open until September 4th.

HYPERLINK "http://home.nps.gov/applications/digest/headline.cfm?type=Jobs&id=4105" http://home.nps.gov/applications/digest/headline.cfm?type=Jobs&id=4105

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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).

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