NATIONAL PARK SERVICE

MORNING REPORT

Thursday, December 31, 2009

INCIDENTS

Grand Canyon NP

Rangers, Road Crews Respond To Multiple Simultaneous Accidents

Rangers and road crews responded to numerous accidents on Tuesday after light snow fell on wet roads just as evening temperatures dropped below freezing. Numerous calls began coming in around 5 p.m. reporting accidents in the vicinity of Buggeln Hill on Desert View Drive, also known as the East Rim Drive. Shortly thereafter, additional calls came in reporting the rollover of a 15-passenger van and a possible car over the edge in the vicinity of Navajo Point, located between Buggeln Hill and Desert View. All available emergency responders were immediately called out to assist with the incidents. Emergency crews arrived at Buggeln Hill around 5:30 p.m. and found multiple accidents, involving approximately 40 vehicles, blocking the road. After determining that no serious injuries were being reported, crews began working to clear a lane so that additional emergency responders could continue on to Navajo Point. Responders from Desert View arrived at the scene of the Navajo Pont accident around the same time and found a 15-passenger van over the edge and about 25 feet below the rim. The van's six passengers had already gotten out and were reporting only minor injuries. Initial investigations indicate that the van slid over the edge and rolled down the embankment. Two ambulances and additional ranger staff from Grand Canyon Village arrived at the Navajo Point accident scene around 6:10 p.m. once a lane at Buggeln Hill had been cleared. After being examined by park EMT's, two of the van's six passengers were transported to Flagstaff Medical Center with non-life threatening injuries. The other four passengers were transported to Tusayan. The accidents are being investigated. [Shannan Marcak, Public Affairs Officer]

Big Bend NP

Traffic Stop Leads To Discovery Of Major Drug Load

On the afternoon of Monday, December 21st, one of the park's West District rangers conducted a traffic stop on a red Dodge pickup truck for excessive speed. The driver did not have a valid driver's license and the vehicle was not registered. The driver was traveling with his family, which included three children. The ranger saw candelilla plants, a desirable native plant common to the park, in the passenger compartment in plain view. A subsequent consent search of the truck revealed 747 pounds of processed marijuana under a tarp in the bed of the truck. The driver was taken into custody and the vehicle impounded. Local DEA agents assisted on scene and will lead the prosecution. Investigation later revealed that the man had driven deep into the park's remote backcountry, then crossed the Rio Grande into Mexico at a low spot in the river and picked up the load of marijuana. [Allen Etheridge, Chief Ranger]

OTHER NEWS

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

Office of the Chief Information Officer - Best wishes for a happy and productive 2010 from the staff of InsideNPS. We'll be back on Monday…

To see these and other stories posted on InsideNPS (or NPS Digest, its public version), click on one or the other of the following links (please note that not all stories in the former appear in the latter):

NPS employees: HYPERLINK "http://inside.nps.gov/index.cfm?handler=index" http://inside.nps.gov/index.cfm?handler=index

Non-NPS employees: HYPERLINK "http://home.nps.gov/applications/digest/" http://home.nps.gov/applications/digest/

NPS serious incident submission standards can be found at the following web site: HYPERLINK "http://inside.nps.gov/waso/custompages.cfm?prg=45&id=8728&lv=2&pgid=3504" http://inside.nps.gov/waso/custompages.cfm?prg=45&id=8728&lv=2&pgid=3504

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

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