NATIONAL PARK SERVICE
MORNING REPORT
Tuesday, February 2, 2010
INCIDENTS
Gateway NRA
Firefighters Respond To Smoke Issuing From NOAA Lab
On the morning of Sunday, January 31st, rangers in the Sandy Hook Unit saw a large volume of black smoke emanating from the chimney of NOAA's James J. Howard Marine Laboratory in the Fort Hancock historic district. The 32,000-square-foot, two-story building houses a full service marine laboratory and offices, staffed by up to 90 people. It also has confined spaces and a large amount of flammable and hazardous materials. NPS firefighters responded in Engine 1 and Rescue 1. Four firefighters entered the lab in full PPE with a multi-gas meter. When they entered the furnace room, they encountered heavy smoke and carbon monoxide levels of well over 100 ppm. They shut down the heating plant and searched the building for employees while protection rangers secured the area and assessed employees for any signs of carbon monoxide poisoning. None showed any signs of poisoning. Firefighters ventilated the carbon monoxide and smoke within 30 minutes. The building was turned over to NOAA maintenance for repairs. The response was managed under ICS. [Rob Louden, Acting Law Enforcement Operations Chief]
Valley Forge NHP
Suicide Victim Found On Park Trail
The park received a report of a body with gunshot wounds along a park trail on the morning of January 26th. Protection rangers Bruce Eash and Duane Buck investigated and found the body of a man with what appeared to be a self-inflicted gunshot wound in his head. A suicide note was discovered not far from the scene. The rangers were assisted by Schuylkill Township police officer in the investigation. [Gregg Tinkham, Supervisory Park Ranger]
OTHER NEWS
The following stories are among those in today's edition of InsideNPS:
Fire and Aviation Management - The first-ever NPS Fire and Aviation Management Workshop kicks off in San Antonio, Texas, this morning. Although there have been many conferences over the years in the three disciplines that comprise Fire and Aviation Management - structural fire, wildland fire and aviation - this is the first time that representatives from across the system in all three specialties will meet together at one time.
WASO Public Affairs - The President's Fiscal Year 2011 budget for the National Park Service requests $2.7 billion and makes investments of $35.3 million in park operations increases.
Death Valley NP - Edward Derobertis, a long time fixture in Death Valley, retired on January 31st after serving 26 years with the National Park Service.
Pictured Rocks NL - Brad P. Bradley retired on January 2nd after more than 30 years of federal government service. Photo.
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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