NATIONAL PARK SERVICE

MORNING REPORT

Wednesday, October 20, 2010

INCIDENTS

Grand Canyon NP

Multiple Rescues Recorded Over Three-Day Period

During the three-day period from Saturday, October 16th, to Monday, October 18th, park SAR personnel responded to numerous incidents, including three helicopter short-haul missions:

Saturday - The park received a request from Zion NP for assistance in an ongoing technical rescue. Grand Canyon crews worked jointly with Zion SAR personnel in conducting a helicopter short-haul rescue of an injured hiker from Gunsight Canyon.

Sunday - The park was notified of a private river trip raft stranded on a rock in Nevill's Rapid. The occupants were short-hauled to the shore; swiftwater rescue personnel then worked through the night to free and salvage the raft. As they were clearing from this incident on Monday, they saw another rafter have the exact same accident. The rafter was rescued by personnel in a rescue Zodiac and a second salvage operation was conducted.

Monday - Park staff flew by helicopter to Hermit Creek Campground to treat and evacuate a 57-year-old woman in critical condition with stroke-like symptoms. Due to the lack of a safe landing zone anywhere near the campsite, she was short-hauled to a nearby landing zone in open terrain, then flown to a waiting medevac helicopter at the South Rim helibase.

[Ken Phillips, Chief, Branch of Emergency Services]

Great Smoky Mountains NP

Body Of Crime Suspect Found In Park

The body of a man wanted by local police was found just inside the park's boundary near the city limits of Gatlinburg yesterday afternoon. A Pigeon Forge Police Department canine unit found the body, later identified as that of M.C., 45, of Lebanon. Pigeon Forge PD was assisting the Gatlinburg Police Department in their ongoing search for M.C., who was wanted for unspecified reasons. The body was found at the base of a very steep slope, which investigators believe he may have attempted to climb. No weapon was found at the scene to indicate suicide and there was no immediate indication of foul play. [Bob Miller, Management Assistant]

OTHER NEWS

The following stories are among those in today's edition of InsideNPS. To see the full text, including images, NPS employees should go to the InsideNPS home page ( HYPERLINK "http://inside.nps.gov/index.cfm?handler=index" http://inside.nps.gov/index.cfm?handler=index). Non-NPS employees can see most of them on the NPS Digest page ( HYPERLINK "http://home.nps.gov/applications/digest/" http://home.nps.gov/applications/digest/):

Canaveral NS - This season, over 5,600 nests were laid along the park's 24 miles of undeveloped beach - exceeding the previous record of 4,563 in 2000.

Natural Resource Stewardship and Science - A memorandum calling for natural resource FY 11 technical assistance requests has been issued. Parks may enter requests until October 26th; regions have until November 9th.

Mojave NP - Mojave National Preserve experienced a "first" last Sunday when a private excursion train brought 260 passengers to the Kelso Depot Visitor Center. Photo.

Denver Service Center - Long-time NPS employee Doug Cornell, who retired in 1993, passed away on October 11th. Photo.

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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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