NATIONAL PARK SERVICE
MORNING REPORT
Wednesday, July 3, 2013
INCIDENTS
Glen Canyon NRA
Accidents, Natural Causes Claim Six Lives In Eight Days
Glen Canyon National Recreation Area and Rainbow Bridge National Monument staff responded to several serious incidents between June 20th and June 28th, including six fatalities:
On June 20th, three women were killed when their northbound motorboat hit a houseboat and the motorboat overturned. Six children and four adults were rescued. All six children were wearing lifejackets. The body of a 57-year-old woman was retrieved immediately after the accident. Dive teams located the body of a 29-year-old woman on June 23rd and the body of a 22-year-old woman was retrieved on June 25th.
While the search for victims from the first incident was ongoing, park dispatch received a report of a possible drowning in Warm Creek Bay. The body of a 61-year-old man was found and retrieved on June 26th.
A 71-year-old man died of natural causes while camping at Iceberg Canyon. Rangers based in Bullfrog responded.
On June 28th, a five-year-old boy was thrown from a motorboat and killed instantly after being struck by a propeller uplake from Bullfrog. Everyone on board was wearing a life jacket and no alcohol was involved.
The critical incident stress management team from Grand Canyon National Park assisted park staff in dealing with the incidents.
[Jeanne Roy, Downlake District Interpreter]
Lake Mead NRA
One Dead, Over A Dozen Rescued In Multiple Incidents
A man died of unknown causes, five people were treated for heat-related illness, and more than a dozen people were rescued in separate incidents last weekend. Temperatures during the period reached as high as 120 degrees at Lake Mohave, so rangers focused on educating visitors on the realities and dangers of high heat. A number of significant events occurred, some heat-related:
On the afternoon of June 30th, a visitor told rangers that he'd seen a man wandering in the desert near Placer Cove Road. Four rangers and four wildland firefighters searched the area with the assistance of Las Vegas Metro PD SAR and found the man's body 30 feet down a ridge near Nelson Road around 8 p.m. The cause of death has not yet been determined.
Five people were treated for heat-related systems and more than a dozen people were rescued from the lake by rangers, personnel from partner agencies, and bystanders, including an 18-year-old man who was rescued by visitors when he tried to swim from Government Wash to an island without a life jacket.
Early on the morning of June 30th, park dispatch received a marine band call reporting that several people on a houseboat near Temple Bar were suffering from possible carbon monoxide poisoning. Rescuers soon arrived on scene and assessed the medical conditions of a dozen people. Five were medevaced by air to area hospitals, four were transported by ambulance, and three were treated and released.
Dispatch received numerous reports of a vessel fire on the north side of the Boulder Islands on the afternoon of June 30th. Visitors on another boat rescued the two people who were on board, who were uninjured. Responding emergency personnel extinguished the fire.
The National Weather Service has extended the excessive heat warning for the area until late tomorrow night. Highs are again forecast to exceed 110 degrees.
[Christie Vanover, Public Affairs Officer]
New River Gorge NR
Injured Cyclist Evacuated After Serious Bike Accident
A 46-year-old Indiana woman bicycling on the Clovis Branch of the Arrowhead trail system on June 30th collided with a tree and suffered injuries to her upper back and neck.
She was stabilized on scene by rangers and local emergency service personnel, carried out about a mile to a waiting ambulance for transport, transferred to a medevac helicopter, and flown to Charleston Area Medical Center for evaluation. She suffered a fractured vertebra and two fractured ribs but is expected to make a full recovery.
[Jeff West, Chief Ranger]
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/):
Director's Office - Director Jarvis has ordered that all United States flags at National Park Service sites be lowered to half staff today in memory of the wildland firefighters from the Granite Mountain Hotshots who were killed on Sunday.
Yosemite NP - In honor of Independence Day, Yosemite National Park hosted a special naturalization ceremony at Glacier Point on Thursday, June 27th.
Harpers Ferry NHP - In celebration of the 150th birthday of West Virginia, Harpers Ferry National Historical Park hosted a naturalization ceremony on June 20th.
Big Cypress NP - On June 26th, the park held its first annual Safety Blitz. The event provided the opportunity for employees from all divisions to participate in identifying unsafe conditions or hazards in various workplaces throughout the national preserve.
Northeast Regional Office - Chris Colvin has joined the Business Services Division in the Northeast Regional Office, where he will serve as the new recreation fee program analyst.
Glen Canyon NRA - Glen Canyon has issued an announcement for a chief ranger. Closes: July 23rd.
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The Morning Report is a publication of the Division of Law Enforcement, Security and Emergency Services, Washington Office, produced by the Office of Communications with the support of the Office of the Associate Director for Information Resources. Edited by Bill Halainen ( HYPERLINK "mailto:Bill_Halainen@contractor.nps.gov" Bill_Halainen@contractor.nps.gov).
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