NATIONAL PARK SERVICE
MORNING REPORT
Tuesday, June 30, 2015
INCIDENTS
Buffalo NR
Swimmer Drowns In High Waters Of Buffalo River
Dispatch received a report on the evening of June 18th advising that a 22-year-old man had disappeared while swimming in the Buffalo River, which was near flood stage at the time of the incident. The reporting party advised that the man and two companions swam across the river at Grinders Ferry; on their return swim, the victim began struggling, slipped beneath the surface of the river, and disappeared.
Hasty search operations were begun immediately via land and boat and continued until slightly after dark. Search operations continued the following morning at first light, with efforts focusing on side-scanning, sonar-mounted motorboat operations. Additional sonar operations continued on Saturday and Sunday, and dive operations were begun on Sunday.
On Monday morning, as dive teams were preparing to enter the water for the second day, District Ranger Mark Miller and Firefighter Tim Baron were making a motorboat sweep patrol to Gilbert when they located the body of the missing swimmer about two miles downstream from Grinders Ferry. The body had been deposited by the river in a shallow depression on a sandbar about five vertical feet above the water line.
A recovery and investigation team was immediately deployed to that location to recover the body, which was transferred to the Searcy County coroner upon arriving back at Grinders Ferry. The search and rescue mission utilized a unified command team comprised of the National Park Service and Searcy County Sheriff's Office. Additional resources came from Mennonite Disaster Services Search and Rescue (Carroll County SAR), the American Red Cross, Arkansas Game and Fish Commission Dive Team, Arkansas G&F wildlife officers, Benton County Dive Team, Searcy County Dive Team, BUFFSAR volunteers and numerous park staff.
[Karen Bradford, Chief Ranger]
Golden Gate NRA
Motorcyclist Killed In Accident In Marin Headlands
On the evening of Wednesday, June 24th, a motorcyclist from Oakland was killed in a crash on Bunker Road in the Marin Headlands.
The motorcyclist was traveling at an estimated speed of 80+ mph, eastbound on Bunker Road through the Baker-Barry tunnel, when he lost control of motorcycle near the tunnel exit and crashed. Another motorcyclist was trailing behind and discovered the operator in the roadway with the motorcycle approximately 25 to 30 yards further down the road.
Rangers were nearby on another call and responded quickly to 911 reports of the crash. The first ranger to arrive performed CPR; paramedics from the Southern Marin Fire Department arrived shortly thereafter and took over. They declared him dead at the scene.
Investigators from the park's Problem Solving Unit (PSU) coordinated the death investigation with the Marin County coroner and the accident investigation with the reconstruction team from the United States Park Police. The California Highway Patrol and Golden Gate Bridge Patrol also assisted with the incident.
[Matthew E. Wallat, Law Enforcement Specialist]
OTHER NEWS
The following stories are among those in today's webpage editions of InsideNPS (available to NPS employees only) and the Morning Report (available to all readers):
Point Reyes NS - Point Reyes National Seashore and Team Rubicon, an organization that unites the skills and experiences of military veterans with first responders, hosted firefighter training for about 80 veterans this past week.
Minute Man NHP - National and local preservation leaders gathered in the park earlier this month to announce a national fundraising campaign to preserve and study the historic battleground of Parker's Revenge.
Ulysses S. Grant NHS - On Saturday, June 13th, Ulysses S. Grant National Historic Site was honored to host Holocaust survivor Sara Moses. Each year, the park holds a Jewish history program in honor of Grant's defense of the Jewish community.
Big South Fork NR&RA - On June 18th, former Civilian Conservation Corps worker Oscar Odom, 97, spoke with YCC crew members who are restoring a cabin where Odom worked from 1933 to 1935.
To see the full text of these stories, readers should go to one or the other of the following sites:
NPS employees - HYPERLINK "http://inside.nps.gov/index.cfm?handler=index" http://inside.nps.gov/index.cfm?handler=index
Non-NPS employees - HYPERLINK "http://www.nps.gov/morningreport/" http://www.nps.gov/morningreport/
The Morning Report is 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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