Catoctin Mountain |  |
The following Incident Reports were extracted from the NPS Morning Reports/Coalition Reports from 1989-2025. They are not a complete record of all incidents which occurred in this park during this timeframe. INCIDENTS | |
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Tuesday, July 21, 1992 A Navy employee from Camp David living in a trailer park adjacent to Round Meadow was shot and wounded early on the afternoon of July 20th in a domestic incident. During an argument with her husband, the woman threatened to call the police; when he tried to stop her, she shot him with a .25 caliber handgun. She then took him to a hospital in Waynesboro, where he is being treated. The trailer is in an area of exclusive jurisdiction. The FBI has been notified. [Capt. Marvin Ellison, RAD/NCRO, 7/20]
A major winter ice storm struck sections of the park over the 1,300-foot elevation on March 4th. Heavy ice buildup caused major tree and limb falls lasting into Saturday, March 6th. Structural damage occurred to two WPA- constructed historic register cabins in Camp Greentop; minor damage was also inflicted on several other park buildings. Portions of park roads were closed. Power was knocked out at some locations and wasn't restored until Sunday. Extensive clearing and cleanup will be required on park trails and in developed areas. Region was contacted to coordinate dispatch of sawyers and tree workers who, together with Catoctin personnel, worked throughout the weekend to remove hazards along roadways and reopen Round Meadow Camp for Frederick County school programs on March 8th. [Roger Steintl, CR, CATO, 3/9]
Rangers John Kempisty and Charlie Callahan received a report of possible snake hunters in the park on October 1st. They soon came upon R.E. and R.R. and D.R., who matched descriptions provided by visitors. When contacted, R.R. claimed that he and his friends were only taking photographs. In plain view, however, were snake tongs, a snake hook, and a five-gallon plastic bucket. A consent search led to the discovery of a rattlesnake hidden under clothes and camera equipment in the bucket. R.R. then claimed that the snake was a pet that they brought to photograph in a natural setting. R.E., a photographer of some regional note, eventually confessed that the snake had been captured in the park; R.R. then claimed that he'd taken it to study it, then return it to the park. R.R. is known to state DNR officers for his active involvement in snake collection circles. He was charged under 36 CFR. Possession of venomous snakes without a permit is also a state violation, and sate charges are pending. [Roger Steintl, CR, CATO]
On October 1st, R.R. and D.R. and photographer M.E. were caught in the process of poaching an eastern timber rattlesnake from the park. On December 15th, R. plead guilty to poaching the snake; he was fined $750, given two years' probation, and barred from entering any NPS unit for one year. He was also ordered to forfeit his snake collecting paraphernalia and four rolls of slide film that had been seized as evidence. The slides, which are of professional quality, will be used by the park for educational purposes. Before sentencing, magistrate judge Donald Beachley said that "even the removal of one snake took away from a quality experience by other visitors, R.'s children, grandchildren, and others." [Roger Steintl, CATO]
The detonation of a pipe bomb on an unoccupied Little League field in Thurmont on April 27th led to a extended chase of the suspects by Thurmont police and Maryland state troopers. A state police helicopter reported that the vehicle was entering the park and directed rangers Kempisty and Voight to a successful interception as the juvenile driver and his passenger attempted to leave the park. Subsequent investigation by state authorities revealed that the two were in the process of making additional pipe bombs, and that they had allegedly thrown a Molotov cocktail at a Thurmont home earlier in the day. The boys were charged by the state with manufacturing explosives, bombing a building, assault, eluding authorities, and other violations. [R. Steintl, CR, CATO]
Rangers began a search for a 35-year-old woman from Ellicott City, Maryland, around midnight on April 27th after being notified by county dispatch that she had left a suicide note and was believed to be at Chimney Rock in the park. Her car was found in the adjoining state park. A total of about 45 state and NPS rangers, local police officers and volunteer dog handlers participated in the search. Ranger Reddinger and a SAR dog unit found her lying unconscious at Wolf Rock in the park around 8:30 a.m. She was given first aid, carried to the trailhead, then taken to a hospital and treated for a drug overdose. She has since regained consciousness and is apparently recovering. [Roger Steintl, CR, CATO]
Ranger W. Rose was awakened at 4:50 a.m. on July 29th at his required occupancy residence in the park by the sound of breaking glass at the nearby visitor center. Rose saw a vehicle leave the area at a high rate of speed. He discovered a broken window, damaged donation box and scattered money at the visitor center, and began a search of the route the fleeing vehicle had taken. Rangers Kempisty and Reddinger also responded. The suspects were apprehended about a mile away, where the driver had lost control of the vehicle and struck a tree. The driver, a juvenile, is currently in critical condition in a hospital in Hagerstown; the passenger, 18-year-old C.R., declined treatment for some time, but was later taken to the same facility. Charges have been filed against C.R. and are pending against the driver. The accident occurred outside park jurisdiction and is being investigated by state police. A park investigation continues in an effort to link this incident to vandalism and theft from the park's campground fee safe during the same time period and a similar fee safe incident which occurred in June. [Roger Steintl, CR, CATO, 7/31]
Three of the four people charged in last July's breaking and entering and theft of donation box funds from the park's visitor center were tried before a federal magistrate on October 17th. Two entered guilty pleas to charges of interfering with an agency function and received fines of $110 and probation for a year, during which time they are banned from the park. Chad Reisinger of Fairfield, Pennsylvania, entered guilty pleas to CFR charges of theft and trespassing. He was fined $445 and sentenced to court supervised restitution of 50% of the cost of damages and a year's supervised probation, during which time he's banned from all NPS areas in Maryland. Charges are pending against a fourth person, who was seriously injured in an accident while fleeing from the park and is still in a nursing care facility. [Roger Steintl, CR, CATO, 7/31]
A violent thunderstorm struck the park on the evening of June 30th. Downed trees forced the closure of Park Central Road for about three hours. Tree branches and heavy debris covered park roads, Owens Creek campground, and Camp Misty Mount. Three cabins in the latter area and one RV in the campground sustained minor structural damage. Only one minor visitor injury was reported. Park Central Road was scheduled to reopen yesterday following the completion of tree removal and cleanup operations. Local Marine Corps, Seabee and YCC crews assisted in the cleanup. [Mel Poole, CATO, 7/1]
On May 17th, a visitor reported a suspicious object in a backcountry section of the park. Ranger John Kempisty found what appeared to be an unexploded mortar round left over from WWII military use of the area and secured the site. On May 19th, emergency ordnance disposal (EOD) technicians from Fort Meade determined that the round was a 60mm, M-49, high-explosive shell and destroyed it on site. Protection, resource management and red-carded personnel were involved in the coordinated response. This is the first WWII ordnance item found in the park. A DOD site restoration survey was recently completed; no items were found. Although no further hazards are thought to exist, DOD personnel will be reviewing this earlier assessment. [Roger Steintl, CR, CATO, 5/21]
President Clinton hosted Israeli prime minister Barak and PLO chairman Arafat at Camp David within the park for the Middle East peace summit between July 10th and 25th. At the request of the Secret Service, portions of the park's central road and trail system were closed. Rangers from Catoctin, Antietam, Gettysburg, Harpers Ferry, C&O Canal, Prince William, Shenandoah and Fort McHenry and Park Police officers provided around-the-clock patrols, manned security checkpoints, handled visitor and media contacts, supported the Secret Service and State Department, and provided assistance and support for motorcades. Communications were handled through the NCR communications center. One small First Amendment demonstration was held in the park; others were held at the press center in nearby Thurmont. Other associated incidents were minor. [Roger Steintl, CR, CATO, 8/3]
Further updates have been received on the status of NPS areas and/or staff responses to Tuesday's terrorist attacks: o Catoctin MP (MD) - The central road and the area around Camp David have been closed to public use. Other closures and operations are essentially as noted yesterday. [Russ Wilson, GATE/SHU, 9/12; Clayton Jordan, IC, Type 3 IMT, SHEN, 9/13; Karl Merchant, Plans, Type 2 IMT, NERO, 9/13]
The following changes in the status of National Park Service areas and offices were reported yesterday: o Catoctin MP (MD) - The central portion of the park will be closed from noon on September 21st to noon on September 24th. [Pat Buccello, CISM Team, STLI, 9/19; Dennis McGinnis, Type 1 IMT, WASO, 9/19; Sue Masica, Administration, WASO, 9/19; SHEN EICC, 9/18]
A visitor hiking in the area of Chimney Rock failed to negotiate a crevasse on the afternoon of November 9 and fell about 15 feet. Other members of his party advised rangers of the accident and injury. The Park Police aviation unit was notified and dispatched helicopter Eagle Two to assist with the rescue. Rangers, county fire and rescue personnel, state police and a USPP sergeant (on protection detail to Camp David at the time) participated in the rescue. Eagle Two flew overhead and dropped a stokes litter, tag lines and a spider rig from the helicopter on a hoist to the rescue team. Once the equipment was delivered, Eagle Two orbited the area as the rescue team stabilized the patient and secured him in the stokes litter. Once the rescue team was ready, Eagle Two hovered over the hoisting site and lifted the litter and patient 80 feet to the helicopter. Eagle Two then rendezvoused with Maryland State Trooper One helicopter at a predetermined site. The victim was transferred and flown to a hospital. The crew of Eagle Two consisted of pilot K.W. Duckworth and rescue technicians K.A. Harasek and J.J. Dillon. [Submitted by Sergeant Scot R. Fear, PIO, US Park Police]
On Wednesday, June 4th, the NCR communications center was notified by
the Custom and Border Protection Agency at Boston's Logan Airport that
they were detaining P.T., 25, on a warrant from Catoctin
Mountain Park. P.T. had been cited by rangers Don Stanley and Travis
Baker for violating a lawful order and disobeying official signs related
to Camp David on November 3, 2002. When P.T. failed to appear in
court, rangers investigated and found that he had left the United States
for France. A warrant for him was entered in NCIC and the Customs TECS
system. Continued investigation of P.T. led to the discovery of
information that suggested he potentially posed a serious threat to
homeland security. Other agencies accordingly joined the investigation.
The Bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement became interested in
visa violations. The FBI and Joint Terrorism Task force determined that
P.T. had studied for small plane pilot's license near the District of
Columbia and had taken aerial photographs of a nearby national park
area. The Secret Service had previously contacted P.T. for a security
violation at the Winter Olympics in Utah. P.T. was interviewed at
Logan Airport by the Joint Terrorism Task Force and the Secret Service
and arrested by NPS special agent Glenn Van Neil and Boston NHP ranger
Christopher O'Shea on the warrant from Catoctin. P.T. appeared before
a federal magistrate in Boston and was released with conditions insuring
his appearance in magistrate's court in Frederick, Maryland. On July
18th, P.T. appeared in U.S. district court for his initial appearance
on charges of violating a lawful order and disobeying official signs.
P.T. agreed to waive his initial appearance and settle the charges
through a plea agreement. He pled guilty to the charges and will pay
fines of $455 for violating a lawful order, $25 for disobeying an
official sign, and $20 in special assessment. In addition, the
magistrate accepted a plea agreement with three conditions. P.T. is
permanently banned from all NPS areas in the District of Maryland and
has been ordered to stay away from Secret Service protected sites. The
judge was prepared to place P.T. on supervised probation, but P.T.
told the court he is leaving the United States in September to start a
four-year doctoral program in Europe. Supervised probation in this court
is limited to defendants who are in the United States, so P.T. was
placed on unsupervised probation. By P.T.'s own admission, being led
away in handcuffs and leg irons and spending a night in jail convinced
him that his behavior at Catoctin was inexcusable, even stupid. When he
appeared in federal district court in Frederick, Maryland, on July 18th,
he was a changed man. Although it appears he is not a threat at this
time, all involved agencies are now aware of his past activities and
associations.
Eastern parks in the path or potential path of Isabel have completed preparations. As a precautionary measure, one of the Service's two national Type 1 teams (JD Swed's team) has staging in Charlotte, North Carolina, in order to be prepared to respond as needed to any park or area. A number of Type 2 teams are also on standby. All federal agencies in the Washington area are closed today, including the NPS Washington Office. OPM will monitor the weather and make a determination later today on whether or not offices will reopen on Friday. Here's a rundown on the status of many of the parks in or near the storm's path (south to north):
This summary was compiled from reports submitted by Ken Garvin, SERO; Brenda Ritchie, EICC, SHEN; Russ Wilson, Superintendent, SAHO/GATE; Ann Childress, Superintendent, MOCR; Mark Hardgrove, Assistant Superintendent, CAHA; Mike Litterst, PIO, COLO; Bob Kirby, Superintendent, PETE; Wayne Valentine, IC, FIIS; José Rosario, Acting Chief, Park Operations Support, GATE; Cindy MacLeod, Superintendent, RICH; William Kenyon, NCR Dispatch; Scot McElveen, Chief Ranger, HAFE; Wayne Sanders, Chief of Maintenance, GEWA/THST; Tom Nash, Chief Ranger, COLO; Russ Smith, Superintendent, FRSP; Clay Jordan, IC, SHEN; Steven Ambrose, Park Ranger, HOFU; Frank Mills, IC, STLI; Ed Whitaker, IC, DEWA.
Hurricane Isabel caused moderate to extensive damage in many parks within Southeast, National Capital and Northeast Regions. As of yesterday, 36 parks had reported damage sufficient to require the preparation of conditions assessments. Although most of these parks are not requesting any additional assistance, several have sustained damage sufficient to warrant oversight of recovery efforts by incident management teams. Here's a rundown on the affected parks (south to north), excluding those that reported negligible impacts:
Additional reports will appear daily during recovery operations, which will likely go on for some time. Current information and essential documents from the incident management teams will be available at the IMT web page: http://www.nps.gov/fire/allrisk/. Please check if for additional details. Reports compiled from submissions by Kris Fister, IO, Type 1 IMT; Ken Garvin, SERO; Don Boucher, NCRO; Doug Wallner, NERO; Ann Childress, Superintendent, MOCR; Wouter Ketel, IC, and Bob Vogel, Superintendent, CALO; Paul Stevens, Liaison Officer, IMT, and Barry Munyan, ADR, CAHA; Vidal Martinez, Superintendent, GEWA; Reed Johnson, Superintendent, APCO; Clay Jordan, IC, Type 3 IMT, SHEN; Mike Hill, Superintendent, ASIS; Charlie Strickfaden, Chief Ranger, FOMC; Gregory Smith, Chief Ranger, MORR; Maryanne Gerbauckas, Superintendent, EDIS; Bill Sanders, Superintendent, HOFU; Cindy McLeod, Superintendent, RICH; Bob Kirby, Superintendent, PETE; Russ Smith, Superintendent, FRSP.
Damage assessments and the organization of repair and rehabilitation operations are underway at parks throughout the Mid-Atlantic states. Assisting with and supporting these efforts are JD Swed's Type 1 team (currently relocating from Charlotte to Williamsburg), Rick Brown's Type 2 team, and Clay Jordan's Type 3 team at Shenandoah. Here's a rundown on the current status of affected parks (south to north): Catoctin MP The park was reported to be 80% operational as of late Sunday. The visitor center and adjacent quarters were operating on backup power. All roads were passable, but most trails had significant blockages. Saturated soils contributed to significant erosion to trails, road shoulders and developed areas. Two historic cabins suffered extensive damage; one suffered moderate damage; one had minor damage. Two other park structures have damaged roofs. Camp Misty Mount was still closed. Additional reports will appear daily during recovery operations, which will likely go on for some time. Current information and essential documents from the incident management teams will be available at the IMT web page: http://www.nps.gov/fire/allrisk/. Please check if for additional details. Reports compiled from submissions by Kris Fister, IO, Type 1 IMT; Ken Garvin, SERO; Don Boucher, NCRO; Bob Martin and Doug Wallner, NERO; Mary Doll, PIO, Outer Banks Group; Wouter Ketel, IC/Chief Ranger, and Donna Tipton, PIO, CALO; Laura Joss, Superintendent, FOMC; Vidal Martinez, Superintendent, GEWA/THST; Cindy MacLeod, Superintendent, RICH/MAWA; Bob Kirby, Superintendent, PETE; Laurie Coughlan, Superintendent, HAMP; Clay Jordan, IC, Type 3 IMT, SHEN; Tom Nash, Chief Ranger, COLO; Bill Sanders, Superintendent, HOFU; Mike Hill, Superintendent, ASIS.
Yesterday's efforts focused largely on organizing incident management operations, orienting incoming personnel, obtaining equipment, and gathering important damage cost data for the regional and Washington offices. Initial recovery efforts were hampered by heavy rain that fell on Tuesday night and Wednesday morning, causing new flood damage in many areas already affected by Isabel. The following reports were received from parks and regions over the past 24 hours. They are listed from south to north. This information either supplements or revises information previously reported; no effort is being made to recap earlier submissions with each new summary. Through the assistance of David Duran in the Service's National Information Systems Center in Denver, URL's are posted below for maps of three of the hardest hit parks - Cape Lookout, Cape Hatteras, and Colonial - so that readers can more easily determine referenced locations. Others will be added in the future as needed. You can zoom in or out or pan from one park to another and can also turn additional data layers on or off, e.g. National Geographic TOPO!, Relief Imagery, Flood Hazard Areas, Land Cover Imagery, etc. The sites are, respectively: http://maps2.itc.nps.gov/nps/parkatlas/jsp/atlas.jsp?zoomtopark=Cape%20Lookout%20National%20Seashore For a gallery of photos of the hurricane's effects on several parks, put together by WASO ITC's Ken Handwerger, please go to http://inside.nps.gov/ people/hurricane/. This gallery will be added to on a regular basis. Catoctin MP The park is 80% operational. The visitor center and adjacent quarters are operating on backup power. Several buildings have major to minor roof leaks. All roads are passable; most trails have major blockages. As previously noted, two historic cabins suffered extensive damage, one suffered moderate damage, and one sustained minor damage. Additional reports will appear daily during recovery operations, which will likely go on for some time. Current information and essential documents from the incident management teams will be available at the IMT web page: http://www.nps.gov/fire/allrisk/. Please check if for additional details. Reports compiled from submissions by Kris Fister, IO, Type 1 IMT; Barb Stewart, IO, Type 2 IMT; Don Boucher, NCRO; Dan Davidson, Shenandoah EICC; Bob Kirby, Superintendent, PETE; Clay Jordan, IC, Type 3 IMT, SHEN; Bob Martin, Regional Chief Ranger, NERO; Russ Smith, Superintendent, FRSP; Cindy McLeod, Superintendent, RICH.
Overview Crews and other resources have been arriving at the Williamsburg ICP for JD Swed's Type 1 IMT since Wednesday, bringing the total number of personnel currently assigned to the incident to 131. Early work efforts are focused on orienting personnel to the operations, with a heavy emphasis on safety due to the increased hazards involved in tree removal operations, especially with vehicle traffic. Team members are also holding short training sessions on ICS for newly-arrived personnel, as there are many people coming to this incident with minimal previous exposure to the system. The FMSS team continues to compile and input facilities assessment information received from the 38 park units that sustained hurricane-related damage. The preliminary assessment has been 100% completed by the parks. The FMSS team members are going out to parks beginning today to conduct comprehensive condition assessments. Crews will continue work on clearing the Yorktown Battlefield tour road in Colonial NHP. Additional crews and other resources were dispatched yesterday to Fredericksburg/Spotsylvania NMP, Richmond NB and Petersburg NB to work on tree clearing and other cleanup operations. Many employees working in the parks being managed in this incident are still without power at home. These same employees have been working for extended hours with little or no time off for over a week. A three-person Critical Incident Stress Debriefing (CISD) team was scheduled to arrive in Williamsburg yesterday. They will make arrangements to provide assistance to park employees dealing with incident-related stress Rick Brown's Type 2 team, which is focusing on four sites in what's being called the North Carolina Seashore Area, is divided into two branches. The Outer Banks Group branch has four divisions - one for Wright Brothers and Fort Raleigh, one for Bodie Island, one for Hatteras Island, and one for Ocracoke Island; the Cape Lookout branch has two divisions - one for Core Banks and one for Portsmouth Village. Principal problems confronting personnel on this operation have to do with the time and distances between locations and the amount of travel required. Operations are underway in all divisions. Park Updates The following reports were received from parks and regions over the past 24 hours. They are listed from south to north. This information either supplements or revises information previously reported; no effort is being made to recap earlier submissions with each new summary.
Additional Information
Reports compiled from submissions by Kris Fister, IO, Type 1 IMT; Barb Stewart, IO, Type 2 IMT; Karl Merchant, Plans Chief, Type 2 IMT; Dave Lattimore, Plans Chief, Type 1 IMT; Don Boucher, NCRO; Zeke Seabright, NCR Communications Center; Clay Jordan, IC, Type 3 IMT, SHEN; Bob Martin, Regional Chief Ranger, NERO; Cindy McLeod, Superintendent, RICH; Mike Litterst, PIO, COLO.
The National Park Service, Department of Interior and overall Federal commitment to hurricane relief and recovery operations took another step forward yesterday. Three NPS incident management teams (IMTs) have now been committed to Hurricane Katrina recovery operations: One Eastern IMT (Gordon Wissinger, IC) is at Everglades NP, assisting the park staff with repairs to damage at Flamingo and Dry Tortugas NP. A second Eastern IMT (Rick Brown, IC) is at Gulf Islands NS working with that park's staff on recovery operations in the Mississippi District. The National IMT (JD Swed, IC) is en route to assist the staff at Jean Lafitte NHP&P with employee support and park recovery operations when the latter become possible. The team is currently in Houston, Texas, but will be moving closer to New Orleans once support facilities are found. Other teams of specialists are on standby and will be committed when the necessary ground work has been laid to accommodate them. So far, the National Park Service has committed about 110 people to recovery operations. The NPS response is just a small part of a massive federal response that grows day by day. As of yesterday morning, DOI estimated that more than 400 employees had been committed to Hurricane Katrina support operations. The National Interagency Fire Center in Boise is preparing for an even more extensive Interior/Agriculture commitment. In a report released yesterday, NIFC calculated what resources it could release for the recovery effort while still maintaining a sufficient reserve to fight wildland fires. Managers of NIFC's participating agencies are prepared to make available two area command teams, eight Type 1 IMTs, 20 Type 2 IMTs, and 155 crews. They are also prepared to dispatch aircraft, materials stored in the eleven geographic area caches, radios, and contracted services. Here's today's summary, based on email reports (including a couple of parks that haven't previously appeared in this summary) and information gleaned from a conference call yesterday morning: Catoctin MP A microburst spawned by Hurricane Katrina ravaged park headquarters between 10 p.m. and midnight on Tuesday, August 30th. Approximately 30 mature hardwood trees toppled or were subsequently taken down as hazard trees. Looking at the surrounding area, it was surprising that park headquarters did not receive more damage. Vehicle access to the area was completely blocked until 11 a.m. on Wednesday. Park maintenance crews were joined by a saw crew from adjacent Cunningham Falls State Park and worked throughout the day on Wednesday clearing, chipping and removing the damaged trees. Power was lost, but Alleghany Power crews were on the scene before noon to repair downed lines. The damage included loss of trees, the total loss of a 2005 Ford Escape Hybrid and the puncture of the headquarters roof. The damage estimate has been placed at about $50,000. The park trail system remains open, but there has been an unconfirmed report of a 300 foot trench of downed trees near Wolf Rock. Park headquarters was expected to reopen yesterday. [Nancy Gray, IO, EVER; John Bandurski, GUIS; John Quirk, JAZZ; Leigh Zahm and Karl Hakala, JELA; Rusty Rawson, NATR; Holly Rife, CATO; Stacy Allen, SHIL; Monika Mayr, VICK]
An anonymous park neighbor contacted rangers on November 18th and informed them that a man had been hunting in the northeast section of the park for some time and had possibly shot several deer out of a portable tree stand. Rangers investigated the next day and found a portable tree stand inside the park. Surveillance was begun. At dusk, a man dressed in full camouflage and carrying a rifle walked up to the stand, threw some corn around it, then climbed up the tree to get into the stand. The hunter, also a park neighbor, was cited for possession of a weapon, attempting to take wildlife, and baiting deer. His rifle and tree stand were seized. Maryland Department of Natural Resources also issued warnings for hunting out of season and failing to wear orange. [Holly Rife, Chief Ranger]
A 34-year-old man and his four-year-old son were reported missing just after 10:00 p.m. on May 16th. The twosome had begun hunting for mushrooms in the park around 5:00 p.m. When their vehicle was found along Managhan Road within the park, a coordinated search was begun with assistance from the Frederick County deputies, Maryland DNR police, and a Maryland State Police helicopter and search dog units. A dog team picked up their scent at a stream near the vehicle and followed the track to the father and son, who were round at 2:50 a.m. They had stopped for the night and started a small fire for warmth. Nighttime temperatures were in the mid-40s. A local community ambulance crew checked father and son and found them to be in good condition. [Holly Rife, Chief Ranger]
On August 13th, a man and his family went on a hike to the Chimney Rock overlook. While hopping between the house-sized boulders there, he lost his footing and fell between two rock formations. Area technical rescue teams responded to assist park rangers with emergency care. A Maryland state helicopter performed a short-haul extrication of the injured man, who suffered lacerations to his face and abdomen and a possible broken leg. [Holly Rife, Chief Ranger]
On Wednesday, June 4th, a series of powerful thunderstorms passed through the National Capital Region, prompting the National Weather Service to issue 70 severe thunderstorm, marine, and tornado warnings in the Baltimore/Washington area. The storms left over 500,000 homes and businesses with out power and spawned four tornados. While none of the tornados struck any parks in NCR, virtually all NCR areas suffered damage from downed trees and power lines. The following is a synopsis of the preliminary storm impacts. The full extent of the damage may not be know for several days. Catoctin Mountain Park - The well pump at Quarters 6 was hit by lighting and knocked out, but no other damage or injuries were reported. [Don Boucher, Emergency Services Coordinator, NCRO]
Missing hiker B.F., 81 of Carroll Valley, Pennsylvania, was found by a Mid-Atlantic Search and Rescue air scent dog team at approximately midnight on August 6th in Owens Creek near Route 550 east of Thurmont, Maryland. Despite being lost for 34 hours and suffering minor mobility impairments, B.F. was conscious and responsive at the time she was located about a quarter mile from her last known location. She was transported to Frederick Memorial Hospital, where she is in stable condition. Over 100 searchers from Catoctin Mountain Park and six other national parks, five volunteer SAR organizations, and teams from Maryland State Police, Maryland Natural Resources Police and Maryland State Park Service were committed during the 34-hour-long search for B.F. Search efforts were hampered by extremely steep and rocky terrain with dense vegetation. [Brett Spaulding, Supervisory Park Ranger]
On March 25th, a 27-foot Bayliner motorboat was unexpectedly launched into Big Hunting Creek, closing State Route 77 and forcing an emergency response to mitigate resource impacts. A van towing the boat got a flat tire. While the operator was attempting to back the trailered boat to a safe stopping point, the trailer's wheel dropped off the pavement into soft duff and the boat slid off the trailer and down a 30-foot cliff into the creek. The boat was estimated to have about 50 gallons in its fuel tank. A large crane was brought in to extract the boat and two portable generators. The fuel tank was not compromised and only a few gallons of gasoline are estimated to have spilled from one generator. Big Hunting Creek is a small, freshwater creek and a sensitive trout sanctuary. It was the first in the state to be designated as catch and release and fly fishing only. Several former Presidents have fished in Big Hunting Creek. The creek in the area of the incident is only about a foot deep at this time of year. [Holly Rife, Chief Ranger]
Rangers learned of a choking incident involving a handicapped camper at Camp Greentop on Sunday, August 5th. The camper was choking on a meatball. An EMT from the Department of Navy was on scene with suction and oxygen and the camp nurse was delivering abdominal thrusts when rangers arrived. The patient was severely cyanotic. with deteriorating vital signs. Local ambulance personnel manually removed the meatball and the camper began breathing. He returned to camp two days later. [Holly Rife, Chief Ranger]
On October 14th, retired U.S. Park Police Sergeant Andrew Smith was visiting Catoctin Mountain Park with his family when he collapsed while hiking the Hog Rock Trail. He was treated on scene by NPS rangers and transferred to Frederick Memorial Hospital, where he was pronounced dead. The staff at Catoctin Mountain Park and U.S. Park Police wish to send their condolences to the family. More information on services will be shared as it becomes available. [Michelle Schonzeit, Supervisory Park Ranger]
On June 12, hikers found humans remains that have been identified as J.M.A., who was also known as D.R. The FBI is investigating and the cause of death has not yet been determined. Source: NBC Washington
On February 25, the NPS announced that routine white-tailed deer disease samplings in several DC-area parks have revealed that some deer are positive for the virus that causes COVID-19. Thus far, positive samplings by the USDA Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service and Pennsylvania State University researchers have been found at Catoctin Mountain Park, Rock Creek Park, Monocacy National Battlefield, and Chesapeake and Ohio Canal National Historical Park. The NPS expects they'll see similar results at Antietam National Battlefield and Harpers Ferry National Historical Park. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention say that the risk of getting COVID-19 from animals in the U.S., including wildlife, is low. The NPS donates all suitable meat from its deer management operations to local food banks, and though there is no evidence that humans can get COVID-19 through handling or eating game meat, the NPS has contacted local food banks to discuss their venison donations. Source: WUSA9
The park closed Park Central Road between Thurmont Vista and Camp Greentop, as well as trails to Hog Rock Overlook and Blue Ridge Summit Vista from April 6-9. The park listed the closures as "increased security measures." Source: Catoctin Mountain Park | |