water trouble:
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Mount Rainier National Park (WA)
Eleven-Year-Old Boy Drowns In White River
An 11-year-old boy and a 51-year-old man lost their footing in the White River yesterday morning and were swept downriver. The incident occurred just inside the north boundary of the park near the US Forest Service Silver Springs guard station. The two had been camping in the area with the boy's uncle and friends. They had crossed the White River. but were unable to find a suitable log to get back across the river. They were attempting to ford the river to cross back, with each holding onto opposite ends of a walking stick, when the boy lost his footing. The man grabbed the boy's sweatshirt, but they were both swept downstream and under several logs. The man held onto the boy for approximately a quarter mile before he lost his grip. He was able to get to shore and begin a search, but the boy continued to be swept downriver, where search crews later found his body. NPS rangers worked with Pierce County Sheriff's deputies, Greenwater Fire Department volunteers, and Mount Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest rangers on this incident. Uwe Nehring was incident commander. [Submitted by Patti Wold, PIO]
Yosemite National Park (CA)
Seriously Injured Teen Extricated From Under Bridalveil Falls
Park dispatch received a 911 call from a visitor at Bridalveil Falls on the afternoon of August 5th, reporting that a 16-year-old boy had fallen 30 to 40 feet and was unconscious. A number of visitors had seen him scrambling on the large boulders below the falls, then slip off the face of one of them and out of their view. Rangers, Medic 3 ambulance and a SAR carryout team responded. An air ambulance was also requested based on the visitor report that the boy was unconscious. Rangers found that the boy, who was at the edge of one of the pools directly under the 640-foot waterfall, was gravely injured. The first park medics to arrive in the area immediately called for a short-haul extraction, based on the terrain and seriousness of the boy's injuries. Helicopter 551 with pilot Richard Shatto and a spotter were flown to the scene. Shatto positioned the helicopter in the spray of the giant waterfall, then slowly lowered medic Keith Lober, dangling from the 150-foot short-haul line, down to the site. SAR personnel helped Lober hookup the teenager, who was already packaged in a litter. He was flown out just a bit more than an hour after the initial call for help. The boy was flown to the trauma center at Memorial Hospital in Modesto, where he was treated for his life-threatening injuries. The IC was ranger Chris Bellino. [Submitted by Ed Dunlavey]
