Rangers dealt with big crowds and numerous incidents over the Memorial Day weekend. There was heavy traffic throughout the park on all three days. Lines at entrance stations throughout the park began forming as early as 7 a.m. and continued until late in the afternoon. Complicating operations was a phone outage throughout much of the Mather District due to lightening and thunderstorm activity earlier in the week. Significant incidents included:
Firefighters actively suppressed the Cottonwood Fire while monitoring other lightning-caused fires in the park.
There were five incidents that required the use of air ambulances, including the medevac of a 60-year-old woman with loss of consciousness at Olmsted Point on May 23rd. She suffered a facture of her cervical spine in a ground-level fall.
Tuolumne rangers responded to a motorcycle crash on May 24th in which the operator suffered a lower leg fracture and dislocated shoulder.
The parkâs dispatch center received 1,539 telephone calls during the holiday weekend, while rangers dealt with 568 incidents, 242 vehicle stops, 15 medical assistance calls, and 16 motor vehicle accidents.
Ruby: 1.8.7, Rails: 1.1.6