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Show Park Service Lists 33 Deaths A man who leaped into a thermal pool to rescue his dog and another visitor who attempted to parachute from a 2,000-foot canyon wall were among 35 persons who died of accidental causes while visiting NationaP Park Service areas of the Rocky Mountain Region last year. That is an in crease of three from 1980. Accidental falls (12), drowning (10) and motor vehicle mishaps (9) took the highest tolls during the year. Nationally, 182 persons , died of accidental causes while visiting NPS areas in 1981. This is 28 less than in the previous year. Yellowstone NP, with seven fatalities, recorded the fatalities, recorded Region's most tragic toll. Five were killed in automobile accidents and one victim drowned. One man succumbed to burns he sufferd after entering a thermal pool to rescue a dog. Grand Teton NP in Wyoming, Glen Canyon NRA in Utah and Glacier NP in Montana each reported six accidental deaths for the year. Five of the fatalities in Grand Teton were the results of falls while the other was due to a motor vehicle mishap. In Glen Canyon NRA, five deaths were attributed to drownings and the other to another mishap 'on the water when a ski jet collided with a boat. Three of the deaths in Glacier NP involved drownings. To climbers fell to their deaths and an automobile accident took the life of one park visitor. Rocky Mountain National Park, which recorded nearly 3 million visitors during 1981, reported two deaths which resulted from injuries from falls. Another visitor died from the effects of hypothermia he suffered during another climbing effort. Colorado National Monument, in western Colorado, had three deaths during the year Two results from a single car accident and the other was related to a fall. A camper lost her life from burns when a propane heater exploded last summer at Curecanti NRA in south-central Colorado. Dinosaur National Monument, in western Colorado, reported one death, a drowning, during 1981. One man was killed at Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Monument last summer when his parachute was snagged on a rock outcropping after he leaped from the top of a 2,000-foot canyon wall. Parachuting is not permitted In the Monument. At Zion NP, In southern Utah, a man fell to his death in a climbing accident. Commenting on the fatalities, Regional Safety Officer James M. Dempsey cited the need for all park visitors to need basic safety precautions, obey park regulations and exercise caution while visiting national park areas. |