Park employees honored for protecting visitors
For protecting park visitors from an approaching wildfire, two Glacier National Park employees received Valor Awards at a ceremony in Washington, D.C., on Tuesday.
Three park visitors also received the Department of Interior's Citizens Award for Bravery for a swift-water rescue in Glacier in 2002.
Chris Burke and Mike Sanger, both facility management employees at Glacier's Granite Park Chalet during summer 2003, were honored at the annual Department of the Interior convocation.
The two were among 19 National Park Service employees who received the award.
"We could not be prouder of these exceptional individuals honored with these awards," National Park Service Director Fran Mainella said. "These are all special people who have gone the extra mile in their effort to serve."
Burke and Sanger received the Valor Award for their efforts in protecting park visitors and the Granite Park Chalet on July 23, 2003, when a firestorm from the Trapper Creek Fire burned around and past the chalet.
According to a National Park Service press release, the two men "placed themselves at risk while ensuring the safety of 39 chalet guests during the intense wildfire event."
Amy Vanderbilt, Glacier's public affairs officer, said Burke and Sanger mainly kept chalet visitors calm and prevented them from leaving the rock shelter as the fire approached.
"They were the front line in keeping the guests at the chalet from doing something that would put them at risk," she said. "There were visitors who wanted to leave, and they could have very likely been on the trail when the fire burned through.
Also recognized at the ceremony with Citizen's Award for Bravery were three private citizens who were visiting Glacier during summer 2002.
The Rev. John R. Dowling, the Rev. Vann Johnston, both of Knoxville, Tenn., and the Rev. Kevin Dowling of Hohenwald, Tenn., were cited for their bravery in preventing a father and his two children from going over Ptarmigan Falls on Aug. 18, 2002.
The three men were on a hike when they encountered the father, his infant daughter and his 9-year-old son as they were being swept down Ptarmigan Creek toward the brink of the 50-foot-high Ptarmigan Falls.
The son had fallen while wading in the creek and the father jumped into the creek to grab his son's hand.
The father forgot he was carrying his one-year-old daughter in a backpack carrier, and all three were being swept downstream toward the falls.
The three men were recognized for their bravery in rescuing the family by grabbing each of them and preventing them from going over the waterfall.
The Valor Awards are presented to Department of Interior employees who have demonstrated unusual courage involving a high degree of personal risk in the face of danger.
Recipients receive a special certificate and citation signed by the Secretary of Interior and an engraved gold medal.
The Citizens Award for Bravery is granted to private citizens for heroic acts or unusual bravery in the face of danger. A special certificate and citation signed by the secretary are presented to the recipients.