A Utah man killed in a rafting accident at Dinosaur National Monument in Colorado has been identified as a 27-year veteran of the Salt Lake City Fire Department.
According to the National Park Service, Michael Harp, 54, was on a licensed private rafting trip on the Green River in Lodore Canyon around 4 p.m. Thursday when his boat became stuck on rocks in the rapids known as Hell’s Half Mile.
Memorial staff responded to the rafting accident and learned Harp was missing and believed to be trapped under the raft. The rafting group managed to pull the boat away from the rocks, but officials said Harp was unresponsive and “swept downstream.”
Harp was wearing a life jacket but had lost it by the time the group undocked the boat, the National Park Service said.
Tourist swept away by waterfall in national park to death: officials
Salt Lake City Fire Chief Michael Harp, 54, died Thursday in a rafting accident on the Green River in Dinosaur National Monument, authorities said. (Salt Lake City Fire Department)
River Patrol Rangers launched a search for Harp, whose body was discovered about 10 miles downstream by a guide from rafting company Adrift about 7:45 a.m. Friday.
Harp’s body was airlifted to the Moffat County Coroner’s Office. Details of Harp’s death are currently unknown.
Harp was part of a rafting group on a licensed private trip on the Green River when the raft got stuck on rocks and Harp was likely crushed under the raft. (National Park Service/Dan Johnson)
Harp, a native of Sandy, Utah, was a second-generation firefighter who served as fire captain with the Salt Lake City Fire Department, the department said in a social media post Saturday.
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According to the department, he followed in his father’s footsteps with the department for 27 years and was known for being deployed to Ground Zero after 9/11.
Harp, pictured with another firefighter, famously deployed to Ground Zero in New York City after 9/11, according to the fire department. (Salt Lake City Fire Department)
“Captain Michael Harp dedicated his life to not only the citizens of Salt Lake City, but also his fellow firefighters,” the fire department wrote. “His service, leadership, compassion and infectious laugh will be forever remembered by all who knew him.”
Dinosaur National Monument spans 210,000 acres across Colorado and Utah. It’s best known for the quarries that house dinosaur fossils, but the park’s famous canyons on the Green and Yampa rivers also draw rafting enthusiasts from around the world.
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The National Park Service said that in the days before and after the accident, the flow rate in the Lodore Canyon section of the Green River averaged 4,700 cubic feet per second.
