The 3 damaged cabins mentioned in this article included one historic cabin owned by the Park Service.  The damage was thought to have been done in the Spring after being discovered in early August 1992 by a Park ranger who walked in to the area from the Park road to the south. That ranger wrote in his Criminal Incident Report that he thought the damage was caused by a human, not a bear, because someone had used an ax to try and beat holes into the metal roof of the cabin. He regrets that he did not continue walking 5 miles furthur to the bus where Chris was starving. Several days later two more Park Service employees flew into the cabins to assess the damage. Had the helicopter continued five miles down the river to the bus the rangers probably would have found and rescued McCandless who was at that time starving and seeking help. Chris may have heard the helicopter but apparently didn't have a signal fire ready to ignite. Perhaps because he feared a rescue by Park "officials".