Man Falls Into Yellowstone Hot Spring, Is Presumed Dead
An unidentified man fell into a Yellowstone National Park hot spring and is presumed dead, as no body has been found and he is unlikely to have survived the spring’s near-boiling water temperatures, MSN is reporting.
On Tuesday, witnesses observed the man, who appeared to be in his early 20s, walk off of the boardwalk surrounding the hot spring and then fall into the Norris Geyser Basin. The man would have had to walk about 225 yards away from the relative safety of the boardwalk in order to get so close to the spring.
Yellowstone National Park???? pic.twitter.com/rlbUJ1dpCv
— Adventure Spots ? (@AdventureSpots) June 8, 2016
Jody Lyle, a spokeswoman for the park, said via CNN that the man is likely dead.
“At this time, rangers are treating this incident as a probable fatality because the victim has not been located.”
Meanwhile, searchers are exercising “extreme caution” in the search for the man due to the scorching temperatures of the waters in the spring.
It is not clear, as of this writing, if the man is a tourist or a worker.
According to the park’s website, the water in the park’s hot springs and geysers can reach upwards of 200 degrees Fahrenheit; by comparison, water boils at 212 degrees Fahrenheit. At that temperature, exposure lasting for more than a few seconds can cause pain, scalding, and blistering.
For this reason, tourists are repeatedly warned to stay on marked paths and boardwalks and to not get too near the hot springs. Nevertheless, at least once or twice per year, on average, tourists ignore those warnings. The consequences can be dire.
“The National Park Service publishes warnings, posts signs, and maintains boardwalks where people can walk to get close to popular geyser fields. Yet every year, rangers rescue one or two visitors, frequently small children, who fall from boardwalks or wander off designated paths and punch their feet through thin earthen crust into boiling water.”
Worlds best warning sign. At Yellowstone park. pic.twitter.com/p5CdZxjN5x
— Anthony Formica (@yellowyoshi100) September 16, 2013
In fact, people have been getting injured in Yellowstone’s hot springs for almost as long as explorers have been charting the area. For example, in 1870, an explorer, Truman Everts, got separated from his party and burned his hip trying to get warm in a hot spring. In 1890, the park’s first known fatality occurred when a 7-year-old Montana boy got separated from his parents and fell into a hot spring.
By 1995, human fatalities from exposure to hot springs at Yellowstone had been documented. Those included children and teenagers who got separated from their families, fishermen who accidentally stepped into hot springs while fishing at Yellowstone Lake, and even park employees who illegally went for swims in hot springs.
Prior to this week’s death, the most recent hot spring-related death at Yellowstone occurred in 2000, when 20-year-old employee Sara Hulphers went swimming in the firehole river. On their journey back, they ran into trouble.
“Accompanied by two co-workers for Old Faithful businesses, Hulphers returned by hiking through Lower Geyser Basin. They carried no flashlights, and the three thought they were jumping a small stream when they fell into Cavern Spring’s ten-foot-deep boiling waters. Hulphers went completely underwater and died several hours later from third-degree burns that covered her entire body. Her companions survived, but the two men spent months in a Salt Lake City hospital recovering from severe burns over most of their bodies.”
This week’s death is the latest in a series of high-profile incidents that have taken place at Yellowstone in recent weeks. According to the Guardian, just last Saturday, a 13-year-old boy burned his ankle and foot after being exposed to a hot spring. And last month, a Canadian tourist put a baby bison calf in the trunk of his car, believing the animal was cold. The bison was later rejected by his herd and had to be euthanized.
[Image via magmarcz/Shutterstock]
