On Monday afternoon, the 60-year-old was walking with her husband and dog near a geyser when she broke through the ground into scorching waters, according to the National Park Service.
A 60-year-old woman was burned on her lower leg after walking off path and falling through a thin crust of earth into “scalding water” at Yellowstone National Park on Monday afternoon, the National Park Service said.
The woman, from Windsor, New Hampshire, was walking with her husband and leashed dog near the Mallard Lake Trailhead near the Old Faithful geyser when she burst through the ground, according to a National Park Service news release. She had second- and third-degree burns on her lower leg and was flown by helicopter to Eastern Idaho Regional Medical Center for treatment. Park officials did not reveal the woman’s name and stated that the incident was being investigated.
The N.P.S. warned visitors to stay on trails and boardwalks in hydrothermal areas because of the fragile ground and the dangerously hot water below the surface. Pets are allowed in some areas of the park on a leash or in a crate, but they are not allowed in thermal areas, on boardwalks, on trails or in the backcountry in Yellowstone National Park.
Park officials said that this week’s accident is the first known thermal injury this year.
Yellowstone National Park, which is spread across parts of Wyoming, Montana and Idaho, has more than 900 miles of hiking trails and 15 miles of boardwalks around the park’s geologic and hydrothermal features, according to the park.
According to the United States Geological Survey, 22 individuals have died from burns sustained after entering or falling into the park’s hot springs, which may reach temperatures of more than 185 degrees Fahrenheit, since its inception in 1872.
Hot springs have killed and injured more tourists than any other natural feature in the park, including wildlife, according to the National Park Service.
In June, a tourist in Yellowstone who disobeyed signs and crossed a barrier to get close to Steamboat Geyser in April was sentenced to a week in jail after being found guilty of “thermal trespass” and barred from the park for two years.
Be the first to comment