A 42-year-old Belgian tourist was taking a short walk Saturday in the sand dunes in 123-degree heat when he either broke or lost his flip-flops, putting his feet into direct contact with the broiling desert ground.

According to a National Park Service news release, the 42-year-old Belgian tourist was taking a short walk Saturday in the Mesquite Flat Sand Dunes in 123-degree heat when he either broke or lost his flip-flops, putting his feet into direct contact with the desert ground. The result: third-degree burns.

“The skin was melted off his foot,” said Death Valley National Park Service Ranger Gia Ponce. “The ground can be much hotter — 170, 180 [degrees]. Sometimes up into the 200 range.”

Unable to get out on his own and in extreme pain, the man and his family recruited other park visitors to help; together, the group carried him to the sand dunes parking lot, where park rangers assessed his injuries.

Though they wanted a helicopter to fly him out, helicopters can’t generate enough lift to fly in the heat-thinned air over the hottest parts of Death Valley, officials said. So park rangers summoned an ambulance that took him to higher ground, where it was a cooler 109 degrees and he could then be flown out.

  • protistEnglish
    19·
    5 months ago

    I assume you have to pay a fee to enter Death Valley National Park, and like every National Park I assume the rangers at the entrance and signage all throughout warn you of potential dangers. You can easily get yourself in trouble at Yellowstone, Rocky Mountain, or Big Bend National Parks, for example, if you don’t take the risks seriously and make poor decisions.

    • TropicalDingdong@lemmy.world
      191·
      5 months ago

      Sure but those other parks… they aren’t called “Deathstone” or “Death Mountain” or “Big Death”…

      I feel like Death Valley is being very frank with you on the matter.

      • protistEnglish
        5·
        5 months ago

        A group of European-American pioneers got lost here in the winter of 1849-1850, while looking for a shortcut to the gold fields of California, giving Death Valley its grim name. Although only one of the group members died here, they all assumed that the valley would be their grave.

        I bet more people have died at each of the other 3 parks than at Death Valley NP. Maybe there’s data out there on that somewhere

    • margaritox@lemmy.world
      1·
      5 months ago

      There are no entrance stations in Death Valley. There’s a fee, but they sorta “trust you” to have paid in advance.