Due to the novel coronavirus threats, the Yellowstone National Park closed its doors to the public on Mar. 24, leaving park rangers to ensure that the place and all its inhabitants are safe and left alone during the pandemic.
Nevertheless, a woman who is yet to be named illegally entered the park on Tuesday, May 12, and suffered burns when she fell down a thermal feature.
Trespasser's Accident at the Yellowstone National Park
In a report by FOX News, the incident happened near the infamous Old Faithful Geyser located within the Yellowstone National Park.
According to the park spokesperson Linda Veress, the woman was backing up while taking a photo of the well-known tourist attraction when she fell into a hot spring or a hole where the hot gases spring from.
Despite her injuries, the woman was able to climb out of the hole and ran back to her car, where she was able to drive for around 50 miles until a park ranger stopped the vehicle and saw her injuries.
With the help of the park ranger, they were able to call for help.
The woman was then airlifted to a hospital located in Idaho to have her burns treated.
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The Park's Warning
"Water in hot springs can cause severe or fatal burns, and scalding water underlies most of the thin, breakable crust around hot springs," the park warned on their website. "Hot springs have injured or killed more people in Yellowstone than any other natural feature."
Besides the warning written on their website, there are also boardwalks near Yellowstone's thermal features where the tourists can stay and take pictures.
The park's thermal features included hot springs, geysers, mud pots, and steam vents that spew boiling hot gases and water, which may also be acidic.
The woman was not the only one who was caught illegally trespassing at the Yellowstone National Park as two tourists who were caught "thermal trespassing" last September had been sentenced to 10 years in jail.
They were caught walking "dangerously close" to the spout of the Old Faithful Geyser to take photos.
After the incident last year, a park spokesperson reiterated the importance of thermal area safety and that they have been asking every tourist who is visiting the park to read more information about the safety, rules, and regulations of the park.
Cases of Injuries and Death
This was not the first time a visitor ended up getting injured when they visited the park.
There have been times wherein tourists did not follow the safety rules and regulations of the park and wandered close to the thermal features where they would end up getting injured severely and even dying.
Among those cases was a man who walked off the boardwalk and near the Old Faithful Geyser sometime last fall at night.
The man fell into a hot spring and suffered severe burns because of the incident.
However, he was actually luckier compared to a 23-year-old Oregon resident who fell into an acidic mud pot, which was superheated and died back in June.
Unfortunately, his remains couldn't be recovered.
Meanwhile, Yellowstone National Park is planning to announce its plans on reopening this week.
