3-year-old severely burned after falling into water near Yellowstone geyser, park says

A 3-year-old has second-degree thermal burns after slipping and falling into a scalding thermal pool, Yellowstone National Park said.

The child took off running away from the trail, slipped and fell into the boiling water, the park said Friday in a news release. They have thermal burns on their lower body and back and had to be lifelighted to the burn center at Eastern Idaho Regional Medical Center.

“The ground in hydrothermal areas is fragile and thin, and there is scalding water just below the surface,” the park said. “Visitors must always remain on boardwalks and trails and exercise extreme caution around thermal features.”

People have been seriously injured from falling into the water in Yellowstone. In May, a visitor fell into scalding hot water at Old Faithful while trying to take photos, the park said.

In 2016, an Oregon man may have dissolved after trying to soak in a thermal area. Workers couldn’t find any remains, and park rangers believe he dissolved from the dangerously hot water, the Associated Press reported.

Last fall, a 48-year-old man was hospitalized with “severe burns to a significant portion of his body” from falling into scalding-hot water near Old Faithful Geyser, McClatchy News previously reported.

This story was originally published October 9, 2020 at 6:31 PM with the headline "3-year-old severely burned after falling into water near Yellowstone geyser, park says."