48-year-old Cade Edmond Siemers went for a nighttime walk in Yellowstone National Park without a flashlight and ended up falling into a boiling hot spring. Yahoo reports he was severely burned after tripping into the thermal water near the Old Faithful cone geyser but managed to get himself back to his room at the Old Faithful Inn where he called for help around midnight Sunday night.
Park rangers suspect Siemers was boozed up at the time of the incident. While they were investigating the scene Monday morning they found the man’s hat and shoe near the steaming geyser along with a beer can. They also found footprints leading to and from the hot spring, as well as blood on the boardwalk.
While it is the first serious injury to occur in a thermal area of a national park in two years, the hot springs have injured or killed more people in Yellowstone than any other natural feature. Be safe, be respectful, don’t mess around with geothemal features.
images from nps.gov
