3-Year-Old Suffers Severe Thermal Burns After Falling Into Scalding Water In Yellowstone National Park

A 3-year-old child has suffered severe burns after falling into a thermal feature at Yellowstone National Park in Wyoming on Friday, according to a news release from the park.

According to a statement from the National Park Service, the child "took off running from the trail" before slipping and falling into a small thermal feature, where water is as hot as that in a hot spring, geyser or mudpot.

The incident happened at around 11:40 a.m. EDT near Fountain Freight Road at Midway Geyser Basin, park officials said in the statement, adding that an investigation was going on. The basin houses Grand Prismatic hot spring, the largest hot spring in the U.S. The Yellowstone National Park is home to more than 10,000 thermal features.

The toddler suffered second-degree burns to the lower body and back and was flown to the Burn Center at Eastern Idaho Regional Medical Center for treatment.

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

The park had described the area around hot springs as “breakable crust” and asked visitors to walk only on boardwalks and designated trails while visiting the thermal features to avoid accidents. It also urged visitors to keep children close and from running on boardwalks.

Officials didn’t provide additional details about the child. The child’s health status is also not known as of Sunday.

This is the second incident of a person suffering significant injuries after falling into a thermal area at the Yellowstone National Park in 2020. This comes just five months after a trespasser was injured after falling into another thermal feature inside the park while backing up and taking photos.