Often classified as the hottest place on earth, Death Valley National Park on the California-Nevada border can be full of dangers for those who underestimate the temperatures the area can reach during the summer months.
At the start of July, the park's daily temperature highs have reached at least 125°F (51.7°C) for two weeks in a row before dropping just slightly. The extreme heat has already caused several deaths — a man passing through the park on a motorcycle who got lost was eventually found dead of "severe heat illness," while a father-daughter hiking team who came to Death Valley from Wisconsin was also discovered dead on the Syncline Trail. Park authorities later revealed that they had "gotten lost and run out of water."
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As announced by the National Park Service (NPS), a 42-year-old visitor from Belgium had been walking through the Mesquite Flat Sand Dunes section of Death Valley, known for wide stretches of sand, when he became separated from the flip-flops he was wearing that then got lost in the sand.
Park ranger describes: 'The skin was melted off his foot'
As the sand is significantly hotter than the already-scorching air, the man suffered third-degree burns on the soles of his feet.
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"The skin was melted off his foot," Death Valley National Park Service Ranger Gia Ponce said in a statement to the Los Angeles Times. "The ground can be much hotter — 170, 180 [degrees]. Sometimes up into the 200 range."
While family and nearby park visitors helped carry the man away from the sand and to a nearby parking lot until help arrived, the NPS helicopter could not get to that part of the park due to extreme heat (when the air is that heavy, the helicopter's rotor is unable to turn properly.)
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Visiting Death Valley in the summer heat? Here is what you need to know
"Park rangers transported the man in an ambulance to a landing zone at higher elevation, which was 109°F," the NPS writes. "Mercy Air transported the man to University Medical Center in Las Vegas."
Further information on his condition has not yet been released. With incidents of severe illness and in some cases even death at Death Valley continuing to rise throughout July, the NPS has been issuing warnings around hiking in extreme heat.
While this most often comes down to putting off especially long or strenuous hikes until cooler weather and packing enough water (the official recommendation is one liter for every hour spent hiking), visiting the dunes section of the park also requires proper clothing and most importantly footwear with closed toes as flip-flops can easily slip off.
"People think it's going to be like the beach where you can get out there with flip-flops or sandals but because of the extreme temperatures, those dunes heat up just as much as the pavement does," Ponce said further.
The NPS also issued a statement imploring park visitors to "stay within a 10-minute walk of an air conditioned vehicle, not hike after 10 a.m., drink plenty of water, eat salty snacks and wear a hat and sunscreen."
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