Illegal Visitor Backs Into Yellowstone Geyser; Burns Half Of Body

A woman who illegally entered into Yellowstone National Park was flown to a nearby burn center after she reportedly came into contact with one of the parks thermal geysers in the process of taking a photograph.

Yellowstone National Park, which has been closed since late-March due to COVID-19, was the site of a recent accident involving a woman who suffered extensive burns near the Old Faithful Geyser after partially falling into a naturally heated body of water, according to details shared by localnews8.com.

The name of the woman has not been released. She apparently drove herself out of park grounds before seeking assistance for her burns, according to local8news. No details have been released about what thermal landmark this tourist came into contact with, nor has anything been reported concerning any punishment that may be imposed on the individual for entering the park illegally.

Yellowstone National Park has more than 10,000 thermal features, including geysers, pools and fumaroles, most of which contain boiling water or hot gas that can be fatal if coming into contact. Temperatures of some thermal features in the park exceed 450 degrees.

No official opening date has been announced by park management to date, but early June is when some state parks are rumored to be considering reopening. It is expected that some national parks will be monitoring overcrowding in the weeks following openings due to the Coronavirus.

For updated information on Yellowstone National Park, click here.