YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK, Wyo. — A woman was airlifted to an Idaho hospital Thursday after being seriously burned by scalding water at the Old Faithful geyser in Yellowstone National Park.
The woman, a 19-year-old concessions employee at the park from Rhode Island, was taken first by ambulance to West Yellowstone, then transfered to the Burn Center at Eastern Idaho Regional Medical Center.
She suffered second- and third-degree burns to 5% of her body, park officials say.
Yellowstone officials say it is important for everyone to remain on the boardwalk and official trails in the park's thermal areas. The ground in those zones is very fragile and thin, with scalding water just below the surface.
More than 20 people have died over the years after falling into a thermal feature at Yellowstone, and many more have been injured. Thursday's incident was the first serious injury at a thermal area this year, officials say, but a 3-year-old boy and an adult visitor were badly burned in thermal features in 2020.
The concession employee's accident remains under investigation. For more safety tips for Yellowstone National Park, click here.
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