Death Valley heat melts skin off tourist’s feet after he loses flip-flops in the dunes
- To make things worse, it was too hot to fly a helicopter in to help the Belgian man, who had been out walking in the 50.6 degree heat
How hot was it in Death Valley over the weekend?
It was so hot that a European tourist melted the skin off his feet when he lost his flip-flops in the sand dunes, park officials said.
To make matters worse, the temperatures made the air too thin for a helicopter to fly in and help him.
The experience of the tourist, whose name was not released, is a painful reminder that extreme dangers can emerge in unexpected ways in the summertime at one of the hottest places on Earth, which is in the Mojave Desert in the US state of California.
According to a National Park Service news release, the 42-year-old Belgian tourist was taking a short walk Saturday in the Mesquite Flat Sand Dunes in 50.6 degree Celsius (123 degree Fahrenheit) heat when he either broke or lost his flip-flops, putting his feet into direct contact with the desert ground. The result: third-degree burns.
“The skin was melted off his foot,” said Death Valley National Park Service Ranger Gia Ponce.