By Joseph Serna
Los Angeles Times
FURNACE CREEK, Calif. — 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 at one of the hottest places on earth in the summertime.
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 123-degree 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. “The ground can be much hotter — 170, 180 (degrees). Sometimes up into the 200 range.”
Unable to get out on his own and in extreme pain, the man and his family recruited other park visitors to help; together, the group carried him to the sand dunes parking lot, where park rangers assessed his injuries.
Though they wanted a helicopter to fly him out, helicopters can’t generate enough lift to fly in the heat-thinned air over the hottest parts of Death Valley, officials said. So park rangers summoned an ambulance that took him to higher ground, where it was a cooler 109 degrees and he could then be flown out.
Conditions in the park can be deadly in the summer, and park officials recommend walking in the park and its soft sand dunes only in closed-toe shoes.
“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.
Even the rangers who work in the park regularly are extra careful with the heat and tend to wear gloves when touching anything exposed to the sun, she said.
“We gingerly touch surfaces if we’re outside, like doorknobs.”
Park officials have a list of suggestions for Death Valley visitors to stay safe during summer trips, including applying plenty of sunscreen, wearing a hat, staying hydrated, carrying snacks, not venturing more than 10 minutes from an air-conditioned car and not going out hiking after 10 a.m.
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