Officials say a vehicle with five occupants accidentally drove off the road and into a geyser in Yellowstone National Park last week. According to an announcement, the incident happened around 10:40 a.m. on July 11 at the Semi-Centennial Geyser near Roaring Mountain.
Officials said that the incident is still under investigation, so names of the occupants and details about how the vehicle veered off the road are scarce. They explained that following the crash, all five occupants exited the vehicle on their own and then first responders transported them to a nearby hospital for minor injuries.
According to the release, the Semi-Centennial Geyser is an inactive thermal feature. Despite that, it still has water that is acidic and temperatures that range around 105 degrees. Also, with the vehicle completely submerged, law enforcement rangers had to close both lanes of traffic for about two hours to safely remove it from the geyser.
Yellowstone thermal features
One of the biggest draws to Yellowstone Park is its hydrothermal features, such as hot springs, geysers, mud pots, and more. According to the park's website, Yellowstone is home to more than 10,000 of them, including some 500 geysers. In fact, Yellowstone is technically considered a super volcano because of all the hydrothermal activity.
Experts say such features act much like a natural plumbing system, moving and exerting heat and chemicals from the Earth's interior to regulate global ocean chemistry. Although natural, the features can be extremely dangerous. The combination of hot water and acidic chemicals could burn your skin and even dissolve an entire human body.
According to Yellowstone's posted rules, thermal areas have injured or killed more people in the park than any other natural feature. Yellowstone officials say more than 20 people died in thermal areas since it opened in 1872.
To protect the natural regulatory process and keep people safe, Yellowstone officials enforce strict rules with regard to its thermal features. Last month, a federal judge sentenced a Washington man to seven days in jail and to pay more than $1,500 in fines and fees for trespassing into a thermal area.
