YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK (KTVX) — A 20-year-old woman suffered thermal burns after attempting to retrieve her dog from a hot spring in Yellowstone National Park on Monday afternoon.
The woman’s dog reportedly jumped out of the car after the woman and her father stepped out to look around. When the dog ran into Maiden’s Grave Spring, the woman followed suit to retrieve the dog, Yellowstone National Park said in a Facebook post.
The woman’s father then pulled her and the dog out, then drove to West Yellowstone, Montana, for help.
Yellowstone National Park rangers and Hebgen Basin Rural Fire District were the first to provide care to the woman. Afterward, she was transported to the burn center at Eastern Idaho Regional Medical Center. The dog’s current condition is unknown.
Park officials said the woman suffered “significant thermal burns between her shoulders and feet.”
In a Facebook post, Yellowstone officials issued a warning to those who bring their pets to the park, saying, “Visitors: While in the park, protect your pets by physically controlling them at all times. Pets must be in a car, crate or on a leash no more than six feet long. They are not allowed on boardwalks, hiking trails, in the backcountry, or in thermal areas.”
The park said this is the second incident in which someone suffered a significant injury in a thermal area in 2021. The first incident happened in September.
The incident remains under investigation.