DEATH Dive Into the Hot Springs, USA

The hot springs found in abundance throughout Yellowstone National Park's thermal aras are bubbling cauldrons of steam and boiling water, most of them hotter than 150° F, and many of the in the 185° - 205° F range.  (Due to the elevation, water boils at about 198° in Yellowstone.)  Nineteen scalding deaths have been recorded in connection with Yellowstone's hot springs since 1870, all of them known or believed to have involved people who inadvertently fell into the springs through accident or carelessness - all except one.

On July 20 1981, 24-year-old David Allen Kirwan from La Canada, California, was driving through yellowstone's Fountain Paint Pot thermal area with his friend Ronald Ratliff and Ratliff's dog Moosie.  At about 1:00 pm they parked their truck to get out and take a closer look at the hot springs;  Mossie escaped from the truck, ran towards nearby Celestine Pool (a thermal spring whose water temperature has been measured at over 200° F),  jumped in, and began yelping.

Kirwan and Ratliff rushed over to the pool to aid the terrified dog, and Kirwan's attitude indicated he was about to go into the spring after it.  According to bystanders, several people tried to warn Kirwan off  by yelling at him not to jump in, but he shouted "Like hell I won't!" back at them, took two steps into the pool, and then dove head-first into the boiling spring. 

Kirwan swam out to the dog and attempted to take it to shore; he then disappeared underwater, let go of the dog, and tried to climb out of the pool.  Ratliff helped pull Kirwan out of the hot spring (resulting in second-degree burns to his own feet), and another visitor led Kirwan to the sidewalk as he reportedly muttered, "That was stupid.  How bad am I?  That was a stupid thing I did."

Kirwan was indeed in very bad shape.  He was blind, and when another park visitor tried to remove one of his shoes, his skin (which was already peeling everywhere) came off with it.  He sustained third-degree burns to 100! of his body, including his head, and died the following morning at a Salt Lake City hospital.  Moosie the dog, did not survive, either.



Source:  Los Angeles Times - "Man Scalded Trying to Save Dog from Pool." - 28 July 2001.