A 20-year-old woman from Washington suffered significant thermal burns between her shoulders and feet Sunday in the vicinity of Fountain Flat Drive south of Madison Junction. Park rangers explain that when the woman and her father exited their vehicle to look around, their dog jumped out of the car and into Maiden’s Grave Spring near the Firehole River.
The woman entered the thermal hot spring to retrieve the dog. The father pulled her out of the feature and then drove the party to West Yellowstone, Montana. Yellowstone National Park rangers and Hebgen Basin Rural Fire District provided initial care to the woman at West Yellowstone. She was then transported to the Burn Center at Eastern Idaho Regional Medical Center. There is no word on her condition.
The dog was removed from the feature and the father intended to take it to a veterinarian. The dog’s status is unknown at this time.
This is the second significant injury in a thermal area in 2021. The first occurred in September at Old Faithful. In 2020, a three-year-old suffered second degree-thermal burns to the lower body and back and a visitor fell into a thermal feature at Old Faithful while backing up and taking photos.
