The Yellowstone Hot Springs | A Short Documentary | Fascinating Horror

4 days ago

"On the 1st of March, 1872, Yellowstone became the first National Park in the United States of America..."

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Transcript

00:00On the 1st of March 1872 Yellowstone became the first national park in the

00:17United States of America, an area of wilderness protected by the state for

00:22the preservation of wildlife and for the enjoyment of all. They could hardly have

00:27picked a better place. Yellowstone was, and thanks to its protected status,

00:33remains a breathtakingly beautiful alien landscape of unique geological features

00:39and thermal springs. These thermal springs in particular, like any wild and

00:45untamed thing, can be deadly, something which the park has wrestled with for its

00:51entire existence. The sites which bring visitors to Yellowstone are numerous.

00:57Within the park bison, elk, wolves and bears are all relatively common sights,

01:04and the park also provides an ideal home for many birds and reptiles. These

01:10creatures inhabit a landscape which is a hotbed of volcanic activity. Steam vents

01:16from holes in the ground known as fumaroles, while elsewhere geothermal

01:21activity generates huge quantities of heat, resulting in natural hot springs

01:26and patches of boiling mud inhabited by a rich culture of heat-loving

01:31microorganisms, including bacteria which create some dazzling colors. In some

01:37places geysers of superheated water jet from the ground at regular or irregular

01:43intervals. The most famous of these is Old Faithful, a geyser that has been

01:49erupting on a predictable schedule for decades. Early records exist of many

01:56deaths from accidental immersion in Yellowstone's thermal pools. One such

02:02death took place on the 24th of August, 1926. At around 8 p.m. pastor Gilbert

02:10Eakins was walking near the West Thumb area of the park with his family. At some

02:16point Eakins slipped, falling into a pool. In his rush to extricate himself

02:21from the boiling hot water, which at this point had only burned the lower half of

02:26his body, he accidentally fell into another hot pool before finally slipping

02:31and falling headlong into the first one again. By the time he was finally able to

02:36get out of the water he was horrifically burned. At the time, in 1926, the

02:43treatment options available were rudimentary. A nearby doctor removed the

02:49pastor's clothing, smothered him in oil, and gave him a grain of morphine to

02:53relieve his pain. Having been fully immersed, however, the poor man was burned

02:58over his entire body and had also swallowed a quantity of boiling water.

03:04Despite their very best efforts he could not be saved and passed away as he was

03:09being transported from the park. Even in this early case it's clear that injuries

03:16caused by pools can be horrendous, and complicated too. Internal burns are an

03:22imminent threat to life, and the pain of minor burns can lead to a victim

03:26sustaining more serious ones as they try to escape. A simple slip or trip, usually

03:33of no consequence whatsoever, can be the cause of death if it happens in the

03:37wrong place. Another common cause of accidents in the thermal features of

03:43Yellowstone is pets. One such incident took place on the 20th of July, 1981. At

03:51around 1 p.m. David Kirwan and his friend Ronald Ratliff were visiting the

03:56Fountain Paint Pot cluster of mud pots on the eastern edge of the park. The

04:01pair had with them Ratliff's dog, Moosey. Of course, since it wasn't safe to have

04:06dogs so close to the boiling waters of the mud pots they left Moosey in their

04:11truck for the duration of their brief visit.

04:14Unfortunately Moosey escaped the vehicle and, excited by her new environment, ran

04:20into one of the nearby pools. The moment he heard and saw his friend's dog in

04:25distress Kirwan started to make his way into the pool to attempt to rescue.

04:30Bystanders tried to dissuade him from doing so, but before they could Kirwan

04:36had dived bodily into the boiling water. Witnesses report that Kirwan was able to

04:41reach the dog but was unable to help the animal before the pain of his burns

04:46overwhelmed him and he floundered desperately back to shore. As they pulled

04:51him out of the pool witnesses noted that he appeared to have gone blind and that

04:56he was severely burned all over his body. The dog he had been trying to rescue

05:01perished just moments after Kirwan escaped the pool. Death was not instant

05:08for Kirwan, although at least his pain appeared to recede after some time. He

05:14talked coherently as he was helped away from Fountain Paint Pot and transported

05:18to a clinic at Old Faithful. There he was given fluids and pain relief, ready for

05:24onward transport to a hospital in Salt Lake City, where he would pass away the

05:29next morning. Dogs are, for good reason, not permitted in many parts of

05:36Yellowstone National Park, and yet each year several incidents in which

05:41visitors sustain burns take place as a result of dogs entering pools and their

05:46owners rushing in to rescue them. Accidents take place even amongst those

05:53who work in Yellowstone. Each year a number of college students are employed

05:57in summer jobs in the park. They are given accommodation in the park and

06:02enjoy an unforgettable summer of hiking, working, and bonding with fellow

06:07employees. On the 21st of August, 2000, a group of these summer employees went

06:13swimming in the Firehole River near Mound Geezer. What began as an afternoon

06:19dip turned into an evening spent in and around the water. A night had fallen by

06:24the time the group decided to make its way back to a nearby car park across a

06:28stretch of unmaintained land. Because they had stayed out longer than planned

06:33nobody in the group had a flashlight. Nevertheless they were relatively

06:38confident of their ability to navigate safely. In high spirits, happy after a day

06:44spent together in good company, they made their way homewards. Three of their

06:50number lagged behind, walking hand-in-hand through the dark. At one

06:55point the trio came across what looked, in the low light, like a narrow stream...

07:00something which they believed they could easily jump over. They were wrong. They

07:06were instead standing above a pit of boiling water, which only looked narrow

07:11because of overhanging ledges of dirt on either side. Unaware of the danger, the

07:18three leapt across together. They landed on the dirt ledge on the far side, which

07:24instantly gave way. Together they plunged down into the hot spring below. Hearing

07:32the screams of the three who had fallen into the spring, others from the group

07:36rushed back and pulled them out as quickly as they could.

07:41Despite this, all three suffered major burns over most of their bodies. Two

07:47would, with expert medical care, survive. One would not. Sarah Holfers, just 20

07:55years old, who was the shortest in the group and had therefore been the most

07:59thoroughly immersed, died from her injuries. Sarah's funeral was attended by

08:05hundreds. She had been loved by all who knew her, and according to friends and

08:10family had been immensely happy working in Yellowstone that summer. Her loss was

08:16keenly felt by both her colleagues and those from her home state of Washington.

08:23These are just some of the thermal injuries that have been recorded in

08:27Yellowstone's long history. Many more exist. Incidents of people venturing off

08:33boardwalks, stumbling backwards into potholes, or diving into water which they

08:38believed to be merely warm and not boiling hot. That the hot springs of

08:44Yellowstone are dangerous is indisputable. Normally, when there is a

08:49danger to the public this acute, steps are taken to ensure that the danger is

08:54neutralized. Some people argue that this should be done in Yellowstone. The

09:00springs should be fenced, warning signs erected by every pool and river, visitors

09:05shepherded around by guides and kept from danger by railings and repeated

09:10warnings. If Yellowstone was a workplace or a residential area these requests

09:17would be more than reasonable. However, it is not. Yellowstone is a wilderness, one

09:24only very slightly tamed. In any wilderness there is danger. To make

09:30Yellowstone completely safe would be to make it no longer wild, and to take away

09:35that which makes it worth preserving in the first place. That's not to say that

09:41safety isn't a priority. The National Park Service is made up of ordinary

09:46people, people who love the landscape they work in and who feel every death

09:51and injury that takes place there keenly. At the same time, however, they recognize

09:57that incidents like the ones described here cannot practically be prevented

10:01through barriers and signage. Instead the focus is on education, on making people

10:08aware that terrible things can happen in the course of exploring somewhere wild

10:12and untamed, and that this is not a reason not to explore, but instead to do

10:18so with caution and a quiet awareness of how unforgiving nature can be.

The Yellowstone Hot Springs | A Short Documentary | Fascinating Horror

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