North Carolina man suffers severe burns after falling into a hot spring in Yellowstone National Park

  • Gervais Dylan Gatete, 21, fell into a hot spring in the Lower Geyser Basin on Tuesday night
  • He was flown to a Salt Lake City burn center and his medical condition is currently unknown
  • Investigators are still trying to determine how Gatete fell into the hot spring
  • Temperatures of the geyser waters can reach as high as 199F (93C)

By MARY KEKATOS FOR DAILYMAIL.COM

Published: | Updated:

A 21-year-old man suffered severe burns after falling into a hot spring at Yellowstone National Park.

Park officials say Gervais Dylan Gatete of Raleigh, North Carolina, was with seven other people when he fell at the Lower Geyser Basin, just north of Old Faithful, on Tuesday.

The group began driving Gatete to receive medical aid but, just before midnight, they flagged down a ranger near Seven Mile Bridge, about 15 miles away.

Gatete was taken by ambulance to the airport in West Yellowstone, Montana, and then flown a Salt Lake City burn center.

Gervais Dylan Gatete, 21, of Raleigh, North Carolina, suffered severe burns after falling into a hot spring in the Lower Geyser Basin (pictured) at Yellowstone National Park on Tuesday night. He's since been transported to a Salt Lake City burn center where his medical condition remains unknown

Gervais Dylan Gatete, 21, of Raleigh, North Carolina, suffered severe burns after falling into a hot spring in the Lower Geyser Basin (pictured) at Yellowstone National Park on Tuesday night. He's since been transported to a Salt Lake City burn center where his medical condition remains unknown

Gatete works for Colorado-based Xanterra Parks and Resorts, a hospitality company that lists Yellowstone among its affiliated properties.

DailyMail.com had reached out to the company for comment.

Park spokeswoman Morgan Warthin says details of the incident are still under investigation, including how Gatete fell in. She did not know the 21-year-old's medical condition.

'Yellowstone's thermal features are dangerous,' said park superintendent Dan Wenk. 

'We continually stress that people must stay on trails and boardwalks in geyser basins, not only to protect resources, but for their own safety.'

Temperatures of the geyser waters can reach as high 199F (93C).

This is the first serious injury in a thermal area in Yellowstone this year, but not the first time such an event has occurred.

Last June, 23-year-old Oregon tourist Colin Scott left the boardwalk and died after slipping into a hot spring in Norris Geyser Basin.

In August 2000, a man died after he and two people received severe burns from falling into a hot spring in the Lower Geyser Basin.  

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