A 71-year-old man died at a trailhead in Death Valley National Park on Tuesday afternoon as temperatures soared to 121°F, the National Park Service (NPS) said in a statement.
The man, identified as Steve Curry by the Inyo County Coroner, collapsed outside the restroom at Golden Canyon, according to the NPS. He was wearing a sun hat and hiking clothes and carrying a backpack. His car was in the parking lot.
NPS, in its statement, said that other park visitors notified 911 at 3:40 p.m. when they saw the man collapse. Park rangers arrived at the scene within a few minutes, performed CPR and used an automated external defibrillator (AED) to revive the man but were not able to revive him. A helicopter was not able to respond due to the high temperature.
While cause of death has not yet been identified, park rangers suspect heat was a factor. The official temperature at nearby Furnace Creek was 121°F around the time of the man’s death. Actual temperatures inside Golden Canyon were likely much higher, due to canyon walls radiating the sun’s heat, said the NPS.
More:Death Valley’s scalding temperatures draw visitors: What does 128 degrees feel like?
Hours before his death, the Los Angeles Times interviewed Curry at Zabriskie Point, where he’d hiked from Golden Canyon – a distance of about two miles.
He was also photographed slathered in sunscreen, using a metal interpretive sign as a shade.
Heat advisory in Death Valley
Park officials and authorities have encouraged people to plan visits to Death Valley safely this summer by sightseeing short distances from air-conditioned cars or hiking in the park’s cooler mountains. They have also advised against hiking at low elevations after 10:00 a.m.
The NPS also stated this is possibly the second heat-related fatality in Death Valley this summer. A 65-year-old man died on July 3.
Death Valley has experienced 28 days of temperatures in excess of 110 degrees this year, according to the National Weather Service.
While the hottest temperature a human can survive depends on the conditions, UCLA climate researcher Chad Thackeray told USA Today that it is generally thought that exposure to wet bulb temperatures of 95°F or greater for at least 6 hours is the threshold for human survival. Wet bulb temperature refers to the metric used to express the combined impacts of extreme temperature and humidity.
A human body experiences a heat stroke when the body’s core temperature rises above 104 degrees. Signs of heat stroke include:
- A throbbing headache
- Dizziness and light-headedness
- Lack of sweating despite the heat
- Red, hot, dry skin
- Muscle weakness or cramps
- Nausea and vomiting
- Rapid heartbeat (either strong or weak)
- Rapid, shallow breathing
- Behavioral changes such as confusion, disorientation or staggering
- Seizures
- Unconsciousness.
Authorities have advised people, especially those venturing outdoors, to drink plenty of water and avoid hiking. In the case of a heat-related illness, they urge people to get to a cool place and seek help immediately.
More:What is the hottest temperature ever recorded on Earth? Your burning questions answered.
More than 100 million people across 15 states were under heat alerts Wednesday, and about 80 million − nearly a quarter of the population − were expected to see air temperature or the heat index above 105 degrees through the weekend, according to the National Weather Service.
