An Oregon man who died after falling into an acidic spring and boiling in the Yellowstone National Park in June, was trying to “hot pot”, or soaking in one of the park’s thermal pools, according to a report On the accident.
The victim’s sister, Sable Scott, told park officials that she had watched her brother, Colin Nathaniel Scott, aged 23, fall into a thermal pool as he went down to check the temperature of the water.
“They were specifically moving in that area for a place that they could potentially get into and soak,” Deputy Chief Ranger Lorand Veress told KULR-TV. “I think they call it ‘hot potting.’”
According to the report, the brother and sister illegally ventured off the boardwalk at Norris Geyser Basin. Sable told park officials she recorded the journey on her cell phone, and captured Colin’s fall on her cell phone, though the video was not released with the report.
After Colin’s sister reported the call, Rangers made their way to the geyser to recover the body.
Rescuers arrived at the hot springs and determined that Colin was dead after seeing the “upper torso of a male victim floating face-up in a pool.”
According to the report, the water temperature in the ten-foot-deep pool was over 212 degrees Fahrenheit.
Officials were unable to retrieve Colin’s body on June 7, so they returned the following morning, but the body was no longer visible, according to the report.
“Evidence suggests that the extreme heat and the acidity of the water quickly dissolved his body in the hot spring,” according to the report, which stated his causes of death was ‘”scalding due to submersion in thermal hot spring.”
Park officials released the report following a Freedom of Information Act request filed by KULR-TV.
The park prohibits people from walking off the boardwalks or swimming in hot springs.
The National Park Service has not issued any citations in regard to the incident.
