A tourist to Death Valley National Park learned the hard way that not all walks in the park are a walk in the park.
The 42-year-old Belgian visitor, as reported by the Guardian, was rushed to the hospital after briefly walking barefoot in the California national park amid extreme heat.
Due to language issues, park rangers said they were unable to determine what had happened to the man's shoes leading to the brief, barefoot walk that led to third-degree burns on his feet. The outlet doesn't clarify whether this individual's actions were intentional or accidental.
Like many other places worldwide, Death Valley has seen record-high temperatures this summer. Temperatures that day were somewhere near 123 degrees Fahrenheit, and the ground temperature would have been much hotter than that.
The medical center's Lions Burn Care Center said they get a lot of cases like this during the summer. Other surfaces, such as asphalt and concrete, can reach temperatures of 120-150 degrees Fahrenheit, according to the EPA, and also pose a severe burn danger. Cities like Phoenix are painting roads with "cool pavement" to reduce this heat and help with the urban heat island effect.
Aside from the ground, air temperature can also be dangerous, and the Guardian reported that a motorcyclist died from heat-related causes in Death Valley earlier this month.
As global temperatures continue to rise, heat has become one of the biggest causes of extreme weather-related deaths. According to National Weather Service data, extreme heat-related deaths outnumber hurricane- and flood-related fatalities combined.
"People seem to be really underestimating the elements in our changing world," commented one user on a Reddit post sharing the incident. "People need to take these things seriously when visiting National Parks!"
To avoid incidents like this or worse, park rangers warn summer visitors not to hike in the valley after 10 a.m., to stay within a 10-minute walk of an air-conditioned place, drink plenty of water, and wear a hat and sunscreen.
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